Yet another great signing for the 20/21 season for The Avenue! The versatile Mitchell Lund has signed a new contract with the club for the 20/21 season with an option for a second. Mitch played 30 games for the Avenue last season and played in all of the positions across the back four as well as a few games as a holding midfielder. Excelling in the final few games of the season at the heart of the defence as a centre back and helping us beat two of the top four in our last three games.

Starting his career at Doncaster Mitch has amassed 50 appearances in the EFL for Doncaster Rovers and Morecombe, before joining the Avenue in 2019. The 6’1”, 23 year old, fits perfectly into our ideas of giving young, hungry players the platform and opportunity  to play first team men’s football.

Joining along side the already announced Lewis Knight(21) and Dan Atkinson (24) we are beginning to see a young, exciting and talented squad for next season coming together.

Mitch Lund –

‘I am delighted to say that I will be re-signing for BPA. I am looking forward to stepping out on the pitch for this great club. Hopefully enjoying a more successful season, which I believe the club and the fans thoroughly deserve. It is a credit to the club that at this uncertain time they are in such a positive position off the field, securing a strong playing squad for next season as well as signing the gaffa and Bosh for another 3 years. I am very thankful to be a part of Bradford (Park Avenue) and it will give me immense pride to represent this club once more. I look forward to seeing you all again, down at the Horsfall, as soon as it is safe for us all to do.’

Mark Bower –

‘We are really pleased to have Mitch committed for next season. He showed great versatility for us last season and finished it with some stand out performances at centre half. Not only is Mitch talented and hard working, he is also very professional, with a great attitude in the games and training. Wherever Bosh and I asked him to play, he quietly just got on with it to the best of his ability. Having this kind of selflessness in the squad is invaluable and will help Mitch towards achieving his ambition of getting back into full time football once again.’

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The Development Fund are pleased to announce that sponsorship of any of the players that have already signed for the club for next season can be done by clicking here and filling out the player sponsorship form. It costs just £60 to sponsor a player either home or away.

Bradford (Park Avenue) are delighted to announce that we have secured the signing of Dan Atkinson for the 20/21 season. The 24 year old Goalkeeper, began his development at the Leeds United Academy where he made appearances for England U16’s and England U17’s before moving to Guiseley. At Guiseley Dan played under our current management duo of Mark and Danny and made 18 appearances for Guiseley in the National League, challenging Steven Drench for the number 1 jersey during his 2 seasons with the club.

We look forward to seeing Dan plying his trade down at the Horsfall next season and wish him well as he embarks on his Avenue career.

Dan Atkinson –

‘I am really excited to be joining BPA and joining back up and playing under Mark and Danny. I really enjoyed my time playing under them and I am looking forward to the brand of football that they want to play here. I’ve got a real hunger to do well for the club and get BPA back up the table, hopefully keeping a clean sheet or two. I think everyone will be excited to get back to watching some football when this is all over, so lets hope we can give them something to cheer about when the new season starts’

Mark Bower –

‘I’m really pleased with the signing of Dan. He is a modern, young goalkeeper with bags of potential, but also good experience having played a number of games at National league level. Having worked with him in the past, I know Dan will compliment the team well with his goalkeeping qualities and confidence with the ball at his feet. He is another young talented player whom we hope to help fulfil his ambitions of becoming a full time professional player. ’

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Fan Favourite Lewis Knight has put pen to paper on a new one year deal. After lengthy discussions between Lewis and his agent Andy Gray, the club are delighted to announce that the blisteringly quick forward has committed his immediate future to the Avenue.

His powerful and exciting style has won many admirers over his 2 seasons with The Avenue and the club have had to fight hard to fend off interest from else where. Its obvious to see why he is so admired by the Avenue fans and envied by other clubs, his games to goal involvement ratio (goal or assist) is just under one every other game.

Total Appearances: 71

Goals: 11

Assists: 17

In line with the clubs strategy of developing young talented players, who maybe haven’t had opportunities to this point in their development, this marks the first of many such exciting squad developments.

Danny Boshell –

Both myself and Mark are delighted that Lewis has decided to remain with us for the next season. The fact that he sees the club as the best place to further develop is a real positive, Mark and I hope we can help him fulfil his obvious potential into becoming a full time professional in the next couple of years, which we know is his aim. He’s a fantastic lad who’s got a great attitude and enthusiasm for the game which makes him a pleasure to coach and that’s exactly the sort of player we want at the club.

Lewis Knight –

I am very happy to be signing my new deal at BPA. Obviously with the current climate it’s hard to know what will happen next season and I’m delighted the club and I could get a deal done so early. With the club re-signing the gaffa and Bosh for an extra three years, it shows the clubs intent to do well next year and the years to come. The project looks very ambitious and I am excited to be a part of it. Also a big thank you to the fans for their loyal support throughout last year and I hope this next coming season we can repay them with some good performances and wins.

Andy Gray –

One of the reasons we wanted Lewis to re-sign for The Avenue, is that a platform to play regular first team football in a competitive environment is the most vital part of a young players development.

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Here at Bradford (Park Avenue) we are always on the look out for talented young footballers, if you have recently been released from a fulltime professional program and are looking for a place to prove yourself and have the opportunity to get back further up the footballing pyramid, please contact us to discuss the next exciting stage of your career – m.a.knight@hotmail.com

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We are delighted to be able to announce that the incredibly talented management duo of Mark Bower and Danny Boshell have agreed to commit to the club in the long term. Fundamental to the new strategy for the club, was having great management of the first team, and the ability to nurture and develop young talent. Then blending these younger talents with more experienced and seasoned players.  Mark and Danny have proven that when given the right kind of platform they are capable of producing exciting, competitive teams that are great to watch. The new 3 year deals will give them the time, confidence and stability to build something special here at the Horsfall.

Owner Gareth Roberts

‘I am really pleased that Mark and Danny have extended their contracts, we are lucky to have local lads with great coaching ability and whom understand and know the club. After a tumultuous season we wanted to steady the ship and have some strong foundations to build on’

Mark

‘I’m pleased to get this deal agreed. After what has been a difficult last 18 months, I’m positive that we now have a structure in place that can build a long and sustainable future both on and off the pitch. The proposed ground developments are exciting and it feels like we are entering a new beginning with a real focus and professional approach behind the scenes. I’m looking forward to the challenge and both Danny and I know we can count on the supporters to get behind us and help us through these uncertain times, in the knowledge that there is a solid plan and commitment in place to grow the club over the next few years’

Danny

‘Both Mark and myself are really pleased to have got this sorted, it shows the commitment of the club long term and their trust in our ability. It will allow us to further test those abilities at a club that is close to our hearts as two Bradford born lads growing up a stones through from the ground. Its not going to be easy, but we up for the challenge in these new and testing times’