Bullard ventured south in 2006, signing for Lawrie Sanchez’s Fulham for a fee of around £2 million, which Sanchez would later claim was ‘the best £2 million the club ever spent’. Sadly his first season at the west London club was cut short when he damaged his cruciate ligament in a game with Newcastle United – putting him out of action for 16 months, four months longer than initially thought. When he did return he helped Fulham stave off relegation in 2007-08 with a late season run of form, in which he was instrumental.
A move to Hull City followed in 2009 for a record fee of £5 million but, once more, his knee injury blighted him throughout and he could only clock up 18 league starts in two-and-a-half years. Did any of this deter Bullard’s sense of humour? Of course not. After Phil Brown, Hull manager at the time, had given his team a half time reprimanding on the pitch against Man City in a 5-1 defeat, young Jimmy thought he would replicate this on the pitch in the corresponding fixture a year later after he scored an equalising penalty. An iconic image. Thankfully, the perma-tanned boss was able to see the funny side as Bullard helped secure a point.
Alas, the closing months of Bullard’s career would be best forgotten after he was involved in a contract dispute with Hull and subsequently moved to Ipswich Town where he was sacked for a night on the tiles with Michael Chopra. His temperamental knee was always likely to flare up and he could never regain the consistency that he showed in the early stages of his career, first at Wigan and then at Fulham, where Bullard believes he played the best football of his career. Indeed, he was called up to the senior England squad for World Cup qualifying matches with Andorra and Croatia in 2008 but that much-sought-after cap eluded him.
Many would agree that we never saw the best of Jimmy Bullard. Heck, even he himself would be honest enough to admit that. But, the man who has a back door named after him (ask Helen Chamberlain of Soccer AM) can proudly state that he lived the football rags-to-riches tale. He could play too, no doubt – energetic, combative and able to dictate games in the centre of the park. He arguably reached his peak during his Fulham days but injury blighted him and he was never able to recover. And that’s a real shame because how entertaining would Jimmy Bullard have been for England at a national tournament? Potentially could have been the new Gazza (comedy-wise not in the footballing sense)! A case of what could have been, sure. But for now, let’s simply look back fondly on a colourful career of one of football’s good guys.
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