Former Bradford City keeper Hornby on why he had to quit Valley Parade

The keeper is now enjoying a regular run in Colchester’s goal after making a permanent move to the Essex club during the summer.

But he admits he never saw his three-season stint with the Bantams ending as it did.

Talking to the Lower League Look podcast, Hornby revealed how shocked he had been in January to discover that previous boss Derek Adams was bringing in another keeper on loan.

“We’d just played Rochdale away and drew 0-0,” he said. “Derek Adams got us in on the Sunday if there was a Tuesday game and we were due to play Walsall.

“I was just about to get on the M606 and Rich (Richard O’Donnell) rings me. ‘Just to let you know, Alex Bass is here’.

“I was like, ‘what?’ I was getting games, buzzing because I was playing and we’d picked up a bit.

“My first year I’d been non-existent and went on loan, the second year was Covid and this was almost like the first time the fans had properly seen me.

“I’d got a relationship with the and felt respected - when he told me that, I couldn’t get my mind round it why they’d brought somebody in.

“I remember telling my girlfriend, ‘am I XXXX or something?’ She just laughed at me.

Derek Adams signed goalkeeper Alex Bass on loan in January (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“The fans were unreal that day at Rochdale, packed out the away end, and I remember my name being chanted near the end. Then that happened.”

Hornby spoke to goalkeeping coach John Vaughan - who had been given no clue what Adams had been planning.

But Hornby’s clean sheet at Spotland on his 32nd City appearance would prove to be his swansong. He joined Colchester on loan on deadline day after making it clear to Adams that “I don’t want to sit here and watch Alex Bass play all season.”

Hornby added: “That was not being disrespectful to the club or anything. But I’d had a taste of first-team football and wanted more.

“I wanted to prove something to Derek Adams. I came back early from when I fractured my face because you wanted a goalie on the bench.

“It’s hard but it’s one man’s opinion that picks the team.

“I think my decision had been made for me. I was not going to play and was going to sit on the bench - and I didn’t want that.

“It was a tough decision leaving the club because I felt I’d found my feet and wanted to be a part of it.

“But then hearing what happened overnight in terms of bringing him (Bass) in … you either sit here and potentially lose three or four months of football or look and see if there’s an opportunity for going somewhere else.”