21 Nov 2019

The National League pays its Respects to Bill King

by | posted in: News | 0

The National League announces with deep regret and sincere sadness, the passing today of its former Chairman and President, Bill King.

Bill was associated with the League for over 40 years, first becoming involved as Chairman of Runcorn FC and then afterwards in a similar role with Altrincham FC.  A pioneer in helping to form the League in 1979, Bill became Vice-Chairman in 1985 and then Chairman in 1989, when he succeeded the late Jim Thompson.

Bill served as Chairman for 17 years, and developed the League from the original 22 Clubs to the current membership of 68.  Along the way he oversaw the rise of the North and South divisions and helped secure automatic promotion for one club and then two clubs.  Succeeded as Chairman by Brian Lee MBE in 2007, he was appointed President and elected as a Life Member.

National League Chairman, Brian Barwick, expressed his sadness at Bill’s passing and remarked, “Bill performed a great service to our sport by driving the development of the Football Conference and by linking the “non-league” pyramid to the Football League through automatic promotion and relegation.  In the year of the League’s 40th anniversary, the whole League is hugely grateful for Bill’s dedication over many years and recognises his outstanding qualities of leadership and integrity”.  

Brian Lee, National League President, paid this glowing tribute, “Bill was a respected figure wherever he went in the game and he certainly made his presence felt and had a disarming way of securing many things which people in the game now take for granted. He was the perfect gentleman and the perfect ambassador for our game. I have been so lucky to have been able to step into his shoes twice and he was always there not only to guide me in difficult times I faced, he contributed to make a huge difference to so many across the game, a game he loved and cherished with unrivalled passion”.

Graham Rowley the Chairman of Altrincham Football Club was deeply moved to hear of Bill’s passing and commented “Bill joined the Club Board in 1986 and his clarity and vision for the game soon led to him becoming Chairman. In 1994 he stepped away to spend more time leading the Football Conference and has been instrumental in making it what it is today, a major player in the football industry! What a great job he did! He will be remembered with much fondness by all at Alty and to the end he remained a true and loyal friend with us”.

The National League extends sincere condolences on behalf of all current and past member clubs to his wife Jane and all of his family.

16 Nov 2019

Match Report | Bradford 0 – 3 Leamington

by | posted in: First Team Match Reports, First Team News, News | 0

Two goals and a red card in the first ten minutes set the tone for the fixture at the Horsfall stadium as a 10 man Avenue were unable to etch out any consolation and Leamington took away all three points.

What was considered to be a must win game by many at the Horsfall got off to the worst possible start for Bower’s men as March opened the scoring on the 8th minute, heading home from a corner at the near post.

Just one minute later Hughes brought down March in the box to concede a penalty and received a red card for his actions. March went on to secure his second, slotting the ball low and to the left a Green went the other way.

Half Time – Bradford 0 – 2 Leamington

Bradford came out after the break and pushed bodies forward as they looked to try and gain some impetus in the game, but were quickly caught out as March broke through on the counter just 4 minutes into the half and secured his hat trick as he went one on one with Joe Green.

The brakes looked to punish Bradford further as the half wore on, with an effort from Clarke sailing over Green only to come off the cross bar.

Another chance came in the 68th minute as Green was forced to tip the ball over the bar as it curled towards the top corner from an excellently placed strike by the goal hungry March.

Avenue continued to look for the ever elusive goal, but with the lion’s share of the possession falling to the Brakes, it never looked to be coming.

Full Time – Bradford 0 – 3 Leamington

Teams:

Avenue:
1 Green
2 Bazeley
3 Priestley
4 Lowe (C)
5 Hughes (Red – 9′)
6 Royle
7 Knight (O. Johnson – 67′)
8 Marriott
9 Sweeney (Heaton – 39′)
10 Hurst
11 Nowakowski (A. Johnson – 75′)

Subs:
12 Rathbone
14 A. Johnson
15 Heaton
16 O. Johnson

Leamington:
1 Weaver
2 English
3 Morley
4 Maycock
5 Mace
6 Lane
7 Carline
8 Clarke
9 March (Goals: 8′ 9′ & 49′) (Taylor – 78′)
10 Edwards (C) (Gittings – 61′)
11 Anderson (Dunbar – 70′)

Subs:
12 Walters
14 Dunbar
15 Gittings
16 Taylor
17 Murphey

13 Nov 2019

FA Approve Transfer To Community Interest Company (CIC)

by | posted in: News | 0

Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC, are pleased to announce that the ownership of the club has now been officially transferred to a Community Interest Company (CIC) following approval of the transfer by the FA.

The club was previously governed as a community benefit society which proved too restrictive for future investment. This transfer will allow the club to attract other stakeholders and conduct business like a private company.

The CIC is still community focused and so there will not be any obvious changes.

Gareth Roberts, the principal shareholder, said 

“This is an important technical change for the club which allows us to move forward and secure a long term lease at the Horsfall Stadium which in turn allows us to attract FA funds to improve the ground.

We plan to expand our academy enrolment next year and base it entirely at the Horsfall. Meanwhile we will expand our community activities alongside our associated charity, the Horsfall Trust, which will become much more active in the future.

