Please note, the coach to Spennymoor is now full, however the club is taking names for a reserve list and may look to book a 2nd
A fantastic response from the Green Army sees the coach to Spennymoor booked to full capacity.
The club is still taking names as a reserve should any bookings be cancelled, however should enough names be taken the club will look to book a second coach.
Make sure to get your name down as soon as possible so that a decision can be made in good time.
The Avenue will make the journey up the A1 on Wednesday to face playoff rivals, Spennymoor Town.
With the travelling Green Army spurring the squad on all season, the team needs you now more than ever to make some noise and be that 12th man at The Brewery Field.
The coach will leave the Horsfall Stadium at 4pm on Wednesday, and will leave Cedar Court Hotel at 4:15pm.
Tickets cost just £15 for an adult, or £10 for under 16’s.
Spaces are limited, so book now to avoid disappointment.
After a roller coaster season that saw Bradford top the league at Christmas before hitting a bad run of form in early 2019, the Avenue has secured the final playoff spot in a nail biting season finale.
The next challenge for Bradford awaits this Wednesday at The Brewery Field, home of Spennymoor Town.
The hosts come into the game confidently and on a strong vein of form, with a 5-0 win at Curzon Ashton on Saturday sealing a 4th consecutive win.
Avenue will be raring to go, having defied the bookies odds yet again to secure a playoff spot. Bradford narrowly lost to Chorley on Saturday, but will be buoyed by the superb performance that saw them briefly take the lead against the title contenders.
Bower’s men have already proven they can best the Moors home and away, haven taken all 6 points from the last two fixtures.
With yet another shot at promotion to the National League, the squad needs you, the 12th man, to be heard at The Brewery Field this Wednesday.
Despite it being a dreary day at Victory Park the game was far from it with a 3-2 thriller which saw both sides confirm their spots in the playoff places.
Mark Bower made one change from Monday’s starting eleven following on from a 1-3 defeat against York City with Danny East dropping to the bench in place of Jamie Spencer. Chorley on the other hand made a couple of changes to their starting eleven with both Teague and Challoner both dropping out for Jordan and Anson respectively as they aimed for the National League North title.
Chorley started off the stronger side, fashioning themselves some early half-chances including an early long range drive in the 2nd minute by Chorley centre back Meppen-Walters which was easily held by ‘keeper Charlie Andrew.
After weathering an early storm Bradford then grew into the game with some good combination play by Knight and Ross down the Bradford right, which was ultimately comfortably dealt with by the Chorley defence. Avenue’s best chance of the match up to that point then fell Lewis Knight who found himself free at the back post, however he was unable to get his header on target. A trio of Bradford corners followed but they were unable to make the most of the opportunities presented to them.
It was then heart-in-mouths moment for the Avenue supporters when some good play by the Chorley attackers saw them get in behind and get the ball in the back of the net, thankfully however the linesman had flagged for offside. It then got even better as just a few minutes later in the 34th minute Knight was brought down in the box by ‘keeper Matt Urwin after being played in behind by Jake Beesley. It was of course Beesley who took the resultant penalty, giving Bradford the lead and taking Beesley’s tally to twenty for the season. Bradford then would have been through again in the 37th minute had it not have been for Johnson slipping on the edge of the area.
For the rest of the half Chorley regained control having a couple of chances which again were easily dealt with by Andrew, up until the 43rd minute when a good ball in from Bradford’s left hand side was superbly held up by Almond who thumped it into the roof of the net to level up the game. Chorley then came close again through a Carver header which was brilliantly saved by last weeks man of the match Charlie Andrew.
After the break, both sides came racing out the blocks with Andrew again being forced into making a couple of saves in the 46th and 47th minute. Bradford then created a chance of their own when following a brilliant bit of play by Knight he forced Urwin into making a save.
In the 54th minute a long ball down field from a Chorley goal kick was misjudged by Andrew, allowing Louis Almond through again and seeing him put the ball into the back of the empty net, giving him his second of the match. A minute later however, Bradford immediately fired back when a cross in by Knight was bundled home by Oli Johnson at the back post.
Chorley came close again in the 57th minute with a free kick which hit the post and eventually ended up being dealt with by the Bradford defence.
For then on the game appeared to be fizzling out with neither side really being able to create any clear-cut chances as they had done earlier in the half. This continued until the 87th minute when yet another long ball by Urwin wasn’t dealt with by Bradford’s defence allowing Almond to slot away, in off the post, rounding off his hat trick. For the remainder of the match, Bradford struggled for possession however Chorley rarely did enough to truly threaten scoring again.
Despite the 3-2 defeat, Bradford qualified for the playoffs on goal difference as Telford fell to a 1-0 defeat to previous games opponents York City. This now means that Bradford will travel to Spennymoor Town on Wednesday for the start of their playoff campaign.
It’s all to play for on the final day of the season in what should be an exhilarating fixture for both sets of fans.
With just one point separating Chorley from top of the league Stockport, the Magpies have to better Stockport’s result in order to be crowned champions.
With the Hatters away to rock bottom Nuneaton Borough, it looks to be a tall order for Chorley to gain automatic promotion, but with nothing to play for, Nuneaton may be just the banana skin the Magpies need.
Regardless of the result at Liberty way, Chorley will still need to best a determined Bradford side, who come into the game looking to secure a chance at promotion via the play offs.
Avenue supporters will be keeping a close eye on the fixtures at Bootham Crescent and Croft Park as Bradford will need to either match Telford’s result against a strong York City, or better in-form Blyth’s result against Southport.
With everything to play for, it’s not a fixture to miss. Get to Victory Park and get behind Bower and the boys on Saturday. Make The Difference. Be the 12th Man. Be #ProperBradford.
