Bradford City have received a major boost with the news that top-scorer Peter Thorne has agreed to stay on for another season.
Top-scorer cuts pay by half to stay at Bradford for another season
Bradford City have received a major boost with the news that top-scorer Peter Thorne has agreed to stay on for another season.
The hitman, who turns 36 on Sunday, has been the top scorer for the Bantams for the past two seasons, netting 32 goals in 71 appearances since joining from Norwich City back in July 2007.
But he had been considering whether to play on after suffering with a persistent back injury last term.
However, after encouraging words from Bantams boss Stuart McCall, who himself played on until he was 40, Thorne has penned a new one-year deal.
McCall is delighted to have secured the signature of the veteran, who has cut his pay packet by half.
The Bradford boss told the
Telegraph and Argus: "A couple of seasons ago he was probably looking to wind down but now he is enjoying his football that much that he wants to continue.
Very interested
"We met up on holiday and Pete was very interested when I was telling him about playing on until I was 40. He is certainly enjoying his football and it doesn't sound like he wants to pack in soon.
"When he had two years at Norwich only playing the odd game then that can affect you. But he's playing regularly for us and scoring goals - and strikers always get a buzz from hitting the back of the net."
McCall added: "Pete got 17 league goals in 32 games last season; the likes of Andy Bishop at Bury, who's been well-courted, scored 16 in 39 and that was including penalties.
"The leading scorer was on 20 and if you look back to Thorney's header that wasn't given at Lincoln and the two legitimate 'goals' against Dagenham, then he would have equalled that.
"Obviously with the little niggles that Thorney has had there's no guarantee he will play X amount of games. That's why finding the right package for him was tough.
Desperate
"But if he does get 30 to 35 games there's a good chance he will end up with 15 to 20 goals, as he has done for the last two seasons. That's why I was desperate to keep him.
"We know we've got a good goal scorer and now it's about finding the right one alongside him.
"If we manage to bring in a young one up front, they can only learn from Pete."
McCall confirmed that City are in the hunt for Macclesfield striker Gareth Evans, but the 21-year-old's compensation fee is proving a stumbling block.
"We've made an inquiry but at the moment nothing will be happening because of the fee Macclesfield are after," said McCall.
