14 Feb 2023

Three the magic number for Avenue against nine-man Leamington.

Bradford (Park Avenue) took a big step away from the relegation zone on Saturday as they secured an emphatic 3-1 victory at home against fellow strugglers Leamington.

The Avenue came into the game under immense pressure following back-to-back away defeats and a run of eight games without a victory dating back to early December. However, any nerves were soon dispelled after 25 minutes as Will Longbottom rounded off a superb passing move by firing a powerful effort beyond Leamington goalkeeper Ted Cann.

Bradford continued to assert their influence on the game and deep into first half added time Brad Dockerty doubled their advantage, latching onto a great through ball and firing his effort with fine precision into the bottom corner to send the Avenue into the break two goals to the good.

Sensing blood, the Green Army were quick out of the blocks after the interval and almost found a third when Harrison Hopper’s effort crashed back off the crossbar.

Any chances of Leamington finding a way back into the game seemed lost just before the hour mark when captain Jack Edwards received a second yellow for a late tackle on Mitchell Lund. The Brakes’ skipper was cautioned in the first half for an elbow on Jamie Spencer, a challenge which many in Avenue colours thought worthy of a dismissal itself.

With 20 minutes remaining the visitors found themselves reduced to nine men, a dangerous tackle from Louis Hall on Hopper deemed worthy of a straight red by the referee who showed no hesitation in dismissing the Leamington defender.

Undeterred by the rough tackle, it didn’t take long for Hopper to return to the thick of the action. Just a minute later the Avenue midfielder notched his side’s third of the afternoon after some great work from the industrious forward Eddie Church to find his teammate.

The Avenue took the three-goal lead as an opportunity to try and close the game out by keeping hold of possession, but their defence were undone in the final ten minutes by a rare Leamington attack. Dan Meredith produced a fine run down the right for the visitors, cutting back to Devon Kelly-Evans for a tap-in and a consolation goal.

After the game, Avenue boss Mark Bower was quick to praise his side’s performance, saying “we were really really good, I thought we moved the ball well and caused them problems”.

Bower also recognised the effort of his players prior to the two Leamington dismissals, adding: “whilst the last 20 to 25 minutes were not particularly enjoyable for anyone in the ground, I’m really really pleased with the performance for around about an hour where we’ve won the game against a really tough team to play against”.

The result has moved Bradford (Park Avenue) up to 18^th in the Vanarama National League North, level on points with both Buxton and Kettering Town following their goalless draw on Saturday. More importantly, the Green Army are now four points ahead of the relegation zone and will be hoping results go their way in the midweek as a handful of sides also fighting for survival are playing catch up with games in hand.

Next up is a double-header for the Avenue as they face a trip to high-flying Brackley Town on Saturday, before returning home to host relegation-threatened Blyth Spartans on Monday in another crucial home fixture under the lights at the Horsfall Community Stadium.

FULL TIME: BRADFORD (PARK AVENUE) 3-1 LEAMINGTON

(25’) GOAL – Bradford (Park Avenue) 1-0 Leamington – Will Longbottom

(45+2’) GOAL – Bradford (Park Avenue) 2-0 Leamington – Brad Dockerty

(56’) RED CARD – Leamington – Jack Edwards

(70’) RED CARD – Leamington – Louis Hall

(71’) GOAL – Bradford (Park Avenue) 3-0 Leamington – Harrison Hopper

(81’) GOAL – Bradford (Park Avenue) 3-1 Leamington – Devon Kelly-Evans

Writer: Stephen Grimshaw (@sgsportswriter on Twitter)

WATCH THE FULL HIGHLIGHTS HERE;

10 Feb 2023

Fans Forum | Zoom Link and Attendees

by BPAFC Officials | posted in: News | 0

Tonight’s Fans Forum starts at 6pm in the clubhouse.

Attending the event are;

Gareth Roberts
Paul Armitage
Calum Cullen
Tom McStravick

There is a Zoom meeting available for those who cannot make the event, please follow the link below

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83493231753

Director of Football Martin Knight will be joining the Zoom and is available to answer questions.

The bar will be open for the Forum.

8 Feb 2023

MATCH PREVIEW – Bradford (Park Avenue) vs Leamington

by BPAFC Officials | posted in: First Team Match Previews, First Team News, News | 0

Fight for survival hots up with Leamington visit.

Bradford (Park Avenue) will welcome fellow strugglers Leamington to the Horsfall Community Stadium this Saturday in what could well be a relegation six-pointer in the Vanarama National League North.

The Avenue will be desperate to secure all three points to steer themselves away from the relegation zone, having now gone eight league games without a win. This weekend’s fixture follows successive away defeats last week at the hands of Kings Lynn Town and Gloucester City respectively, both professional outfits chasing promotion this season.

