Two hat-tricks…but three matchballs treasured at home – Millwall’s Tom Bradshaw on keeping football memorabilia
Tom Bradshaw has three matchballs at home – but only two of them are for scoring hat-tricks.
The Millwall striker hit a second career treble in the 3-0 win over Watford in October, with all of the goals at The Den coming in a 25-minute spell in the first half.
Bradshaw has not scored since he stung the Hornets but with 206 Championship appearances under his belt, he has the experience to know that hot streaks tend to ebb and flow.
“I was getting all sorts of things sent to me for weeks after that Watford game about it being the quickest hat-trick of the season,” Bradshaw told the South London Press.
“Football is a funny game where things can completely fall into place – that was the game for me.
“Sometimes you can go two or three games without a chance and then have three in the space of 25 minutes. You’ve always got to be ready for those chances. It’s up to you, as an attacker, to put them away.
“In the Watford game it was like a magnet – the ball was dropping for me in the right areas.”
The pick of Bradshaw’s finishes against Watford was his first, nodding the ball down in the box before striking a half-volley with the outside of his right boot past Daniel Bachmann.
He had a similar kind of opportunity in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Wigan after being slipped in by Zian Flemming but produced more of a low flick which Latics keeper Jamie Jones was able to push away.
“When I look back at goals in my career, a lot have been moments where I haven’t got time to think,” said Bradshaw, who joined Millwall from Barnsley in August 2018.
“It looks like I’ve got time [against Watford] but by the time I’ve headed it down and got to the ball it is split-second decision-making.
“There were some parallels with Saturday but the keeper made a great save. Vogey [Andreas Voglsammer] is a bit unlucky that the ball hasn’t fallen to him at the back post.
“You make an instinctive call – you go with your gut.”
All of Millwall’s players signed the Watford matchball.
Bradshaw’s other hat-trick was for Walsall in a EFL Cup tie at Forest in August 2015.
It was 3-3 when Bradshaw won, and converted, a penalty in the 93rd minute at the City Ground.
“I’m quite big on keeping memorabilia from my career,” said Bradshaw. “It is something I can look back on when I finish.
“It’s nice to have those pieces – whether it is shirts, matchballs, man of the match trophies or champagne. It’s stuff at the start of my career that I could only wish for and I never take it for granted.
“I’m not allowed the [Watford] matchball in the living room for family reasons. It’s got a place in a nice little cabinet in the office in our house.
“On my debut for Shrewsbury, when I was 17, I came on in the 75th minute against Crewe and scored twice. After the game Paul Simpson [the manager] came over to me, bounced the ball and said: ‘Keep that – it’s something you’re going to want to treasure’.
“I’ve got loads of shirts and personal trophies, but the balls are probably what mean the most to me because scoring a hat-trick in the professional game is a hard and rare thing to do – unless you’re Erling Haaland. For the humans among us, it is a special day.”
