Bradford City v Imps 2009 – Where Are They Now?

City have had a great run at Valley Parade, winning all four previous visits. Two of these, in the EFL Trophy and EFL Cup, have occurred since our return to the EFL in 2017.

The other two occurred in the dour seasons preceding the decrease, 2009/10 and 2010/11. The latter saw us win 2-1 thanks to goals from Delroy Facey and Gavin McCallum, while the first victory of the season came under Peter Jackson. Just.

Jacko won 2-0 at Valley Parade in August 2009, his final game as Imps manager. Rene Howe and Chris Fagan scored for us, but defeats to Burton (2-0), Dagenham (3-0), and Darlington in the JPT (1-0) saw him leave and Chris Sutton arrive.

On the eve of our first league encounter at the ground since 2011, I thought it might be fascinating to look back at the players from that Tuesday night and ask ‘where are they now’ or, in some cases, ‘whatever happened to….’.

Burch was a reliable custodian for City, but some fans blamed him for popular stopper Alan Marriott not receiving the testimonial he deserved.

After leaving Lincoln City at the end of the 2009/10 season, Burch joined Notts County on a free transfer and stayed there for two seasons before being released.

His stint at Meadow Lane was cut short due to injuries, and he eventually dropped out of football.He later entered teaching, originally working in Tottenham Hotspur’s academy system.

Burch went on to work as Spurs’ first-team goalkeeping coach under Ange Postecoglou before leaving the club in 2024.

This season, he was appointed to the same position at Nottingham Forest, extending his coaching career in the Premier League.

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