We can confirm that, following a pitch inspection this afternoon, tomorrows game against Scarborough Athletic has been postponed. There are ongoing concerns regarding parts of the pitch and also the surrounding areas.
We will publish details of the re-arranged game as soon as we have them.
Bradford will be wanting to continue their climb up the table but with Scarborough coming to town this will be no easy task for The Avenue.
Despite the Green Army’s recent upturn in form, Scarborough will offer a different challenge that the home side will have to over come to get anything from a highflyer in the league.
The players will surely remember the reverse fixture, where a worldie from Jamie Spencer (above) and a first goal for Sheffield United loanee Andre Brooks (below) almost stole all three points back to Bradford, however in the final few minutes it was reduced to just one, after Darren Dominic Tear fired 2 goals past the defence to make it a draw.
(Park Avenue) have only lost once in their last five league games, the most notable was coming from behind against Buxton, scoring twice in injury time to secure all three points and its this resilience and determination that (Park Avenue) boss, Mark Bower will be wanting from his players this Saturday afternoon.
Scarborough have the second-best scoring record in the league this season with 40 goals scored already, only three behind the league leaders Darington, Bradford’s defence will have to be switched on to avoid adding more goals to that statistic.
George William Sykes-Kenworthy the Bradford number one between the sticks will certainly have his work cut out for him, with five clean sheets to his name already this season he’ll be hoping to make it six when he comes up against Scarborough’s top goal scorer Michael Coulson who’s scored eight goals so far this season, but Sykes-Kenworthy is no stranger to the danger that Scarborough pose having already pulled off some vital and brilliant saves this season.
At the other end though Scarborough have not had the same luck and have had one of the leakiest defences of any team currently in the top ten, this will be music to Jacob Blyth’s ears being the clubs current top goal scorer with five goals and is a great opportunity to fill his boots, as well as Will Longbottom who is only one goals behind Blyth in the charts.
Scarborough will be heavy favourites going into this fixture only losing once out of their last five league games, (Park Avenue) will have to be at their best to take anything from Scarborough, and a win for the home side would see them claw even further away from the drop.
Match Preview by James Fletcher @illustrationsjf
Tickets for the game are purchased on the gate and priced at £14 Adults, £10 Concessions, £5 Students, £3 Youths and £1 Juniors (u12s accompanied by an Adult).
Premier League and Championship Season Ticket holders can gain half-price entry to this game, just display your physical or digital Season Ticket at the turnstiles.
Travelling to the Horsfall for the first time? Follow the directions and map below!
Address
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.
We can today confirm that Lloyd Smith has had his initial one month loan with Frickley Athletic extended to the 14th of February 2023.
We will continue to follow Lloyd’s loan on our Twitter @BPAFCOfficial – Stay tuned!
#UTA
MATCH REARRANGED – Last weeks postponed match vs @officialkltownfc has now been rearranged for Tuesday 31st January 2023 with a 7:45pm KO.
#UTA
We are opening our clubhouse once again for today’s massive 1/4 Final vs France.
Kick off is at 7pm, the bar will be open from 6pm, and free curry will be available to all supporters at half-time! Get down to the Horsfall!
#WorldCup2022
Unfortunately today’s game vs @officialKLtown has been postponed.
A rearranged fixture will be announced at a later date.
#UTA
We can confirm, due to the recent weather and expected cold temperatures overnight, that there will be a pitch inspection tomorrow morning at 8:30
As soon as we have any news we will share across our social media and website
#UTA
As we start the run-in to Christmas I’d like to praise the work of our volunteer ‘work force’. If I started with names I’d forget one and feel bad. On a matchday I see so many volunteers in all parts of the ground. They enjoy their role and put smiles on faces. They are friendly and helpful and they create a great impression on all those folk attending games, whatever small role they play. Every one of them is important and highly valued.
Of course you are all volunteer helpers if you rock up to support the team, pay for entry, buy some food and drink or kit from the shop. You have chosen to come and give your time and funds to support Avenue.
We have been rebuilding a club that was broken in the seventies and had some wilderness years before keen supporters resurrected us with most giving up time and money and starting fund-raising efforts to get us to our current level. We have travelled to several ‘homes’ before landing at Horsfall. All their past efforts are respected, fill us with pride and our newer supporters can now pick up the baton and press on, creating new friendships and loyalties.
Back in our league days crowds were fairly evenly spread across the two Bradford clubs but currently City can pull in large numbers of the city’s football fans, so we are working hard to create a new Bradford (Park Avenue) and hoping we can attract a thousand of those football fans for each home game as this number would help us grow and prosper.