Bradford manager Mark Bower will be sweating on the fitness of a handful of important first-team players, noting after the defeat to Gloucester City that “we lost Reece Staunton injured which is a blow, with the likes of Blythy (Blyth), OJ (Johnson), Jordan Preston out, Spenner (Spencer) and Lundy (Lund) not a hundred per cent fit yet, we are thin”. Bower will be hoping for some good news in the coming days to strengthen the cause on Saturday.

This weekend’s visitors have also struggled for form in the National League North this season and are currently enduring a thirteen-game winless run dating back to October, managing only one victory in their previous 19 league matches. Indeed, Leamington have arguably become draw specialists this term, sharing the spoils in fourteen of their 27 league fixtures. As well as this, the Brakes have failed to find the net in each of their last three fixtures. Considering these figures, the Green Army will be confident that they can extend Leamington’s poor form even further beyond this Saturday.

Despite losing to Leamington 1-0 at the New Windmill Ground in the reverse fixture back in September, Bradford (Park Avenue) can take optimism from the Brakes’ terrible away record, with the visitors failing to win any of their twelve away matches this season. The Avenue faithful will also fondly recollect this fixture from last season, as the Green Army recorded a 2-1 victory at the Horsfall courtesy of goals from Brad Dockerty and Luca Havern.

If the form table is anything to go by, home advantage could be crucial for the Avenue this Saturday. Bradford (Park Avenue) head into the game occupying 19^th spot, one point and one place above visitors Leamington having played three games more. Following the midweek fixtures, Bradford are now just two points clear of the relegation zone with the three sides directly below holding games in hand. A win this weekend would definitely see Avenue leapfrog either Buxton or Kettering Town as both sides clash this weekend, whereas defeat could prove damaging in the race for survival.

Match Preview by Stephen Grimshaw (@sgsportswriter on Twitter)

Where To Find Us:

Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC, Horsfall Community Stadium, Cemetery Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD6 2NG

Directions By Car:

Leave the M62 at junction 26 and follow signs for the M606. Continue on the M606 to junction 3 and take the A6117 exit to Ring Road West. At the roundabout take the 2nd exit on to Rooley Lane / A6036 signposted Halifax. Pass the Odsal Stadium on the left hand side and at the next roundabout take the 3rd exit on to Halifax Road / A6036 signposted Halifax. After approximately one mile turn left down Cemetery Road immediately before the Kids Planet Children’s Nursery, and the ground is 150 yards on the left. We have a car park which will be signposted off Cemetery Road and parking charges may apply.

Directions By Train:

Bradford Interchange rail station is the nearest to the ground and trains operate on the Calder Valley Line timetable from Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Manchester, Preston and York.

From there you can catch the bus directly to the ground (details below):

Bradford Forster Square rail station There are regular services from Leeds (Leeds-Bradford Line timetable), Skipton (Airedale Line timetable) and Ilkley (Wharfedale Line timetable).

From Forster Square it is a 10 minute walk to Bradford Interchange bus station for a bus onwards to the stadium.

Directions By Bus:

From Bradford Interchange bus station bus services 681 and 682 and Halifax Bus Station bus services 508, 681 and 682.

These services stop at the Halifax Road Cemetery Road stop near to the stadium.

Turnstiles: PAY ON GATE

The turnstiles open around an hour and a half before kick off and are located at either end of the ground on Cemetery Road and Park Road. Matchday prices for league games are as follows:

Adult – £14

Concession – £10

Student – £5

Youth (12-17) – £3

Junior (under 12, must be accompanied by an adult) – £1

7 Feb 2023

MATCH REPORT – Gloucester City 5 – 1 Bradford (Park Avenue)

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

Avenue hit for five at Gloucester.

Bradford (Park Avenue) fell to a heavy 5-1 defeat at Gloucester City on Saturday afternoon, a second loss in successive games as their winless run extends to eight matches.

The game got off to the worst possible start for the Avenue who found themselves a goal behind inside two minutes as Dominic McHale calmly slotted a right-footed effort beyond George Sykes-Kenworthy into the bottom corner.

The Green Army responded well and quickly went in search of an equaliser, but less than ten minutes later Gloucester had doubled their lead, McHale this time turning provider as his well-weighted cross from a free kick was nodded in by Kennedy Digie.

Once again, Bradford (Park Avenue) were not to be deterred, and on the quarter of an hour mark Brad Dockerty latched on to a perfectly timed cross from Lucas Odunston to half the deficit. The score remained the same until half time in what was a back-and-forth 45 minutes that saw both sides trying to seize the initiative and add to their respective tallies.

