Having monitored the condition of the pitch and the weather forecast through out the day, the decision has been taken to postpone tomorrow’s fixture against Leamington FC.
Pre-Match Programme: Leamington FC
Bradford (Park Avenue) host Leamington on Saturday and will be eager to avenge their 4-2 defeat back in August.
Mark Bower’s side were convincingly beaten at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium in the reverse fixture and Saturday’s game also presents an opportunity to halt their recent slide.
January yielded just one point for Bradford but they remain in the play-off positions, albeit eleven points adrift of league leaders Chorley.
Young goalkeeper Jack Atkinson is likely to start between the sticks following Steven Drench’s departure and Danny East will be hoping to feature again after making his long-awaited debut against Brackley Town.
Transfer News: Romoney Crichlow-Noble Joins On Loan
Bradford (Park Avenue) welcome New Signing from Huddersfield Town Romoney Crichlow-Noble.
The highly rated left-sided centre-half, who can also play at left-back, joined Huddersfield Town in March 2017 following a successful trial period with the Club.
After impressing for Town’s Under-18s towards the end of 2016/17 campaign, the defender stepped up to Under-23s level and went on to feature in 18 games last season before penning a new 2 year deal with the Terriers to the end of the 2020 season.
The 6ft 19 year old joins Mark Bower’s side on loan for the remainder of the season and the top-tier loanee will be alongside Charlie Andrew , who arrived this week from Championship club Hull City as Mark Bower and the team look to kick start the new month and play off race with a win. Kick off is 3pm.
#WeAreBradford
Transfer News: Charlie Andrew Joins Bradford On Loan
Bradford (Park Avenue) are today excited to announce the signing of Hull City goalkeeper, Charlie Andrew on loan for the rest of the season.
Charlie joins the Avenue following a successful loan spell at NPL Division One East side, Pickering Town, having made well over 50 appearances for the Pikes despite having only turned 19 at the start of January. During his time with Pickering, the young stopper has won man of the match a number of times and has picked up numerous awards, including the Manager’s Player Of The Year Award for 2017/18.
A rising star within the Hull City academy, Charlie has made 18 appearances for Hull City Under 18’s and a further 13 appearances for their Under 23 side.
The 6ft stopper joins Bradford through to the end of the season.
See Charlie in action this Saturday as Avenue take on Leamington at home, 3pm at the Horsfall Stadium.
#WeAreBradford
The National League Announce A Rebrand
The National League is pleased to announce a rebranding of its title sponsorship from the Vanarama National League to the Motorama National League from next season.
In doing so, the new agreement adds a further three seasons to a sponsorship arrangement with the Autorama Group which has enjoyed great success for both parties over the past five seasons.
Motorama- sister brand of Vanarama- is a personal car leasing broker and the latest arm of the Autorama Group.
The involvement of Motorama with The National League will see the introduction of a brand new affiliation scheme, which will provide supporters with an opportunity to earn money for their Club with every vehicle leased.
Michael Tattersall, Chief Executive Officer of The National League, said: “Following five seasons as the Vanarama National League, we are delighted to be signing up for a further three seasons as the Motorama National League.
“Our relationship with the Autorama Group goes from strength to strength, and is a classic case of football sponsorship delivering value and helping to create a leading consumer brand.”
Title sponsorship of The National League propelled Vanarama into the homes of millions of people around the UK, driving huge engagement with the brand and the wider football community.
The Motorama National League will receive incredible exposure with BT Sport regularly broadcasting live matches and highlights from the competition.
CEO of Autorama Group, Andy Alderson added: “We’re delighted to be continuing our relationship with The National League.
“It will allow Motorama to enjoy the prestige of being title sponsor of one of the UK’s most popular football leagues and get its message that people CAN lease the cars they want – rather than settle for something they can find on a used dealer’s forecourt – to an engaged audience of enthusiastic fans.”
Club Statement 28/01/19
Bradford Park Avenue would like to make the following statement:-
As outlined at a recent Fan Forum and in a statement as recently as Friday, Mark Bower and the Board are working closely together to refresh and re-balance the playing squad during January.
We operate a small squad with no reserve team, and the balance between having enough depth, and the luxury of having players not involved week to week is a delicate one at a club of our size and means. In order to recruit fresh faces to push forward into the Play-off Race, we, like many clubs, listed some players for Transfer in order to gauge interest. This was done only 14 days ago. Some of these players had requested more game time and opportunities; others have served the club very well in recent seasons however were not in the clubs plans for 2019/2020. 5 (five) players were listed in total with one player requesting a move prior.
Two players have departed the club in the past two weeks, both for healthy contracts elsewhere through to the end of the 2019/2020 season. Negotiations are continuing regarding one other player transferring.
Disappointingly there have been reports and misrepresentations made around this very normal business for a football club in January.
