Bankfoot is mourning the loss of one of its finest servants following the death of former player, committee member, chairman, president and life member, John Tiffany.

He joined the club in the late 1960s and was part of the Bankfoot side that won the Bradford League championship for the only time in 1972.

John spent hours and hours at the club and was the main junior coach throughout the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.

He was a popular choice to become chairman and then president of the club as he always gave 100 per cent to everything he did.

He was well loved and much respected by everyone who knew him, not only at Bankfoot but also with his time at Bradford College. John was an all round sportsman, not only playing cricket but also rugby, golf, squash and badminton.

Although John had health problems over the past few years, he could still be seen at home games on numerous occasions still supporting all.

He will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him.  

That great Bankfoot team that John was a key part of is worth remembering, especially when considering what had gone before them.

Bankfoot and Undercliffe are the only two sides remaining in the Bradford League who were part of its inaugural season in 1903, but the former were perennial under-achievers.

There was little to shout about in the first 60 years of their existence, other than three Priestley Cup finals, all of which they lost.

They finished bottom of the league in 1932, issuing the first of their 12 re-election pleas in a 28-year period.

Having dropped into Division B when the league split into two tiers in 1937, Bankfoot took over 30 years to get promoted, around the time John established himself in the team as a fine batsman.

After pipping Queensbury to promotion in 1968, Bankfoot finally returned to the promised land, immediately establishing themselves as a solid mid-table outfit.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: John Tiffany (front row, second left) in 1969, Bankfoot's first season back in the top flight of the Bradford League for over 30 years.John Tiffany (front row, second left) in 1969, Bankfoot's first season back in the top flight of the Bradford League for over 30 years. (Image: T&A.)

But with great players alongside John like Howard Hughes, Ken Hill and Raymond Hirst, the dam was always threatening to burst.

It did so in spectacular fashion in Bankfoot’s iconic 1972 season, with Hughes taking 50 wickets at a ridiculous average of 8.92, Hill leading the run charts with an average of 44 and Hirst claiming the league’s wicketkeeper of the year award.

They romped to their one and only title by a remarkable 17 points, an enormous margin in those days, winning 14 of their 22 matches when no-one else claimed more than eight league victories in the top-flight that year.

After that, Bankfoot were a steady presence in the top flight for the rest of the 1970s, with John joining Hill, Stuart Verity, Brian Hudson and for a period, Yorkshire batsman John Woolford, as part of an imposing batting line up.

Relegated in 1979, Bankfoot have never come close to winning that second top flight title, with that one glorious summer in 1972, in which John played a huge part, the only major silverware in their 120-year Bradford League history.

N.B: Many thanks to Bradford League historian Reg Nelson for his tireless research, which helped form the background part of this article, as well as the league’s chief executive officer Alan Birkinshaw, for the personal information about John’s life and his love for cricket.