Lifelong Bulls fan is on a mission to pay tribute to fallen Bradford Northern players

A LIFELONG Bulls fan is on a mission to pay tribute to former Bradford Northern players who lost their lives in the First World War.

Club volunteer and gravedigger Graham Swain can be seen regularly at Odsal; stadium maintenance by moving heavy objects.

Bradford cross the channel on Saturday to face Toulouse in their Championship game.

Supporters make the long journey to the south of France each season to cheer their team on to victory.

The last time the Bulls played in Toulouse (Image: Tom Pearson) Having located the final resting places of two men in Bradford last year, this time around Graham plans to locate and visit the graves of the ill-fated Northern players.

Speaking to the Bradford Bulls website, he said: “Last year on the trip to Toulouse we located the final resting places of two Bradford brothers, commemorated in Undercliffe Cemetery but buried overseas; one killed at Ypres and the other at the Somme.

“This year, based on the wonderful efforts of the Bulls Foundation and the Birch Lane Heroes project, we will find the final resting places of Bradford Northern players lost in the First World War and place a respectful marker to highlight that their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Graham is a lifelong Bradford fan (Image: Bradford Bulls) “We have found the first ex-player, Harold Basil Wray, who was killed just two weeks before the final armistice in October 1918 and is buried in northern Italy.

“Most of the other club casualties were lost on the Western Front in Belgium and France, although I believe one is commemorated at Gallipoli in Turkey.”

Harold Basil Wray’s grave (Image: Bradford Bulls) Graham has recently become an unlikely YouTube star, with his reconstructions of derelict, derelict and crumbling graves attracting thousands of viewers to his ‘Bradford Through the Lens’ channel.

Since he began digging graves, Graham has amassed more than 15,000 burials – helping the Council of Mosques.

Graham can be seen regularly at Odsal (Image: Newsquest) Every day he can be seen in the Muslim section at Scholemoor Cemetery.

Graham added: “With next year being the City of Culture, I think commemorating our heritage is most important.

“It is an honor and a privilege to take on such an important task on behalf of the club. I am proud to do so.”