Former Bradford City loanee Curtis Good is on the move this summer after six years with Melbourne City.

Good is the club’s record appearance holder, having made 180 outings across two spells. The most recent of those started in 2018, and in that spell, he’s amassed three A-League titles, making him one of their all-time greats. Such is his impact on the club, their Clubman of the Year Trophy will be renamed the ‘Curtis Good Award’.

The 31-year-old is now on the move, heading to Thai champions Buririam United, who rubber-stamped their third successive title with an 8-2 win against Khon Kaen Utd yesterday. That means silverware is likely on Good’s horizon, and it was something he almost got during his brief stay in English football.

The central defender left his native Australia for Newcastle United in 2012 for a fee believed to be around £300,000. He spent six years in the north-east but did not make a league appearance for the club.

He did have a loan spell at Bradford City, which was controversial from the start. He made his debut in the FA Cup against Brentford, but was not initially registered, which almost resulted in the Bantams being removed from the competition. This was reduced to a £1,000 fine on appeal.

However, he then played a role in their surge to the Capital One Cup final against Swansea City. Despite only making three league appearances for his loan club, he turned out three times in the cup, including 46 minutes of the final, which they lost 5-0.

He later appeared twice for the Magpies, once in each domestic competition, as well as having a short stay with Dundee United, before moving back home in 2018. In 2021, he was called up for the Socceroos, his second cap, seven years after his first. To date, they remain his only two international appearances.

He now moves to Buriram, where he joins a side who have lifted 20 trophies in the last ten seasons.

Writer’s View

Curtis Good only played a small role in Bradford’s cup odyssey, but he pulled on the classic shirt and remains a part of the story. His best performance was perhaps in the semi-final against Aston Villa, a game they lost 2-1, enough to advance to the final on aggregate.

Buriram are a serious force in Thailand and he’s sure to be among the silverware. However, in the wider Asian football scene, Thailand struggles to assert dominance. Still, a player of Good’s experience might help them become more of a threat in the coveted AFC Champions League, last lifted by a Thai team in 1995.