In a show of unwavering support, the James Mae Group have agreed to continue their long-running sponsorship of Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC for the fourth consecutive season.

The prominent company will once again grace the front of both the club’s Home and Away kits, including the Academy and Ladies kits.

Following three successful years of collaboration, the decision to extend the sponsorship deal has generated excitement among everyone associated with the club. The James Mae Group’s ongoing commitment to Bradford (Park Avenue) highlights their belief in the team’s potential and their dedication to promoting the sport at every level.

Expressing his satisfaction with the sponsorship deal, Ed Caffrey, the Managing Director of the James Mae Group, said, “The James Mae Group is pleased to support and sponsor the upcoming 2023/24 season at Bradford (Park Avenue) Football Club.
This will now be our fourth year of sponsorship hopefully showing our commitment to this great club and it’s brilliant players across every level. Long May this partnership continue. Good luck and We wish all the teams every success.”

Football Operations Manager and Club Secretary, Calum Cullen, shared his delight at the continuation of the partnership. “Myself and everybody here at Bradford (Park Avenue) are thrilled that James Mae will be our main kit sponsor for the fourth consecutive season. It’s a genuine testament to Ed Caffrey and his company’s faith in our club, and we are incredibly grateful for their support. We eagerly anticipate their presence at the Horsfall Stadium once again this season.”

You can find out more about the James Mae Group by clicking here

We are thrilled to announce that EV2 will be our new Kit and Apparel provider for the 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons.

EV2 are a local company, based in Dewsbury and specialise in bespoke sportswear. You can find out more about EV2 by clicking this link; https://www.ev2sportswear.com/about-us/

We spoke to Secretary Calum Cullen, who had this to say

‘We are absolutely delighted to have signed with EV2. The company shares our visions as a club, and having met with the people there I am confident of a great working relationship. It was important to us to make sure we got the very best deal we could for the football club and having spoken to a multitude of companies from all over the UK and even abroad, EV2 stood out for us. I am looking forward to working with everyone there’

Our new kit will be released in the coming weeks, alongside a full package of accessories and apparel. Keep an eye out!

#UTA

We can confirm today that at the end of the season, our deal with Macron will finish after 3 seasons.

We have a new supplier contract signed and sealed, and will be releasing the details at the end of the season.

The kit designs are done and signed off, and we look forward to sharing these with you.

The new supplier will also be providing our ‘white label’ leisurewear. Again, a lot of work has gone into these and we have some very good pieces that will start to appear in the shop and online once the season is over.

Everyone at the club would like to place on record our thanks to Macron for the last 3 seasons. Although challenging at times, Macron have been a pleasure to work with on the whole.

We can confirm today that Academy Midfielder Zak Kersey has agreed non-contract terms with the first team.

Zak has been involved with the first team training for a few weeks now and has done enough to earn himself a deal! Those of you at the game will remember Zak for scoring in the County Cup game against Brighouse earlier this season.

The Academy man joins fellow players Miles La Bastide, Mason Brewis and Liam Hall in making the step up this season. Keep an eye out on our socials for his interview coming very soon!

Will Zak be in the squad tomorrow? Team news from 2pm.

We are delighted to announce that we have signed Academy defender Mason Brewis on non contract terms!

Mason becomes the 3rd academy player to make the step up this season following in the foot steps of Liam Hall and Myles Ls Bastide.

A tough tackling defender, Mason has been playing his football down at Thackley this season, and made the move from Reserves to First team at Dennyfield earlier this year.

On the move, Thomas McStravick said: This is fantastic news, Mason has been brilliant this season under the tutelage of Pat McGuire and the staff and thoroughly deserves his chance. Knowing Mason, I know he will be aware that the hard work starts now. Well done Mason!

We are delighted to announce the non-contract signing of Academy player Myles La Bastide.

Myles, who has been training with the first team for the last two months, has signed on until the end of the season after impressing manager Mark Bower.