We invite members of the community to help our efforts by donating time or money to either entity. The new CIC structure will also allow us to attract additional investors, so please contact the club if you are interested!”

Following this exciting new, Gareth Roberts will be in Bradford this coming weekend and would like to invite supporters to a forum this Friday where they can find out more about plans for the club going forwards.

The event will be held in the club house, Starting at 7pm on the 15th of November.

The bar will be open from 6:30pm. Supporters who are unable to make the forum are invited to submit their questions by e-mail to info@bpafc.com before noon on Friday.

The following day will see Bradford play host to Leamington in the National League North, and the club would like to invite supporters of team’s not in action due to the international break to come along and enjoy the game, with entry reduced to just £5 for season ticket holders of any club from any sport.

If you would like to invest in the club, make a donation please contact Carl Marsden at info@bpafc.com

11 Nov 2019

Fan’s Forum This Friday

by | posted in: News | 0

The club’s owner Gareth Roberts will be in Bradford this coming weekend and would like to invite supporters to a forum this Friday.

The forum will provide supporters with an update on the latest developments at the club and the floor will be open for questions.

The event will be held in the club house, Starting at 7pm on the 15th of November.

The bar will be open from 6:30pm. Supporters who are unable to make the forum are invited to submit their questions by e-mail to info@bpafc.com before noon on Friday.

11 Nov 2019

Match Preview | Bradford (Park Avenue) Academy Vs Shelley U19’s

by | posted in: News | 0

Bradford (Park Avenue) Academy play host to Shelley U19’s tonight at the Horsfall Stadium in the Northern U19 Alliance Football League.

Des Hazels side will be looking to bounce back after dropping out of the Pat Rice Trophy in a closely fought 2 – 1 game away at Athersley Recreation towards the end of October.

The side will likely be spurred on by the fact that three of their number received a call up to the first team last week, proving there’s a real path way for talented young players into the National League North side.

Come along and show your support to the young side tonight. Entry costs just £3 for Adults and £1 for under 18’s.

Kick Off: 7:45PM

5 Nov 2019

MATCH REPORT | Harrogate Town 2 – 1 Bradford (Park Avenue)

by | posted in: First Team Match Reports, First Team News, News | 0

Avenue drop out of the West Riding County Cup despite taking an early lead against the home side.

The break in league action meant that Avenue boss, Bower could take a look at fringe players, as well as naming three Academy scholars in the line up. Meanwhile, Harrogate named eight senior players in their line-up.

Avenue started well forcing a good save from Harrogate’s stopper, Cracknell in the seventh minute.

Jack Emmet nearly opened the scoring for the home side in the 13th minute, hitting the post with a good curled effort inside the box.

Avenue opened the scoring on the 16th minute with an excellent run from Villa loanee, Isiah Bazeley who burst past his marker, into the box and slotted the ball low to the right to put Avenue one up.

The lead didn’t last however as Town responded by scoring only a minute after the restart. Jon Stead received the ball on the right side of the box and he fired a strike across the goal, out of the reach of the Joe Green.

Both sides continued to seek out the lead throughout the half and it was Bradford that looked strongest towards the break with Harrogate players blocking a number of shots to keep the teams level at the break.

HALF TIME: Harrogate 1 – 1 Bradford.

The attacking form continued into the second half with both sides looking to get onto the front foot. A number of great tackles by the Harrogate back line prevented Avenue form breaking free on a few occasions and Bradford should have taken the lead in the 68th minute, when Lewis Knight was unable to find the net to convert from just a few yards out following the low cross from the right.

A handball in the 70th minute saw Avenue fall behind as Stead stepped up to secure his brace from the penalty spot, shooting low to the Green’s right.

Avenue continued to press for the remaining 20 minutes, but were reduced to ten men following a heavy challenge that forced Joe Ockerby to leave the field with an injury after all three substitutes were used.

Harrogate then used their one man advantage to see out the game and progress to the next round.

Teams:

Harrogate: Cracknell, Fergus, Hartley, Clark, Thomson, Emmett, Jones, Taylor, Stead, Kerry (Prata 76), Brown.

Subs not used: Wilton, Chippendale, , Haswell, Wicks.

Goals: Stead x2

Bookings: Kerry

Bradford Park Avenue: Green, Bazeley (Mayfield 76), Ockerby, Marriott, Hughes, Priestley (Lyons 59), Rathbone, Lund, Sweeney (Knight 59), Hurst, Johnson 

Goals: Bazeley

Referee: A Bannister

4 Nov 2019

Three Academy Players Earn First Team Call Up

by | posted in: First Team News, News | 0

The club is proud to announce that three of the Academy’s scholars have received a call up to the first team ahead of tonight’s West Riding County Cup fixture away at Harrogate Town.

First team manager, Mark Bower will be keen to see how the three have developed during their time in the Academy.

Of the three, Mayfield and Ockerby will be re-joining the first team following their call up last season, with Lyons looking to make his first team debut having trained with the squad after impressing for the Under 19’s side.

Hear how the lads get on this evening by tuning into live match commentary on mixlr.com/bpafc at 7:45pm.