We remain consistent with the strategy and re-build of the club that has been communicated openly by Directors in recent months. We aim to build the most competitive squad under Mark Bowers’ stewardship as possible, with the aim and ambition to win every match we play and push for the play-offs and promotion. Retaining and extending our exciting group of core players is prudent and a priority.
We are working hard to improve Horsfall Stadium with pitch perimeter fencing being installed, and we are working with the FA to ensure Horsfall is compliant with Ground Grading Guidelines for the National League should Mark and the teams brilliant work to date this season achieve a play-off series appearance.
As outlined to fans very transparently recently, we can be sustainable should we reach the National League and we strive to achieve that goal.
We are active in the recruitment market and will be announcing more news in due course in-line with our strategy to invest our playing budget and generously donated supporter player fund monies in a prudent and efficient manner.
We expect to have settled on our transfer business by the end of the month and are all focused on winning football matches and extending the enjoyable season our supporters have been provided deep into the play-off race, and beyond.
Brackley Town surge into the play-offs with a convincing victory over Bradford (Park Avenue).
The hosts were the first to threaten as winger Matt Lowe came close to notching an early opener.
He was teed up by Lee Ndlovu and advanced into the box at an alarming speed, but saw his shot blocked by a sliding Shane Killock.
Brackley’s Omari Sterling-James then embarked on a mazy run down the left before cutting in and drawing an impressive stop from Steven Drench with a curling effort.
Drench was called into action again when the resulting corner delivery landed at the feet of Oran Jackson, who stung the goalkeeper’s palms with a close-range strike.
The Saints were eventually rewarded for their pressure when veteran midfielder Carl Baker broke the deadlock. Brackley’s latest signing rifled into top corner from around 25-yards out, rendering a diving Drench helpless.
After taking the lead, Brackley continued to cause Bradford problems and Drench was forced to palm Lowe’s shot wide after the winger advanced unchallenged.
As the second-half entered its latter stages, Bradford sought to mount a comeback and demonstrated a quicker tempo in the final third. Oli Johnson lifted into the box from the left, but Jake Beesley failed to connect cleanly with the ball under pressure from Jackson and headed wide.
Gianluca Havern connected with Lewis Knight’s corner delivery with just a minute of the first-half remaining, but his powerful header found the wrong side of the post.
Saints skipper Gareth Dean then thwarted Beesley, making a last-ditch tackle that prevented Bradford’s marksman going one-on-one with Danny Lewis.
HALF-TIME: Brackley Town 1-0 Bradford (Park Avenue)
Lowe had proven to be a thorn in Bradford’s side throughout the first-half and his direct running created an opportunity within two minutes of the second-half beginning. He accelerated down the right flank before rolling the ball into the path of Baker, who saw his shot blocked by Havern.
James Armson then tried his luck from 20-yards but his tame effort was held comfortably by Drench.
Drench, however, was powerless to prevent Ndlovu’s header nestling in the back of the net after the forward met Shane Byrne’s cross.
Bradford embarked on a hunt for an opening as they attempted to claw their way back into the game, but both Jamie Spencer and Knight saw efforts blocked in the 18-yard box.
The hosts continued to pose an attacking threat despite their relatively comfortable lead and Lowe was denied by Drench after darting into the box from the right flank.
Brackley’s lead was eventually extended through Baker, who fired into the top corner from close-range after the ball was delivered to him on a plate by Lowe.
The visitors failed to produce a response in the final ten minutes as Brackley held strong and nullified the attacking threat in Bradford’s frontline.
FULL-TIME: Brackley Town 3-0 Bradford (Park Avenue)
Brackley Town: Lewis, Myles, G. Walker, Byrne, Jackson, Dean (c), Lowe, Armson (A. Walker 78’), Ndlovu (Nti 88’), Baker, Sterling-James (Fairlamb 68’).
Unused substitutes: Jeffers.
Bradford (Park Avenue): Drench, Ross, Lowe, Spencer, Killock (c) (Nowakowski 72’), Havern, Knight, Branson, Beesley, Johnson (Hurst 52’), Clee (East 78’).
Unused substitutes: Atkinson, Dawson.
Referee: Matt Russell
Attendance: 487
Nicky Wroe departs Horsfall
Bradford Park Avenue have today agreed to release Nicky Wroe from the remainder of his contract.
A popular midfielder and clubman, Nicky Wroe joined The club in 2016 and has been a regular first team stalwart. Mark Bower, The board, and everyone involved at the club would like to wish Nicky all the very best and thank him for his substantial contribution and professionalism during his time at Horsfall.
All player movements should be considered in the wider context once we have completed our trading. As outlined at the recent Fans Forum, we are active in the recruitment market and will be announcing more news in due course in-line with our strategy to invest our playing budget and generously donated supporter player fund monies in a prudent and efficient manner.