Despite a promising end to the half, Bradford (Park Avenue) started the second half in similar frustrating fashion to the first as they gave away a penalty within two minutes of the restart. Temitope Obadeyi powered his spot-kick beyond Sykes-Kenworthy to double Gloucester’s lead once again.

As the second half wore on the Avenue continued to try to find a way back into the game, stringing together some promising passing moves. However, clear-cut chances were at a minimum and with little over twenty minutes remaining, the hosts once again caught the visitors cold as McHale doubled his assist tally for the afternoon, calmly squaring for Kieran Phillips to tap in with the goal at his mercy. McHale compounded Avenue’s misery on 75 minutes, rounding off a fine performance by adding his second, and Gloucester’s fifth, of the afternoon.

After the game, Avenue boss Mark Bower acknowledged the damage inflicted by defensive mistakes throughout the game with “four or five errors leading up to the first goal”. Bower also shared his concern over his side’s growing injury list, adding “we lost Reece Staunton injured which is a blow, with the likes of Blythy (Blyth), OJ (Johnson), Jordan Preston out, Spenner (Spencer) and Lundy (Lund) not a hundred per cent fit yet, we are thin”.

Nonetheless, Bower did look to the positives, taking particular satisfaction with the response to going two goals behind. “We got to grips with our shape against theirs; we moved the ball quite well and scored a good goal”. The Avenue manager also was keen to point out the battling nature of his side since the early months of the season, adding, “that’s the first game we’ve lost by more than one goal since early October. The lads compete well and have been in games. It hasn’t felt like this on the side-lines for quite a while”.

The result has seen Bradford (Park Avenue) slip to 19^th in the Vanarama National League North, but the Green Army remain three points clear of the relegation zone, albeit having played more games than the sides below. This only adds to the importance of Avenue’s next fixture as they prepare to welcome Leamington to the Horsfall Community Stadium this Saturday. The visitors sit one point and one place below Bradford with three games in hand, meaning a win is vital for the Green Army’s efforts to re-climb the table and stave off relegation as the season continues.

FULL TIME: GLOUCESTER CITY 5-1 BRADFORD (PARK AVENUE)

(2’) GOAL – Gloucester City 1-0 Bradford (Park Avenue) – Dominic McHale

(13’) GOAL – Gloucester City 2-0 Bradford (Park Avenue) – Kennedy Digie

(15’) GOAL – Gloucester City 2-1 Bradford (Park Avenue) – Brad Dockerty

(49’ pen) GOAL – Gloucester City 3-1 Bradford (Park Avenue) – Temitope Obadeyi

(69’) GOAL – Gloucester City 4-1 Bradford (Park Avenue) – Kieran Phillips

(75’) GOAL – Gloucester City 5-1 Bradford (Park Avenue) – Dominic McHale

Writer: Stephen Grimshaw (@sgsportswriter on Twitter)

3 Feb 2023

David Bruce RIP

by BPAFC Officials | posted in: News | 0

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of club stalwart David Bruce during the night in hospital. David and his late wife Maria were both previous directors of the club who both donated and raised monies for the club during their time, his health had deteriorated recently but he still managed to come down to Horsfall a couple of times this season. Our sincere condolences go to David’s family and he will be missed by all that knew him, funeral arrangements will be announced once known. David was 85 years old.

R.I.P

3 Feb 2023

MATCH PREVIEW – Gloucester City (A)

by BPAFC Officials | posted in: First Team Match Previews, First Team News, News | 0

Avenue are back on the road again this Saturday.

Bradford (Park Avenue) will be on their travels again this weekend as they make the 175-mile journey to mid-table Gloucester City on Saturday. The trip to New Meadow Park will be a second successive away fixture for the Avenue, following on from Tuesday’s narrow defeat at promotion chasing Kings Lynn Town, a result that took the opposition to the summit of the Vanarama National League North.

Despite the loss in midweek, Bradford boss Mark Bower expressed pride in his side’s performance against a full-time team, and felt unfortunate not to take anything from the game after Will Longbottom had put the Avenue ahead early in the second half. The Green Army were boosted by the return of Reece Staunton after a recent spell on the side-lines, but now expect to be without striker Jordan Preston for the trip to Gloucester after he was forced off inside the opening fifteen minutes with a suspected hamstring injury.

Bower also made clear his desire to improve Bradford (Park Avenue)’s league position this Saturday. It is now seven games without a win for the Avenue after what was an impressive end to the calendar year. The run has left the side looking nervously over their shoulders, just three points clear of the relegation zone having played more games than the chasing pack. A win at New Meadow Park on Saturday could lift Bradford up a place into 16^th, providing results go their way elsewhere.