We spoke to Academy Technical Director Thomas McStravick on the deal and he said: “I am delighted for Myles who has developed a lot with us over the course of the last sixteen months. He’s becoming more physically robust and mature. He’s also been training with the first team for a while now and both Mark and Danny have taken good care of him. He’s a grafter and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next from him. This is just another example of us, as a club, providing opportunity for young players”.

Club Secretary Calum Cullen added: ‘Its great for Myles and I’m really happy for him. He is under no illusion that the hard work really starts now and I am sure he will continue to work hard in the Academy and with the first team. A huge well done is due to the Academy staff too, who now have had 2 players in as many weeks make the step up’

Myles is registered in time for tomorrows local derby with Farsley Celtic. Kick off is at 1pm, follow the socials if you are unable to get to the game!

#UTA

Dear Supporters of BPA,
I would like to wish a happy new year to all of those associated with our club. I have not been able to travel during this season, so I have not managed to see a real game. Hopefully I will be able to get over soon and see you all. 

I want to thank all of those that make the club work day in and out through these difficult times. Despite the national problems we have made slow and steady progress on improving the ground while our first team continues to outperform our limited budget. The club Development Committee has helped tremendously in this area. We will continue our efforts to further improve the facilities at the ground in this coming year. 

This past year Calum Cullen has taken on the responsibility of the stadium management and we are well on our way to reaching  financial stability despite the effects of Covid-19.  Thank you Calum. Thanks are also due to Neil and Ben for their help to keep the place running.

Thomas McStravick is the head of our Academy section and he has been successful in recruiting good youngsters. Please read his report below.

Our board currently consists of just three people, myself, Paul Armitage and David Little. In the coming year we intend to expand the board to include more local representation. We will be looking for candidates who love sport but also share our desire to build a club that serves the community that we are in.  We would like to hear from potential candidates. 

In addition, our board is studying various ways to involve our supporters in the management of the club in line with government recommendations. We hope to have a plan formulated at our next meeting in February. 

Finally I would like to thank Keith Bonney for his invaluable help on keeping our finances straight. 
With a bit of luck I will be able to attend a game in February and have a forum where we can talk about the plans for the future. 
UTA

Gareth Roberts
BPA

Report from the Academy.

The academy has seen significant growth over the last couple of years. We now have over 400 young people aged 5-18 in our juniors, performance centre and scholarship academy. We also have six full time staff working throughout our programme. This commitment from the club is a real reflection of our desire to build a long term sustainable and successful football club. The next generation of fans don’t just fall off trees so we need these young players coming through not only to produce the next first team superstar but also to produce the next Avenue diehard. 

There are some key dates coming up over the next few months for the academy. First up on the 11th January we have a trial evening for our BPA Player Pathway, which has seen over 350 registrations in less than eight months. These are parents who want their children to be involved at the Avenue from our juniors through to scholars. Encouraging signs but there’s still a lot of work ahead and we are aiming to increase the number of young players involved in our club from 400 to 600 in twelve months. Increasing the number of players involved in the club increases the number of potential new fans and also our chances of producing a first team player in the years ahead. To produce a quality academy it takes ten years of hard work. Players coming into the club aged 7, if looked after properly, can potentially play in our first team at 17 and then who knows after that. That’s our aim and we have some quality young players involved in our juniors at the moment with our u7’s recently invited to play in a selective tournament at west riding county FA with the other top teams in West Yorkshire at that age. The future is bright and it’s green and white. 

Another key date is the sponsors evening on 10th February. As a club we are focused on connecting with the local Bradford business community, this is an important aspect in our journey to becoming a sustainable football club. We will be inviting current academy player sponsors and also other potential sponsors to come along and enjoy an evening of entertainment at the Horsfall. We will have some food and entertainment on the night along with an auction to help us raise some funds.

In March and May we have our BPA Primary Schools Cup tournament with both boys and girls sections. Last year we have 24 teams participate. In 2023 we will have 48 teams taking part! Integra Insurance will once again be our sponsors for the event and we thank them for their support. 

So in summary we have lots to look forward to in 2023 and we welcome all support from our fan base to help us build the club and progress. 

Thomas