Hanson proud of Bradford City career as he goes part-time

James Hanson’s return to West Yorkshire with Farsley Celtic in the National League North has caused quite a stir.

But the memories of City’s tales of derring-do will never fade – as he is reminded when dropping off daughter Lexie.

“It’s starting to kick in with her now,” he smiles. “She’s asking, ‘daddy, how do all these people know you?’

“She’s at that age now where she's well into YouTube and sometimes I’ll catch her watching some of the videos of those games when I'm scoring.

“It’s brilliant and I know I can look back at some unbelievable highs in my career.”

The move to Farsley may not necessarily shut the door on a professional CV that included over 90 goals for the Bantams. There is a get-out clause in his contract should any interest appeal in January.

But having knocked back offers to stay in League Two or drop a level to the National League, Hanson is content with the geography of his new club.

“My missus is due with our second girl in two weeks, so I always thought I needed to be closer to home,” he said.

“Over the last couple of years, the driving has caught up with my body and I’ve been getting niggly injuries. I made the decision that I wanted to stay local and if that mean going part-time, that was fine.

James Hanson salutes his goal at Aston Villa with Rory McArdle and Nahki Wells

“It’s not a lot of difference. To be quite honest, I’ve probably only trained part-time over the past two or three years anyway.

“I wasn’t too bothered financially-wise. I know I’ve only got a couple of years, so I wanted to enjoy it.

“It’s perfect for me. I live at Apperley Bridge so it’s five minutes to training – everything just fell into place.”

There is plenty of league experience in the Celts’ ranks with former City player of the year Dave Syers, ex-Portsmouth midfielder Adam Barton and striker Jimmy Spencer, who counts Plymouth and Mansfield among his previous clubs.

Hanson is also looking forward to locking horns with “the Don” when they face Clayton Donaldson’s York.

As well as helping with the baby, the spare time allows the 33-year-old chance to plan for his future.

He will sit his UEFA B coaching course in September and has an invite from Mark Ellis to help out with the RIASA football academy that unearthed his Valley Parade partner-in-crime Nahki Wells.

Hanson has even just finished an HGV driving course – “you’ve got to get a plan in place because football doesn’t last forever.”

James Hanson heads the opening goal in the Wembley win over Northampton

Unlike the vivid recollections of some of the priceless occasions that he was involved with; Villa Park and that header, two trips to Wembley, beating Leeds and the Stamford Bridge comeback.

“I was a little bit gutted I didn’t score against Chelsea. It’s the only one of those big games I can look back on and say I wasn’t involved as much as I’d like but I was doing a job for the team and our performance was great.

“I’m delighted with how things went at Bradford and some of the memories are unbelievable.

“A team from the fourth tier getting to a cup final? I don’t think that will happen again in my lifetime.

“It just shows what a big goal it was and what a big team performance. It was daunting for the lads walking out to see all these Villa flags but we showed real character to stay in the game and Dukey (Matt Duke) made some great saves.

“I know the final didn’t go to plan but just to experience the week leading up to that was absolutely unreal. We were on the back page of every paper.

“I can count myself lucky. I would never have thought when I signed for Bradford I’d go on to make that many appearances and score that many goals and have those special memories I can be proud of.”

Hanson can see shades of Phil Parkinson and the summer of 2012 in the way Derek Adams is putting his stamp on the current club.

James Hanson in the midst of City's celebrations after shocking Chelsea

The team is quickly evolving from the one that beat Grimsby 1-0 in Hanson’s last appearance at Valley Parade in April.

Hanson added: “Derek Adams is a Phil Parkinson sort of guy.

"I’ve heard about his pre-seasons from the Morecambe lads and how tough they are.

“But I think Bradford will definitely do well with him.

“We were probably the fittest group of anyone that season with Phil. We obviously went on to play 64 games – hopefully Bradford get the same or pretty close this year.

“I’m sure they will be fit enough to outrun teams because that’s what Morecambe did so well last season.

"He's a manager who knows the division inside and out with a couple of promotions and he's already made some good signings."