Match Preview: Brackley Town
Bradford (Park Avenue) will visit Brackley Town on Saturday, returning to the scene of last season’s play-off semi-final defeat.
The Saints advanced into the 2018 Vanarama National League North play-off final with a narrow victory over Bradford in May, but were beaten by Mark Bower’s side on the opening day of the 2018/19 campaign.
Once again, the Northamptonshire-based side are chasing promotion and find themselves just three points adrift of 7th-placed Chester. Bradford occupy 3rd place in the division but are still searching for their first win of the calendar year.
Kevin Wilkin’s side haven’t been defeated since before Christmas and secured a 1-0 win over Alfreton Town last Saturday.
GUIDE TO THE OPPONENTS:
The Gaffer:
Kevin Wilkin
The 51-year-old took charge of the Saints back in 2015 after being relieved of his duties as manager of Wrexham. He began his managerial career with Nuneaton Borough, who he also represented as a player. During his playing career, he made over 75 appearances for Northampton Town and also enjoyed spells with Cambridge City and Rushden & Diamonds.
Ones To Watch:
Daniel Lewis
A gifted goalkeeper, Lewis is an integral part of Brackley’s squad. The veteran stopper proved to be a thorn in Bradford’s side during the play-off semi-final meeting and will be hoping to keep the Yorkshire side’s frontline at bay again.
Daniel Nti
An athletic talent, Nti can operate on the flank and as a striker. The 25-year-old has enjoyed spells in Yorkshire with F.C Halifax Town and York City and has also plied his trade with Nuneaton Borough, Kidderminster Harriers and Worcester City.
Spoils shared between Bradford and Blyth
Bradford (Park Avenue) picked up their first point of the calendar year against high-flying Blyth Spartans.
The hosts started brightly, putting Blyth on the back foot and testing stopper Peter Jameson on numerous occasions in the early stages.
Oli Johnson was denied by the goalkeeper after latching on to a through ball from Jamie Spencer and Jake Beesley saw a low shot held by Blyth’s number one.
Alun Armstrong’s side settled after a nervy start, but Bradford remained in control, spraying the ball around with conviction and confidence.
The hosts were, however, given a scare when Robbie Dale’s curling effort clipped the crossbar after the veteran winger cut in from the right and pulled the trigger.
Despite struggling to gain a foothold in the opening exchanges, Blyth took the lead as the half-hour mark approached. Michael Liddle swung in a delivery from the left that was met by the head of Sean Reid, who powered a header past Steven Drench.
Bradford immediately embarked on a hunt for an equaliser and demonstrated their ability to carve Blyth open in the late stages of the second-half.
Spencer’s volley was lifted just inches above the crossbar after the ball fell kindly to him on the edge of the box, minutes before Jameson palmed Johnson’s curling effort wide at full stretch.
The Spartans did pose a greater attacking threat after taking the lead and went close through Daniel Maguire, whose cross almost found the bottom corner.
HALF-TIME: Bradford (Park Avenue) 0-1 Blyth Spartans
The early stages of the second-half yielded little in the way of entertainment but Danny Lowe did make a superb last-ditch tackle to prevent Dale going one-one-one with Drench.
Nicky Clee was the first player to catch a glimpse of goal after the break, but his speculative effort failed to find the target.
The palms of Drench were then stung by Maguire, but the goalkeeper collected after initially parrying the strike.
A corner delivery from Nicky Wroe was only cleared as far as Knight and the Bradford man struck, but a deflection diverted the effort away from danger.
As the hosts went for the jugular, Branson charged out of defence before unleashing a powerful strike that Jameson pushed wide in impressive fashion.
Barely a minute later, Branson put Bradford back on level terms when he was teed up by Mark Ross and saw his deflected header fly past Jameson.
With six minutes remaining on the clock, Blyth substitute Jarrett Rivers received his marching orders for a horrific foul on Spencer.
Deep into stoppage time, Blyth were awarded a penalty when the referee penalised Branson for a push on Maguire. Spartans stalwart Dale stepped up but was denied by Drench’s heroic save.
FULL-TIME: Bradford (Park Avenue) 1-1 Blyth Spartans
Bradford (Park Avenue): Drench, Ross, Lowe, Wroe (Nowakowski 71’), Killock (c), Spencer, Knight, Branson, Beesley, Johnson (Hurst 71’), Clee.
Unused Substitutes: Toulson, Atkinson, Dawson.
Blyth Spartans: Jameson, Nicholson, Liddle, Green (Laing 87’), Buddle, Watson, Holmes (Rivers 71’), Oliver, Maguire, Reid, Dale (c).
Unused substitutes: Fewster, Mullen, Wrightson.
Referee: Barry Lamb
Attendance: 373