Patrick James Bamford (born 5 September 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Leeds United.

After five years at the club without making a first-team appearance, Bamford left Chelsea and returned to Middlesbrough for a fee in the region of £5.5 million in January 2017.

He subsequently joined Leeds United in July 2018 for a fee possibly rising to £10 million, and helped the club win the Championship title during the 2019–20 season and gain promotion to the Premier League.

[7][8] Described by the Yorkshire Evening Post in 2018 as "not your typical footballer",[9] he plays the piano, violin, guitar and saxophone, and is conversational in French, Spanish and German.

[10] Bamford was an unused substitute during Forest's League Cup third round tie against Newcastle United at the City Ground on 21 September 2011, a 4–3 defeat after extra time.

[11] He made his Forest debut against Cardiff City in a 1–0 home defeat on 31 December, coming on as a substitute for Matt Derbyshire with 12 minutes remaining.

[22] Bamford scored 14 league goals in 23 appearances for MK Dons during this six-month period, and thus was the subject of speculation that he would be sent on loan to a club at a higher level.

He made his last appearance for Milton Keynes on 4 January 2014, where he scored his 17th goal of the season in the closing stages of a 3–3 draw against the holders Wigan Athletic in the third round of the FA Cup.

[27] On 24 January, Bamford won the Football League Young Player of the Month award for December following his performances on loan at MK Dons.

[42][43] Bamford again continued to impress during the game against league leaders Derby County on 13 December, in which he scored the opening goal within the first six minutes, and later won a penalty which was converted by Leadbitter in a 2–0 win.

[45] On 24 January 2015, in the fourth round of the FA Cup, Bamford exploited an error by Fernando to open the scoring as Middlesbrough defeated reigning Premier League champions Manchester City 2–0 away.

[53] He made his competitive debut for Palace eight days later in a 2–1 home defeat to Arsenal, replacing James McArthur for the final ten minutes.

[58] On 12 March 2016, he made his first Premier League start in a 0–0 draw with Manchester City, where he had the best opportunity of the game to score with a shot from 25 yards out which hit the bar.

[61] After making six Premier League appearances, his loan was cut short after he was recalled by Chelsea on 14 January 2017,[62] with Bamford citing a clash of personalities with the Burnley manager Sean Dyche during his spell at the club.

[63] On 18 January 2017, Bamford joined Middlesbrough, then in the Premier League, on a four-and-a-half-year deal in the region of £5.5 million, reuniting him with Aitor Karanka.

[72] Bamford scored 13 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions during the 2017–18 season,[73] to help Middlesbrough reach the Championship play-off semi-finals, where they were eliminated by Aston Villa.

[79][80] On 14 August, Bamford made his first start for Leeds in an EFL Cup fixture against Bolton Wanderers, the game also saw him score his first goal for the club in a 2–1 win.

[83] On 15 December, Bamford returned from his cruciate ligament injury as a second-half substitute against Bolton, opening the scoring for his first league goal for the club in a 1–0 win.

[87] He took his tally to six goals for the season (one in an EFL Cup home tie in August against Bolton), after scoring a brace in a 4–0 win against West Bromwich Albion on 1 March.

[100][101][102][103] Citing the fact that he was now "focused on being a lot more aggressive" after the summer,[104] Bamford scored his first goal of the 2019–20 season on 4 August in Leeds' opening day 3–1 victory against Bristol City.

[108] With criticism of Bamford building[109] following the striker's three-game goal drought and Derby's 91st-minute equaliser at Elland Road on 21 September 2019,[110] head coach Marcelo Bielsa noted through his translator at the post-game press conference,[111] that "if we want to analyse, we cannot avoid to have this talk," concerning the attacking issues of the current team.

[127] On 2 October 2020, Bamford was nominated for Premier League Player of the Month for the three goals and one assist he had in September[128] but lost out to Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

[129] In Leeds' second game back after the international break, Bamford scored his first Premier League hat trick, in a 3–0 away win on 23 October over Aston Villa.

[143] Three days later, Bamford started his first game in almost six months — in Leeds's dramatic 2–1 win at Elland Road against Norwich City — before being substituted by Robin Koch in the 60th minute.

In a wide-ranging interview with BBC Radio Leeds on 9 April 2022,[145] following his re-injury against Wolves,[146] he spoke of the injuries he had suffered during his blighted season, specifically the Wolves game: [W]hen Jesse came in, knew the situation with my foot, I was like a couple of weeks from getting back involved … I knew, when I'd spoken to the specialists and stuff, that a tear in the plantar fascia doesn't ever really heal, so the heel is painful the whole time and just walking day-to-day was agony ...

[150][151][152] Handed the captain's armband when he came in as a second-half replacement for Rodrigo, Bamford scored Leeds' fourth and fifth in their 5–2 win at Elland Road over Cardiff in the F.A.

On 1 January 2024 he netted his first goal of the season in a home league tie against Birmingham City, nodding in a header from close range, following a delivery from Daniel James.

[157][158] Despite the transfer of Rutter and Summerville in the summer of 2024 to Premier League clubs Brighton and West Ham respectively, Bamford commenced another season as Farke's centre-forward selection behind Mateo Joseph and Piroe, as well as newcomer Largie Ramazani.

On 17 November 2013, he was called up to the England under-21 team for the first time for a game against San Marino under-21s after a fantastic start to the season, having scored 12 goals in 20 appearances.

[171] In August 2021, Bamford was called up for the England national team for the first time ahead of September's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Hungary, Andorra and Poland.