Bradford City academy graduate dealt blow as he suffers 'clean break' of tibia

The 26-year-old, a product of the Bantams academy, now plies his trade in the Northern Premier League Premier Division with Gainsborough Trinity. He joined the club in November, making the switch from Guiseley.

He was reunited with his former Farsley Celtic boss Russ Wilcox at the KAL Group Stadium but now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Devine sustained the injury during Gainsborough’s win over Warrington Rylands and is scheduled to undergo surgery today (February 26).

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A statement shared yesterday by Gainsborough on X, formerly Twitter, read: “We can confirm that midfielder Danny Devine sustained a clean break of his tibia in yesterday's victory over Warrington Rylands. He remains in hospital and is scheduled for surgery tomorrow.

"May we take this opportunity to thank the medical staff at Rylands for their swift actions. Our thoughts are with Danny at this difficult time and [we] wish him a successful operation and speedy recovery.”

Devine made a total of 53 first-team appearances for Bradford City before departing in 2020. He spent two years with Carlisle United before dropping into the non-league pyramid with Chester.

Spells back in Yorkshire with Farsley and Guiseley followed before he agreed terms with Gainsborough earlier on in the campaign.