Bradley Robert Sandeman (born 24 February 1970) is an English former footballer who made 249 league and cup appearances in a nine-year career in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. A versatile passer of the ball, he began his career at Northampton Town in 1988. He was sold on to

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

for £10,000 in February 1991, before he was allowed to join Port Vale on a free transfer in July 1992. He helped the club to win promotion out of the Second Division in 1993–94, before he was given a free transfer to Rotherham United in May 1996. He moved on to Hereford United in March 1997, and later had spells with non-league clubs

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

Leek Town Leek Town Football Club is an English association football, football club based in Leek, Staffordshire, Leek, Staffordshire, currently playing in the . The team, nicknamed "The Blues", play their home games at Harrison Park. The club was found ...

, Hyde United,

Kidsgrove Athletic Kidsgrove Athletic F.C. is an English football club based in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, England currently playing in the Northern Premier League Division One West. The team, nicknamed "The Grove", play their home games at Hollinwood Road, Clough ...

Witton Albion Witton may refer to one of several places in England: *Witton, historic name of an area of Northwich, Cheshire **Witton Albion F.C. *Witton Gilbert, County Durham *Witton-le-Wear, County Durham *Witton, an area of Blackburn, Lancashire * Witton, B ...

and Dover Athletic.

Playing career

Northampton Town

Sandeman started his career at Northampton Town under the management of

Graham Carr William Graham Carr (born 25 October 1944) is an English former professional footballer, manager and scout. He is currently an associate director for Northampton Town. Club career Carr, a half-back, joined his first professional club, Nor ...

in 1986. The "Cobblers" avoided relegation out of the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in 1988–89 only due to their superior goal difference to Southend United. They failed to avoid the drop into the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in 1989–90, which led to Carr being sacked and replaced by

Theo Foley Theo Foley (2 April 1937 – 26 June 2020) was an Irish footballer and football manager/coach. He was born in Inchicore, Dublin, Ireland. Playing career During his footballing career, he played as a defender for Home Farm, Exeter City, ...

. Sandeman left the County Ground in February 1991, having been sold on to league rivals

for a £10,000 fee; the move reunited him with former boss Graham Carr. The "Stones" finished in the lower half of the table in both 1990–91 and 1991–92. He left the club just months before its collapse.

Port Vale

He joined Port Vale in July 1992, with manager John Rudge looking to add strength in depth to help with the push for promotion out of the Second Division. He was a regular first team player in

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

until he picked up a thigh injury in February, which required an operation. This caused him to miss both the 1993 League Trophy Final and the 1993 Second Division play-off Final at Wembley. He was used sparingly following his recovery, leaving him to play a limited role in the 1993–94 promotion campaign until he re-gained his first team spot in May 1994. He was a first team regular in the First Division in 1994–95, before he fell out of favour once again in July 1995. The 1995–96 season was his last at Vale Park, and was not picked to play in the final of the

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...

. He was given a free transfer to Rotherham United in May 1996.

Rotherham United

Originally signed to play at right-back, he soon was pushed further forward into midfield. The "Millers" suffered relegation out of the Second Division in 1996–97 under Danny Bergara, though Sandeman had left Millmoor for Hereford United in March 1997.

Later career

He made just seven appearances for the "Bulls", and left the club in the summer after the Edgar Street club were relegated into the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

under Graham Turner. He spent the first half of the 1997–98 season with

, before joining Conference rivals

in December 1997, who were managed by former teammate Steve Berry. He later combined his duties as a postal worker with playing semi-professional football. He signed with

in July 2000 and scored seven goals in 55 appearances in the 2000–01 season as the "Blues" were relegated out of the Northern Premier League Premier Division; he was voted as the club's Player of the Season. He then moved on to Hyde United, but did not make an appearance for the "Tigers". He served

as caretaker-manager in August 2003, winning all four matches. He also played 37 games in the 2002–03 season and 26 games in the 2003–04 season. He joined

in July 2004. He signed with Dover Athletic in February 2005 after being recruited by Clive Walker.

Coaching career

In 2008, he joined Kent League club Tunbridge Wells, becoming assistant manager at the club the following year. He helped the "Wells" to reach the 2013 FA Vase Final. He was appointed as a coach at Lordswood in July 2015. He followed manager James Collins to help coach Cray Valley Paper Mills in 2016.

Style of play

Sandeman was a versatile player and an accomplished and effective passer of the ball and a great and committed tackler.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Individual *

Leek Town F.C. Leek Town Football Club is an English football club based in Leek, Staffordshire, currently playing in the . The team, nicknamed "The Blues", play their home games at Harrison Park. The club was founded in 1946 and played in a variety of local ...

Player of the Season: 2000–01 Port Vale * Football League Second Division second-place promotion: 1993–94

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandeman, Bradley 1970 births Living people Footballers from Northampton English footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Northampton Town F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players Port Vale F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Leek Town F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Kidsgrove Athletic F.C. players Witton Albion F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Tunbridge Wells F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Northern Premier League players Isthmian League players English football managers Witton Albion F.C. managers Northern Premier League managers Association football coaches