Hairdresser Daniel Taylor is offering a haircut at his new salon to boost the Telegraph & Argus Save Our City Appeal auction.

And the lucky bidder should be in safe hands because the 22-year-old is a former Bradford City goalkeeper.

Daniel joined the club when he was 13 and fulfilled every schoolboy's dream by playing his way through the ranks to become a Premiership footballer.

He was only 18 when he broke into the first team squad and made several appearances on the bench against the likes of giants Chelsea, in the side which beat the drop in the 1999/2000 season.

But he was never selected to play in a Premiership match and at the end of the season the club released him.

After stints with several non-league clubs, Daniel, of Gomersal, decided to quit the game and swap his goalie gloves for scissors to become a full-time hairdresser.

He said the club held special memories for him and he wanted to do his bit to help it survive.

He said: "It is disappointing even though I am a Leeds fan. There are lads still playing there who I grew up with, like Mark Bower, and now they could be struggling for a job. It is not nice to see.

"My girlfriend works near Valley Parade and every time I walk past the ground the memories come flooding back.

"There were a lot of characters in that squad like Peter Beagrie, Dean Saunders and Robbie Blake. They all used to give me stick because I was studying to be a hairdresser. They used to call me Vid or Vidal Sassoon."

Switching careers from professional football to hairdressing might not seem like the most obvious choice but for Daniel it meant following in a family tradition which dates back almost a century.

His great-grandfather opened a barber's in Brighouse 96 years ago and now his father Renny Taylor runs the shop in the town. His mother and sister are also hairdressers.

Daniel has just opened his own salon in Birstall and he is now offering Bradford City fans the chance to bid for a cut and blow dry or restyling.

The auction is the latest event in the T & A's appeal to try to stop the Bantams going out of business.

Famous names from across Bradford have agreed to donate prizes for the auction, including pop stars Gareth Gates and Kimberley Walsh, and television presenter Richard Whiteley.

It takes place at Bradford City's banqueting suite at Valley Parade on Friday, July 2, at 7.30pm.

Admission costs a nominal £3, to go towards the appeal, which has so far helped raise more than £207,000 for the club.

Any City fans who want to donate an item for the event should call John Roberts on (01274) 705204.