Read on to find out more about the opposition and what to expect on the day.
Welcome to the last Pre-Match Programme of the regular season for 2018/19.
This Easter Monday sees the Avenue play host to York city in the last home game of the season proper. The fixture comes after a close 1-0 defeat away at Darlington on Good Friday, meaning 3 points will now be vital for Bradford to clinch a much coveted playoff spot.
York come into the Bank Holiday on the back of a close 3-2 defeat to playoff placed Spennymoor town. Although the Minster Men have only pride to play for at this point in the season, York will be looking for revenge after Bradford thrashed the full time outfit 4-1 in the reverse fixture back in November.
Bradford will be hoping for a Good Friday on the pitch as they head to Darlington FC today to kick off a vital Easter weekend push to secure a lucrative playoff spot.
With the current standings, 6th placed Avenue need to secure 5 points from the last 3 games in order to mathematically guarantee a place in the playoffs.
Despite sitting just 2 places off the relegation zone, 18th placed Darlington come into today’s game with only honour to play for, having secured enough points to to avoid the drop with 3 games left.
With the no more pressure on already relegated Nuneaton Borough, Mark Bower’s side won’t be underestimating this weekend’s opposition.
Having defeated fellow relegation candidates, FC United of Manchester 4 – 0 less than two weeks ago, Nuneaton looked set to take a point from playoff chasing Chester last Saturday, until an injury time goal gave Chester all three points and confirmed Borough’s relegation fears.
With the pressure off, Nuneaton will be able to play freely with no concern for the result and only honour to play for, making them just as dangerous an opponent as any in the league.
Avenue’s trip to the Aggborough last weekend ended in a misleading 3-0 defeat, despite spells of good attacking football from Bradford.
After the Game, Mark Bower said:
“We should never lose that game 3 -0. You come away to Kidderminster, they’re always going to have spells of possession and keep the ball against you. But they’ve scored from a set piece. We have defend and deal with it better.”
“We missed a free header from 6 yards and a one on one with their goal keeper. And then from a simple cross in the box they’re 2-0 up”
“In the second half made a few changes to the formation and we completely dominated for 20 to 25 minutes, we had chance after chance”
“If we get the goal there you think we’re going to get something from the game. but nothing really fell for us in front of goal and we weren’t ruthless enough in either box. And when they get the third one that’s game over.”
“Credit to them they’ve been more ruthless on the day and that’s why they won the game”
Avenue will seek to recreate the form shown at the Aggborough last season as they look to put additional distance between them and the chasing pack.
It’s been almost a year since Bradford last visited the Aggborough Stadium for a standard league game on the last day of the 2017/18 season.
For the Avenue faithful the day will go down as one of the most memorable in recent history. Having gone 1-0 down in the 1st quarter of an hour, it took until well into the second half for Frank Mulhern to find an equaliser.
With the clock ticking down and news of Spennymoor’s victory over Southport filtering through to the away fans, any hopes of a playoff spot began to slip away until, in the final moments of the game, Adam Boyes arrived at the back post to slot the ball home and sent the travelling green army into a frenzy.
Just four days later Bradford returned to the Aggborough, this time finding the Harriers much easier to handle with a 2 goals to nil sealing a 6th consecutive win and a pass through to the playoff semi-finals.
This time round, Bradford go to Kidderminster 9 points ahead of the hosts, who sit just outside the playoffs, albeit 5 points adrift.
Kidderminster have lost their last two games and now have a lot of ground to cover in order to catch up and secure a playoff spot. But with both Telford and Altrincham holding games in hand, the Harriers could potentially go 8 points adrift.
Avenue will go into Saturday’s game looking for a repeat of last season’s form in order to put further distance between them and the chasing pack, as well as to climb the table and secure a lucrative home playoff fixture.
Read on to find out about key opposition players, the away ground historical results, as well as news closer to home:
Bradford (Park Avenue) have moved to add attacking options in their push to the Play Offs campaign by adding Hull City Teen Hotshot Keane Lewis-Potter.
Lewis-Potter is a highly rated forward at Hull and was rewarded with a 3 year Professional Contract on February 28th by Nigel Adkins having netted 8 goals ast under 18 level for the Tigers and an impressive 17 goals for the under 23s this season.
A regular at training with Adkins first
team, 18 year old Lewis-Potter was included in the first team in Januarys
FA Cup clash away at Millwall.
In January on making his first team debut, Nigel Adkins said of Lewis-Potter:
“He’s a young guy, diminutive in his figure, he’s got a bit of pace and an eye for goal. Let’s not put any pressure on him but let’s be excited that somewhere down the line it’s another player coming through the academy who’s got a bright future at the club”
Keane will join fellow Hull product Charlie
Andrew at The Horsfall and is on a loan deal until the end of the season.
Of the signing today Bradford Park Avenue CEO
Damian Irvine said :-
“We’re really pleased to have secured the services of Keane. We’ve been looking to add some attacking support since Macauley Langstaff completed his loan period and cannot speak highly enough of Hull City and their staff who have been exceptionally helpful”
Irvine Added :-
“We have plenty to offer as a club in terms of opportunities , and as with Charlie Andrew and Romaney Chrichlow Noble, Keane will be able to demonstrate his wares in a great environment competing at the top end of the league into the big games at the end of the season.”
Lewis-Potter will arrive at Horsfall and be available for Saturdays huge clash against Alfreton in the 3pm Kick Off. The club welcomes any Hull City supporters not making the trip to Ipswich Town and all Huddersfield Town Supporters not travelling to Crystal Palace to come along and support your young loanees up close to the action at family friendly Horsfall Stadium.
