Dan's the man for the Gladiators!

Matlock Town boss Martin Carruthers has secured one of his recent targets with the signing of attacking midfielder Dan Bradley from Ilkeston Town. He is the Gladiators’ second major signing of the day following the acquisition of Connor Dimaio from Curzon Ashton..

Bradley (31) has spent virtually his whole career in the National League and National League North, , making 376 appearances at these levels, scoring 68 goals.

He started out at Aston Villa before joining Tamworth where he stayed for two seasons until 2012 when he moved to Kidderminster Harriers but a year later he joined Alfreton Town who were then in the National League. In a five year stint with the Reds he played in 165 games scoring 32 times.

Alfreton were relegated at the end of the 2015/16 season to the National League North and come the end of the following campaign, he made the move north to join AFC Fylde netting eleven goals in 29 games before returning to Kidderminster for another two years. Fylde then signed him for a second time for another two years on the Lancashire coast before it became a hat-trick of moves back to former clubs as Billy Heath signed him for Alfreton.

Most recently he has been at Nuneaton Borough and Tamworth before joining Ilkeston at the start of the current season where Carruthers was in charge .

The Gladiators manager is thrilled to be reunited with Bradley..

“I’m delighted to get Dan Bradley over the line, he’s someone I’ve been after for numerous weeks, to get someone of his experience and calibre is just what we need at this moment in time. A former captain at Alfreton, I didn’t get the chance to see the best of him at Ilkeston due to injuries with him not being fit at the start of the season. . But we know all the qualities he has, a great professional. A great lad, a great attitude and he’ll be a fantastic addition to the squad.”

Carruthers added that Bradley is a massive signing for the club going forwards.

“We’ve got strength in depth now defensively, experience at the back with Saul Deeney and Dan will bring experience and guile we’ll need in the big games we’ve got coming up. So Dan’s a massive signing, a statement of intent that we’re ambitious and we want quality players in for that push for the play-offs so he’s a very welcome addition.”

Subject to NPL and FA approval, Bradley is expected to be included in the squad for Saturday’s home clash with play-off rivals Warrington Town.

Ian Richardson

Photo by Craig Lamont Photography