DOB: 21.1.1986, Sydney, NSW
From: Free
To: Free
BCFC: 27.7.2007 to 30.6.2009
Signed by: Stuart McCall
Sold by: Stuart McCall
Now: Gateshead
Kyle Nix’s name in a clutch of pre-season trialists at Valley Parade before the 2007/08 season kicked off didn’t really mean much to us here in Australia. To be honest, we also suspect it meant little to the good people of Bradford.
But while manager Stuart McCall would go on to sign Paul Evans, Darren Williams, Nathan Joynes and Thomas Harban – while deciding Simon Johnson, Kris Gate and Peter Leven weren’t what he was looking for – it was the signing of the diminutive Nix which would prove to be easily the most successful.
That it transpired Nix had been born in Sydney proved an added bonus for us at Antipodean Bantams HQ.
Initially, finding out Nix’s story proved difficult, and we went with the assumption he had left Australia perhaps as a 15 or 16-year-old, which was why we hadn’t heard of him.
We later heard the quite frankly sickening revelation that he had played for England at youth level, and ‘spoke in a broad Yorkshire accent’.
It turned out that Nix was born in Australia while his father, Peter, was playing football here. Peter had played for Rotherham, amongst others, and when the family returned to South Yorkshire, Kyle started to make his own mark in the game.
Kyle started out at Manchester United as a youth, before joining Aston Villa.
He then went to Sheffield United in search of first-team football, but made just two late substitute appearances in the League Cup for the Blades in late 2005 (against Shrewsbury and Reading) before joining Barnsley on loan.
Again, he failed to feature with the Tykes, and was released by the Blades at the end of the 2005/06 season.
From there things could have gone downhill for Nix, and with all due respect to the clubs involved initially it did, as he turned to non-league football with Buxton and then Northern Counties East League outfit Parkgate.
Nix credited that year in non-league football as a real turning point in his career, and after doing enough to impress McCall, he was initially offered a one-month deal.
Nix then made his first-team debut one to remember by scoring for Bradford City against Wolves in the Carling Cup, and netted again in a 5-1 thumping at the hands of Doncaster in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
Two more short-term contracts would eventually be offered to take Nix to the end of the season, by which time he had cemented a spot in the team, making 40 league appearances (nine of which were as a sub) and netting six goals, while in four cup games he scored the two goals mentioned above.
Despite a disappointing season for the Bantams, Nix proved to be one of the few real success stories, and it was no surprise when he was one of only two senior players coming off contract to be offered a new deal.
Nix signed a new, one year-contract on May 6, 2008, but his second season at Valley Parade was less successful than his first, and he was released by McCall who told him he could come back in the pre-season to try his luck again with the Bantams if he wasn’t able to find another club.
Not surprisingly, Nix told the club that he wouldn’t be taking up that offer, and not long after he signed a two-year deal with non-league Mansfield.
BCFC Stats: (as at end of 2007/08 season)
Appearances: 44 Goals 8
League appearances: 31 (9) League goals: 6
Cup appearances: 4 Cup goals: 2
Links:
Bradford City profile
Mansfield Town profile
Sky Sport profile
Soccerbase profile
Wikipedia entry