Gloucester City are also approaching this weekend’s fixture struggling for consistency, with only one win recorded from their previous seven games. The Tigers have struggled at the back this season, with their leaky defence conceding the second-highest amount of goals in the National League North, a statistic the Avenue attack will no doubt look to exploit. The hosts are also reeling from the loss of top goal scorers Matt McClure and Tré Mitford. McClure had netted 14 goals in 24 games before moving to National League South club Chippenham Town in January, whilst Mitford had netted eight times this season before departing to Boston United last month. The Gloucester fans may understandably be left worrying where their goals will come from in the absence of their star strikers.

The Green Army will be hoping for more of the same when reflecting on the reverse fixture between these sides. The Halloween encounter saw Bradford (Park Avenue) emerge victorious with a 2-1 win at the Horsfall Community Stadium, courtesy of goals from Jacob Blyth and Brad Dockerty. Furthermore, the Avenue are unbeaten in their previous three away matches against Gloucester City, one of which included an enthralling 4-4 draw back in November 2020. Bradford (Park Avenue) came back from 3-1 down to lead 4-3, only to be denied by a Gloucester equaliser in the second half. The Avenue faithful will be hoping for similar free-flowing attacking football this Saturday.

Match Preview by Stephen Grimshaw (@sgsportswriter on Twitter)

Getting to the ground:

TigerTurf Stadium, Sudmeadow Road, Gloucester, GL2 5HS

Public transport – The nearest train station is Gloucester, which is about a 25 minute walk away. Stagecoach buses 8 and 11 stop just a minute or two walk from the stadium and both leave from the City Centre.

Car – There is limited space for car parking at TigerTurf Stadium, and as such parking is only available on matchdays for blue badge holders (email before matchday info@gcafc.co.uk), guests and officials.

Local Car Parks

3 Hours free parking is available at Sainsbury’s on St Ann Way GL2 5SA, a 5 minute walk from the ground.
Castlemeads Car Park, GL1 2NH is a Pay & Display car park and is a 10 minute walk
Gloucester Quays Car Park, Baker Street GL2 5RG offers up to 4 hours parking for £5 and is a 12 minute walk

Directions (from the North)

Exit the M5 at junction 11 and take the A40 westbound towards Gloucester. At the roundabout take the 4th exit (A40) towards Ross. At the next roundabout go straight on (2nd exit) staying on the A40. At the next roundabout take the 1st exit left towards the city centre. Go right at the next junction towards Hempsted (A430). Straight ahead at the next set of lights and Sudmeadow Road is the third right turn just before the next set of traffic lights.

Directions (from the South)

Exit the M5 at junction 12 and head towards Gloucester. Go straight ahead at the roundabout on the A38 Quedgeley by-pass. Ahead at the next roundabout and straight ahead at the next two sets of traffic lights. onto Secunda Way (A430). Follow this road past three more sets of lights onto marina junction. Stay in the left hand lane towards Cheltenham/Ledbury/Ross. At the next lights with ‘The High Orchard’ to your right, go straight ahead and text the first left onto Sudmeadow Road.

To purchase tickets ahead of the game, click the link below

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/gloucestercityafc/840520#

2 Feb 2023

MATCH REPORT – Chorley (H) and Kings Lynn Town (A)

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

Avenue held their own against two top teams in the division.

Avenue’s goalless draw with Chorley and the narrow defeat to Kings Lynn means they pick up one point from a possible six against two of the league’s promotion chasers.

491 fans witnessed the goalless home draw against play-off chasers Chorley. It took a while for Avenue to get going.

The first half saw Chorley have the better of the chances and most of the game’s possession. But as the first half went on Avenue became stronger and nearly broke the deadlock just past the half hour mark. Maroodza found some space for a shot but it was claimed well by the Chorley keeper.

Chorley came out into the second half with fire in their belly. They created several chances but Avenue absorbed the pressure and waited patiently to try and catch the away side on the break. Towards the end Avenue made some good chances and, had fortune favoured them, they could have nicked all three points.

The Bradford boss Mark Bower wasn’t happy with the performance rating most of his players five or six out of ten, but was happy to take a point as he stated,

“When it’s not going for you and you can’t string anything together its important you keep a clean sheet, but I thought we defended well today and when they had as many chances as they had we earned the right to take a point at the end of the day.”

The following Tuesday saw the Avenue travel to the league leaders Kings Lynn who were unbeaten in their last five games. It was always going to a tall order for the Avenue to come away with anything.

In contrast to the Chorley game, Avenue started the brighter of the two sides and looked well on top throughout the first half, having most of the chances, but the home defence held firm.

