21 Nov 2019

Academy prospect registers for the first team

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The club is pleased to announce that Academy prospect, Jamie Lyons has registered for the senior squad.

The announcement comes after Lyons, 17, featured as a sub in the West Riding County Cup game against Harrogate Town, alongside two other scholars.

Jamie, who has been training with the first team for a number weeks, has made a big mark for the Academy side in recent months, scoring two goals on Monday, one of them being a sublime 30-yard free kick – and also registered an impressive hat trick in a 5-1 victory over Eccleshill U19s earlier in the season.

When asked about now having the opportunity to feature with the first team, Lyons couldn’t hide his joy, “I’m excited, it’s a good stepping-stone for my career. I’m looking forward to trying to help get the team out of the relegation zone, and hopefully in the coming seasons, get us promoted.”

First team
manager Mark Bower is excited to welcome the young player into the
fold, “He’s been training with the first team over the last few
weeks now, we decided to bring him in after seeing how well he’s
done in the Academy. He’s got a great attitude and always looking
for ways to improve so it’s a good step for the progression of his
career.”

This continues to highlight the significant progression that has been made with the Academy side since the appointment of Des Hazel as head coach earlier in the year, and he had this to say, “He’s a nice young lad, and I’ve known since I first watched him that he was a big talent. If he keeps progressing and listening, it’ll allow him to hopefully gain first team experience. He’s done a good job here at the Academy and I’m excited to see what he can do with the first team.”

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21 Nov 2019

The National League pays its Respects to Bill King

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The National League announces with deep regret and sincere sadness, the passing today of its former Chairman and President, Bill King.

Bill was associated with the League for over 40 years, first becoming involved as Chairman of Runcorn FC and then afterwards in a similar role with Altrincham FC.  A pioneer in helping to form the League in 1979, Bill became Vice-Chairman in 1985 and then Chairman in 1989, when he succeeded the late Jim Thompson.

Bill served as Chairman for 17 years, and developed the League from the original 22 Clubs to the current membership of 68.  Along the way he oversaw the rise of the North and South divisions and helped secure automatic promotion for one club and then two clubs.  Succeeded as Chairman by Brian Lee MBE in 2007, he was appointed President and elected as a Life Member.

National League Chairman, Brian Barwick, expressed his sadness at Bill’s passing and remarked, “Bill performed a great service to our sport by driving the development of the Football Conference and by linking the “non-league” pyramid to the Football League through automatic promotion and relegation.  In the year of the League’s 40th anniversary, the whole League is hugely grateful for Bill’s dedication over many years and recognises his outstanding qualities of leadership and integrity”.  

Brian Lee, National League President, paid this glowing tribute, “Bill was a respected figure wherever he went in the game and he certainly made his presence felt and had a disarming way of securing many things which people in the game now take for granted. He was the perfect gentleman and the perfect ambassador for our game. I have been so lucky to have been able to step into his shoes twice and he was always there not only to guide me in difficult times I faced, he contributed to make a huge difference to so many across the game, a game he loved and cherished with unrivalled passion”.

Graham Rowley the Chairman of Altrincham Football Club was deeply moved to hear of Bill’s passing and commented “Bill joined the Club Board in 1986 and his clarity and vision for the game soon led to him becoming Chairman. In 1994 he stepped away to spend more time leading the Football Conference and has been instrumental in making it what it is today, a major player in the football industry! What a great job he did! He will be remembered with much fondness by all at Alty and to the end he remained a true and loyal friend with us”.

The National League extends sincere condolences on behalf of all current and past member clubs to his wife Jane and all of his family.

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16 Nov 2019

Match Report | Bradford 0 – 3 Leamington

by | posted in: First Team Match Reports, First Team News, News | 0

Two goals and a red card in the first ten minutes set the tone for the fixture at the Horsfall stadium as a 10 man Avenue were unable to etch out any consolation and Leamington took away all three points.

What was considered to be a must win game by many at the Horsfall got off to the worst possible start for Bower’s men as March opened the scoring on the 8th minute, heading home from a corner at the near post.

Just one minute later Hughes brought down March in the box to concede a penalty and received a red card for his actions. March went on to secure his second, slotting the ball low and to the left a Green went the other way.

Half Time – Bradford 0 – 2 Leamington

Bradford came out after the break and pushed bodies forward as they looked to try and gain some impetus in the game, but were quickly caught out as March broke through on the counter just 4 minutes into the half and secured his hat trick as he went one on one with Joe Green.

The brakes looked to punish Bradford further as the half wore on, with an effort from Clarke sailing over Green only to come off the cross bar.

Another chance came in the 68th minute as Green was forced to tip the ball over the bar as it curled towards the top corner from an excellently placed strike by the goal hungry March.

Avenue continued to look for the ever elusive goal, but with the lion’s share of the possession falling to the Brakes, it never looked to be coming.

