Frustrated Niall Canavan still waiting for his Bradford City chance

Niall Canavan waited years to pull on the colours of Bradford City and when he finally did, his debut was abandoned due to heavy snow.
Bradford City's Niall Canavan during his Plymouth Argyle days. (Photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images)Bradford City's Niall Canavan during his Plymouth Argyle days. (Photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images)
Bradford City's Niall Canavan during his Plymouth Argyle days. (Photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images)

Today he hoped for a first Bantams appearance at Valley Parade, where he used to be a ballboy, only for a frozen pitch to put paid to Salford City’s visit.

It says a lot for the 29-year-old defender’s maturity that his reaction was simply: “Typical!”

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Signed in mid-January, Canavan had to wait until Tuesday to play, only for the weather to intervene at his old club Scunthorpe United.

“We were in a kit that blended in and as soon as it started settling and you couldn’t really see anything,” he says.

“I said to my wife it’s just typical. It’s one of them seasons where strange things are happening and they just keep rolling and rolling and rolling. You’ve got to take it as it comes and just get on with it.”

The boyhood City fan has life in perspective.

“If I’m being honest it (joining Bradford) is not something I’d thought about constantly but if ever there’s been an opportunity, it’s something I’ve looked to explore,” he reflects. “I originally thought if it was ever going to happen it would be in the summer so my mind was on finishing the season at Plymouth.

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“It’s a very different season and some of the rules and regulations have changed as it has gone on but really they’re very small things in the grand scheme of what’s happening in the world. We’re very fortunate to be doing the job we’re doing in this climate.

“These postponements could have happened in any other season, it just seems this year everything is coming at once.”

Bradford covered the pitch and brought in heating devices but a section towards the TL Dallas Stand looked risky even if the game was put back to tomorrow.

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