That’s our first target, not our last, so please let’s create a City with two league clubs, like Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield. We start with an improving stadium, friendly volunteers, very few paid employees and a love of football.
Bring a friend, tell your family, ask your business if they can help, sponsor players at every level and be a part of creating a friendly club atmosphere.
The club has helped to develop lots of young players recently from Romoney Critchlow at City, to Jake Beesley at Blackpool, Harry Boyes at Forest Green, Alex Hurst at York, Isaac Marriott at Altrincham, Olly Arblaster and Andre Brooks are now breaking into the first team at Sheffield Utd. We continue to help our players fulfill their ambitions and we enjoy their successes. Thomas Angell and Will Lancaster are our latest young stars stepping up with our help. It’s what makes us an attractive club for aspiring young players, playing with highly experienced players and working with Mark and Danny.
I’m proud to be a small part of a friendly club with good supporters, who are welcome at every away ground because we behave, have a drink or a brew, leave fireworks to experts, chant support rather than obscenities and collect programmes! We love our football and appreciate other non-league clubs, recognising our shared hopes and concerns.Come and join our supporters and volunteers.
We thank all our volunteer helpers and supporters and look forward to them getting some Christmas cheer over the next few games by winning more games, playing good football and having more success in 2023.
Thank you all for the very important part you play off the field.
After a cold warm up, both sets of players and the 400 fans in attendance, were ready for a big game. At 19:45 the referee, Helen Conley, kicked the pair off.
The game started slowly but it saw AFC Telford keep a fair share of the ball. Mark Bowers men couldn’t seem to pick up the ball and string a success of passes, as Telford were comfortable in breaking their press. Although the possession was with the visitors, Bradford hit first, only to be ruled out, as Jacob Blyth was penalised for handball in the build up.
In the 23rd minute controversy struck and Kevin Wilkes was left fuming. A high clearance from Bradford (PA) meant the ball was out in the eyes of the Telford manager. Conley and her assistants did not call it. This lead to the first booking of the day as Thomas Angell flew into a hard tackle leaving George Burroughs down and hurt.
Ten minutes later saw the second goal of the match, but the first one added to the scoreboard. Another long ball sent up by the goalkeeper, George Sykes-Kenworthy, was taken down by striker Jordan Preston who intelligently turned on the ball and struck it firmly into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box.
A well created chance was made from Telford’s winger Montel Gibson, as he weaved his way past two players and saw his shot skim the post and go wide. Wilkes’ men picked up two yellow cards before the half (Nathan Blisset and Adam Senior) as they went in 1-0 down.
Second Half began with a different tempo as both teams wanted to come out strong. In (Park Avenue)’s case, it was scoring another to put themselves in the driving seat, and AFC Telford just needed to equalise to then push on for another.
Bradford start off better out of the two, as within three minutes Sheffield United loanee Thomas Angell has a chance cleared off the line. The ball bounced and bobbled across the box with no Telford defender coming close to taking charge of the danger meaning Angell was allowed to shoot.
Wilkes made the first substitution of the match, as he looked to become more attacking. He brought off Bood for Williams in the 67th minute.
We reached the 80th minute with either teams creating any threat to each other, so Avenue boss thought to see out the game as he brings off goal scorer Jordan Preston for Harrison Hopper.
Four added minutes were called by the fourth official and Bradford tried their hardest to stay in the corner for them all.
Telford’s night finished in another loss. Still rock bottom with a tough rest of the season. As for Bradford (Park Avenue), they can celebrate three wins in a row, but must go again this Saturday against Kings Lynn Town.
MATCH REPORT FROM @finlaysturgesSJ from Leeds Beckett University Student Journalism
Travelling to the Kings Lynn Town match? Tickets can be purchased here
The Walks stadium is located on Tennyson Road, post code PE30 5PB. Exit the A47 at the Hardwick roundabout and take the exit for King’s Lynn (Hardwick Road). Follow this road for 1 mile until the next roundabout. Take the 4th exit (Tennyson Avenue) and the stadium is 1 mile away.
The stadium is just 5 minutes away by foot through the Walks park. Exit the train station by the main doors and turn left. Turn left at the church and walk across the park to the stadium.
There is limited parking at the stadium, as a result supporters are encouraged to park at St James’ Multi-storey, just a 5 minute walk from the stadium. Post Code: PE30 1BT
Matchday programmes are available from the ticket office, via the online shop, or from sellers located at various places in the stadium on matchdays.
