 Bamford was appointed as head coach when Smales left the club in 1974, but was only in charge for a few months before being replaced by Alan Hardisty.After spending time at Bradford Northern as an assistant to Peter Fox, he joined Halifax in March 1978, who were bottom of the Second Division and hadn't won a game all season.He dramatically turned around the club's fortunes, missing out on promotion by one point in the 1978–79 season.