Bradford (Park Avenue) will continue their epic Emirates FA Cup journey on Saturday 3 October, as they travel to Nethermoor Park to take on Guiseley AFC in a West Yorkshire derby.
Confidence is brimming in the Avenue ranks, with the side having already eliminated two teams from Guiseley’s division (Curzon Ashton and Lancaster City), while also remaining unbeaten in the league after nine matches.
Bradford travel to Guiseley on the back of a hard-fought 1-0 victory away to fellow promotion hopefuls Matlock Town on Tuesday evening. A 71st minute strike from Louie Chorlton was enough to separate the sides in a gritty and feisty encounter that produced few clear-cut opportunities. The result moved the Avenue to within one point of league leaders Liversedge AFC, with three games in hand on the teams above them.
Saturday’s hosts, Guiseley, have also made an impressive start to the season. The Lions have won six of their opening ten league fixtures and currently sit fourth in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, just four points behind league leaders Cleethorpes Town.
The Lions entered the Emirates FA Cup in the First Round Qualifying stage, where they were drawn against fellow Northern Premier League Premier Division side Stockton Town. After a 2-2 draw at Stockton’s MAP Group UK Stadium, Guiseley prevailed in the replay at Nethermoor Park, securing a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Kallan Murphy and Amir Berchil.
In the Second Round Qualifying, Guiseley were handed, what appeared to be, a tough away tie against National League North high-flyers Hebburn Town. However, the Lions made light work of the Hornets, cruising to a 4-1 victory. Goals from Murphy and Berchil, alongside strikes from Jack Tinkler and Cam Wilson, ensured a straightforward passage into the next round.
The last competitive meetings between Bradford (Park Avenue) and Guiseley came during the 2023/24 campaign, when both sides were competing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. In late-August 2023, the sides played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Nethermoor Park in a game that produced not only four goals, but also four red cards. Avenue twice took the lead through Will Longbottom and Harrison Hopper, with Hopper among those shown a red card, alongside defender Lucas Odunston. In a bizarre twist of fate, all three players now ply their trade at Guiseley. The Lions took all three points in the reverse fixture, securing a 1-0 victory over Bradford on New Year’s Day 2024.
As well as renewing acquaintances with former players Longbottom, Hopper and Odunston, Bradford (Park Avenue) will also come up against their former goalkeeper, Jack Hall. Hall initially joined the Green Army on loan from Sheffield Wednesday before making his move permanent in October 2025, and departed Avenue at the end of last season following the play-off final shootout defeat to Emley, in which he stepped up to take, and score, a penalty.
In the BPA squad, there are plenty of players returning to their former employers; captain Jameel Ible, Declan Lambton, Prince Ekpolo, Adam Haw, Bailey Thompson, Connor Brown, Kareem Hassan-Smith, Luke Parkin and Adriano Moke.
With both sides enjoying positive starts to their respective campaigns, there is plenty at stake at Nethermoor Park on Saturday. Local bragging rights are up for grabs, while victory would secure a place in the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round Qualifying and move the winner one step closer to the First Round Proper.
For the Avenue, it is another opportunity to extent their remarkable cup run, while Guiseley will be determined to ensure that another Northern Premier League Premier Division side doesn’t fall to the Green Army.
Match preview by Ste Grimshaw
Guiseley AFC vs. Bradford (Park Avenue)
Emirates FA Cup Third Round Qualifying
Saturday 3 October
Kick-off: 15:00pm
Nethermoor Stadium
Otley Road
Guiseley
Leeds
LS20 8BT
Adults £14 / Concession £10 / Under 18 £5 / Under 11 £1
By Car: There is a large car park extremely close to the ground on Netherfield Road, sat nav post code LS20 9PD. Please check the signage for whether charges apply when you park – the car park is free to use at the time of writing but the council have announced that they intend to introduce a small charge. You can access Nethermoor by the footbridge in the back corner. For those with electric cars, local pub
The Halfway House in Baildon has a charge point. We remind everybody who travels by car to park legally and considerately. Local residential streets are monitored by stewards and if you park illegally or cause obstructions, you run a real risk of receiving a parking ticket or, worse still, having your vehicle removed by traffic officials.
By Rail: Nethermoor is about five minutes’ flat walk from Guiseley station. It is very well served on the Wharfedale Line by trains from Leeds, Bradford and Ilkley. On alighting from the train, exit into the station car park and walk diagonally across it towards the path between hedges that leads to a terrace of stone-built houses. Walk to the end of the terrace and turn right into Otley Road – Nethermoor is 200 yards on the right. It’ll take you approximately five minutes.
By Bus: There are two bus stops directly outside the ground. The Bus Stop numbers are: 45018836 (direction towards Leeds) and 45018829 (direction towards Otley). To find the next bus leaving the stops you can use the West Yorkshire Metro yournextbus service by texting the stop number to 63876.
The capacity of Nethermoor is 4,021, which includes covered seated stands, covered terraced stands and a number of other terraced standing areas. The majority of the larger seated stand has reserved seating for season ticket holders, press, home and visiting directors and other guests and officials. The second stand is unreserved and is available on a first come first served basis. Turnstiles are situated at three corners of the ground.
Match coverage
The best way to follow the Avenue, is to be there on the terraces, supporting the team. For anyone who can’t make the trip, we’ll have in-game updates on our X channel (@BPAFCOfficial) and live audio commentary on AvenueOnAir from 2.50pm.