He played in the Football League for Bury, Barnsley, Preston North End, Burnley, Wigan Athletic and Northampton Town, making more than 350 senior appearances.
Born in Nottingham, Bishop started his playing career as an apprentice at Stoke City before joining Watford in April 1986, but he did not make a senior appearance for either club.
He lost his first-team place to Steve Davis during his final season with Barnsley and was consequently loaned out on two occasions, firstly to Preston North End, where he played four league matches, before joining Burnley on the last day of the 1996 transfer window.
[1] Burnley manager Adrian Heath considered signing Bishop on a permanent deal that summer but the player instead moved to Wigan Athletic for a transfer fee of £20,000.
Towards the end of the 2000–01 season, Bishop was one of a trio of managers alongside Chris Marples and former Burnley teammate Ian Helliwell hired by Ilkeston Town, who then played in Southern League Premier Division, to save the club from relegation.