Avenue’s pressure was rewarded five minutes into the second half. Great effort from Brad Dockerty, who played it down the left, and through the defences before passing to Longbottom who dispatched the ball into the back of the net to give Bradford a well-deserved lead.

This setback stirred the home side as they drew level after only four minutes.

Undeterred, Avenue kept up the pressure with Longbottom heading over and Dockerty harassing the home side’s keeper and backline when out of possession.

But it would be the home side who would find the winner with 20 minutes to go. A good strike from Christian Oxlade Chamberlain found its way past Sykes – Kenworthy to make sure the points stayed firmly on home soil.

Mark Bower had nothing but praise for his side’s performance,

“I thought we were good today, they didn’t really trouble us, a bit disappointed with the goals we conceded. I’m just disappointed and frustrated that we haven’t taken something from the game because I thought we deserved it.”

2 Feb 2023

AWAY SUPPORTER INFORMATION – Gloucester City

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

Here is your guide to the TigerTurf Stadium, where we are hosted by Gloucester City on Saturday 4th February!

Kick Off is set for 3pm, for directions to the stadium, follow the link below.

https://www.gloucestercityafc.com/tigerturfstadium

For tickets, visit the link below.

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/gloucestercityafc/840520#

#UTA

2 Feb 2023

THE VIEW FROM THE BOARDROOM – Paul Armitages Notes (28/01/23)

by BPAFC Officials | posted in: News | 0

Hopefully the end of January will mean an improvement in the weather. Non league clubs struggle with the loss of off-field income and on-field momentum when snow and ice hit.

We all know that Odsal Top suffers greatly with its own micro climate! No wonder lots of our former players came from the bleaker regions of Scotland, though Canterbury Avenue wasn’t quite as tough as Horsfall!

As ever at the halfway point in the season Mark and Martin have strengthened the squad and added flexibility, cover and competition for places too, helped by the fundraising of the Development Fund, loan recalls and returning loanees. All the moves seem to have been well received by supporters too, which is good to know. No panic buys either.

In this economic environment we are also seeing many clubs reviewing how they can continue to afford the challenges of running a football club. It makes it frustrating to listen to the more extravagant tales of the transfer market where clubs, players and agents can earn enough to live well and could still afford to sponsor a non-league football club!

It would seem reasonable to tap into these massive transfer deals with a small percentage being drained away to support lower league clubs, which is an idea that may come through with an independent regulator.

At January’s EGM meeting of the National League we were advised that a NLN game would be tested for streaming very soon. The NL Premier League has already got streaming under way on Boxing Day.

Whilst we won’t be able to stream matches between 3pm and 5pm on Saturdays due to old legislation from decades ago, all other kick-off times would be available for streaming.
EFL analysis apparently suggests that gates are not affected adversely by streaming. It will be important to encourage participation in streaming through the NL website.

Whilst about 3% of streamers are international, that runs to over 50 countries already. 85% of streamers are UK based and the next largest audience are in North America.

The league should cover the cost of the camera, the signal and a camera operator. A clubhouse license to show games will cost £180 per match and NL profits from streaming will be shared monthly or quarterly with clubs.

Amongst other issues discussed, which hopefully won’t be part of Horsfall life:
Concern was raised by the FA and NL about the increased crowd problems with pyrotechnics, discriminatory abuse, be that racial, homophobic or misogynistic and obscene chants.

Another interesting nugget was that in League 2 the ball was in play on average for just under 50 minutes, which led to concerns raised about the increasing level of time-wasting in games.

Back to Horsfall and we are planning to experiment with a ‘double header’ sporting day soon, with West Bowling starting their Challenge Cup journey with a Saturday morning kick-off and Avenue having its usual afternoon game against Leamington. It’s an imaginative solution to WB being drawn at home and the ensuing fixture clash created.

In a city with fans who like both football and rugby league, it is hopefully going to be a truly successful day, with the RL fans being encouraged to stay and watch Avenue after their game is over and Avenue fans being allowed to indulge their fondness for rugby league by arriving early.

Until then, let’s get behind the lads and win three more points.

30 Jan 2023

UPCOMING FANS FORUM – 10^TH FEBRUARY 2023

by BPAFC Officials | posted in: News | 0

We are happy to announce that a Fans Forum will take place on Friday 10^th February in the Clubhouse, from 6pm.

Supporters are invited to ask questions, with a number of Club personnel in attendance.

Please note that there are limited spaces available, please email bee.calam@bpafc.com to reserve your space.

The clubhouse bar will also be open on the night.

Author Archives: BPAFC Officials

Avenue hit for five at Gloucester.