Full Time – Bradford 0 – 3 Leamington

Teams:

Avenue:
1 Green
2 Bazeley
3 Priestley
4 Lowe (C)
5 Hughes (Red – 9′)
6 Royle
7 Knight (O. Johnson – 67′)
8 Marriott
9 Sweeney (Heaton – 39′)
10 Hurst
11 Nowakowski (A. Johnson – 75′)

Subs:
12 Rathbone
14 A. Johnson
15 Heaton
16 O. Johnson

Leamington:
1 Weaver
2 English
3 Morley
4 Maycock
5 Mace
6 Lane
7 Carline
8 Clarke
9 March (Goals: 8′ 9′ & 49′) (Taylor – 78′)
10 Edwards (C) (Gittings – 61′)
11 Anderson (Dunbar – 70′)

Subs:
12 Walters
14 Dunbar
15 Gittings
16 Taylor
17 Murphey

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16 Nov 2019

Duo Leave On Loan

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Jon Moran and Brad Dockerty have both left the club on loan, joining Stafford Rangers and Pontefract Collieries respectively.

Both players joined the club in the summer, but have struggled to force their way into the side recently, with injury and illness hampering their progress.

Dockerty in particular impressed fans over the summer and has grabbed three league goals so far this term, with his move to Pontefract coming due to a change in personal circumstances.

Avenue boss Mark Bower explained: “Brad’s work patterns have changed recently and he has been struggling to commit to training over the past couple of weeks.

“The loan spell will give him a chance to play games again, and we can keep an eye on his progress.

“Together with Brad we will re-assess the situation when his loan spell ends.”

Dockerty will join Pontefract until January, while centre-back Moran has signed an initial one-month loan deal with Stafford.

The defender has been out injured after starting the season with a string of appearances, but is yet to feature under Bower.

“Game time will be of great benefit to Jon,” the Bradford manager said.

“He hasn’t featured over the past few weeks due to a minor injury, and he needs to now get back on the pitch.”

Meanwhile, Cieron Keane and Kemy Agustien have both left the club following short spells at Avenue.

The club would like to thank the pair for their efforts while with the club, and wish them all the best for the future.

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13 Nov 2019

Gloucester City Away In The Buildbase FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round

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Bradford (Park Avenue) will travel to Gloucester City’s in the Third Qualifying Round of The Buildbase FA Trophy.

Due to Gloucester’s ground sharing agreement with Evesham United and Evesham’s own fixtures the tie will take place at the Jubilee Stadium on Sunday 24th November 2019.

The club will be running a supporters coach to the game, with seats costing £15 for adults and £10 for under 16’s.

Pick up time will be 10:00 from The Horsfall Stadium and 10:15 from Cedar Court Hotel. Returning back to Bradford shortly after the game once the players have eaten.

To book your seat please contact Neil Fawcett on 07811959003 or see him at the Fans Forum Friday or Leamington Spa game Saturday.

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13 Nov 2019

FA Approve Transfer To Community Interest Company (CIC)

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Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC, are pleased to announce that the ownership of the club has now been officially transferred to a Community Interest Company (CIC) following approval of the transfer by the FA.

The club was previously governed as a community benefit society which proved too restrictive for future investment. This transfer will allow the club to attract other stakeholders and conduct business like a private company.

The CIC is still community focused and so there will not be any obvious changes.

Gareth Roberts, the principal shareholder, said 

“This is an important technical change for the club which allows us to move forward and secure a long term lease at the Horsfall Stadium which in turn allows us to attract FA funds to improve the ground.

We plan to expand our academy enrolment next year and base it entirely at the Horsfall. Meanwhile we will expand our community activities alongside our associated charity, the Horsfall Trust, which will become much more active in the future.

We invite members of the community to help our efforts by donating time or money to either entity. The new CIC structure will also allow us to attract additional investors, so please contact the club if you are interested!”

Following this exciting new, Gareth Roberts will be in Bradford this coming weekend and would like to invite supporters to a forum this Friday where they can find out more about plans for the club going forwards.

The event will be held in the club house, Starting at 7pm on the 15th of November.

The bar will be open from 6:30pm. Supporters who are unable to make the forum are invited to submit their questions by e-mail to info@bpafc.com before noon on Friday.

The following day will see Bradford play host to Leamington in the National League North, and the club would like to invite supporters of team’s not in action due to the international break to come along and enjoy the game, with entry reduced to just £5 for season ticket holders of any club from any sport.

If you would like to invest in the club, make a donation please contact Carl Marsden at info@bpafc.com

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12 Nov 2019

Reduced Admission This Weekend For Season Ticket Holders Of Any Sports Club

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Due to the International break this weekend Bradford City, Leeds United and Huddersfield Town are without a game. Also, Halifax Town are away at Woking in their National League fixture.

In the light of this, Bradford (Park Avenue) have sought and been given approval from the National League to offer season tickets holders from ANY other sports club a reduced admission price of £5 on production of their season ticket at the turnstile for our home game against Leamington Spa.

Please spread the message to all football supporters looking to get their football fix this weekend to help get a bumper crowd at the Horsfall on Saturday.

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11 Nov 2019

Fan’s Forum This Friday

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The club’s owner Gareth Roberts will be in Bradford this coming weekend and would like to invite supporters to a forum this Friday.

The forum will provide supporters with an update on the latest developments at the club and the floor will be open for questions.

The event will be held in the club house, Starting at 7pm on the 15th of November.

The bar will be open from 6:30pm. Supporters who are unable to make the forum are invited to submit their questions by e-mail to info@bpafc.com before noon on Friday.

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