Gibbons graduated from Doncaster Rovers academy and signed a first year professional contract with the club earlier this year after impressing enough to be noticed by the then first team boss, Grant McCann.
An attacking player with plenty of pace, Gibbons caught the eye of Marcus Law in a closed door friendly earlier this week.
He joins Bradford in time for today’s game against Blyth Spartans.
Season ticket holders who have not yet received their scarves will be able to collect them from outside the club shop at today’s home game.
Those who opted to have their scarves posted out that do not collect them tomorrow will recieve them through the post in the coming week.
We would like to apologise for the delay and can confirm processes are being put in place to prevent similar occurences in future.
Many thanks for all of your support.
Bradford (Park Avenue) are pleased to announce the signing of former Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers development prospect, Marcus Wood, who has also received multiple caps for England U18’s
Speaking at training on Thursday, Wood described himself as a “combative” center mid:
Marcus Law described the new signing;
“Wood is a strong player who’s got good technical skills and packs power. He comes highly recommended by our contacts and knows the league, having played with Southport last season.”
“We’re really pleased to have him on board. When the opportunity arose to bring him in we snapped him up before any one else could.”
Calder was part of the Villa under-19’s team which won the 2012–13 NextGen Series, beating Chelsea in the final of the competition.
Speaking about the signing, interim first team boss, Marcus Law admitted the signing may be controversial amongst supporters:
“We’re aware that there may be some controversy around this signing. Riccardo’s recently come back to football after serving a short sentence. I won’t go into the details here, but he’s made a mistake, served his time and is looking to rebuild his life.”
“Since I came on board with the Avenue it’s been stressed to me that we are a community club. So with that in mind I think it’s the perfect environment for the lad to rebuild his career in the game, and I hope the fans will join myself and Lee in welcoming Riccardo in with open arms.”
Calder, who plays at left back, spoke to BPAFC.com at training on Thurday saying:
“I’m looking forward to getting going. I like a challenge and feel I can make a real difference here. I’m a team player and can bring the energy needed to create opportunities.”
For the chance to see Calder in action, join us at the Horsfall stadium tomorrow at 3pm, as Avenue take on Blyth Spartans.
Bradford (Park Avenue) would like to thank Akeem for all his efforts in red, amber and black, and wish him all the best for the future. The club would also like to thank Rotherham for the allowing the club the services of Hinds.
The youth product joined Avenue in pre-season after impressing for Rotherham in a friendly at the Horsfall Stadium.
Hinds started every one of Avenue’s games this term, and could have notched his first senior goal, away at Alfreton, but his strike was ruled out for offside.
The news follows an interview with interim manager, Marcus Law who promised changes after the match.
It cannot be denied that the club has suffered as a result of poor decision making, which has led to issues both on and off the pitch. The club accepts that this is unacceptable and are working to rectify all of the issues identified.
Hosting the forum will be newly appointed associate general manager, Carl Marsden and match day operations manager, Mark Leadbeater who will take questions relating to the day to day running of the club. Accompanying them will the interim first team manager, Marcus Law and assistant manager, Lee Fowler who will field questions relating to the team.
To ensure that the club can answer as many questions as possible on the night, we would ask that all questions are sent by e-mail to info@bpafc.com no later than 4pm on Friday. Only once all the questions emailed in advance have been responded to will the floor be open for further questions. As such, please email your questions in advance to ensure there is time to address them.
The forum will be held in the club house, starting at 6pm and ending no later than 8:30pm, with a short break part way through. The bar will be open for refreshments throughout.
Redfearn played 130 games for Bradford between 1952 and 1958 and found the net a total of 32 times.
Brian retired from football aged 29 due to an ankle injury but was often seen supporting his son, former Leeds United manager, Neil Redfearn, who has also featured for Avenue.
Speaking to the Telegraph and Argus, Neil spoke about how his father re-lived his career through watching his son:
“Obviously he loved me playing for City and watching me at Avenue, who were his first love.”
“Even when I was at Crystal Palace or Charlton (in London), he’d still come and watch.
Brian’s funeral will take place at Rawdon Crematorium on Wednesday, August 28 at 11:40am.
Neil has said that anyone that anyone wishing to do so would be welcome to come and pay their respects.
Law, who replaced Garry Thompson just two games into the campaign, oversaw the side’s first point of the season last week with a 1-1 draw at Gateshead, but any work was undone on Saturday with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Alfreton Town.
“It didn’t get off to the best of starts,” Law said. “We got here and our centre half Nelson (Digbeu) has broken down, meaning we had to bring in Ryan Cresswell earlier than we probably wanted to.
“At the end of the day, he’s missed 10 days without training or playing due to family reasons, which in the grand scheme of things are much more important.
“We’ve had to throw him in there, and in fairness to him he’s not done much wrong, he was a bit off the pace, but that was going to happen, I can’t put him at fault.
“Ultimately, they’ve had a penalty, an own goal and two bad backpasses, and it’s 4-0. That says everything about what this group is at the moment.
“There’s some naivety, some bad decision making, and that’s what’s hurting them.”
Two of Alfreton’s goals came from underhit backpasses, including the opener which came against the run of play.
“I’ve said to them after the game that it’s not their fault they’ve been put together,” Law said. “This is a very young side, and ultimately there’s a core who really need to be pitching at three or four to learn and develop.
“It’s just a bit too much for them, and it’s hurting the players who are of this level and who are good enough.
“Elliott Holmes, Alex Hurst, Isaac Marriott, there’s players there, and they need support to play at this level, but at the moment they’re just not getting it.
“We’ve had some committed performances, but it’s just the quality and the know-how that is lacking. Fortunately we’ve got a week ahead where we can move some things around.
“I’ve asked the lads to be a bit honest, and ask themselves if they are doing themselves justice.
“Some of them lads are doing as much travelling as me, and that’s a worry. I don’t understand why.
“I’m travelling a distance but I’m not playing. Some of the squad are matching that, and they just need to be playing in and around their area, they should be no more than an hour away.
“Again, it’s not their fault, they’ve all been whacked on contracts which makes me a lot more restricted financially.
“But they’ve just got to be honest and ask themselves; ‘is this the level you can compete at at this moment in time?’
“It’s now up to 18 goals against, with only the one for, and that says a lot.”
With a rare midweek free of action early in the season, Law revealed he has arranged a friendly to take a look at some potential new faces.
“We’ll get through the weekend and have some honest conversations on Monday,” he said. “I’ve arranged a friendly for this week to look at some players in the squad and some I’d like to bring in.
“It’s difficult to bring in players when you’ve got so many on contract, but I think that it’s an honest enough group, all of whom just want to be playing.
“We’ll certainly help the players as much as we can, but there’s got to be a bit of humanity about it all, we don’t want to make life difficult for people as it’s not their fault.
“I’ve worked in the National League and I didn’t even have that many players on contract then. I’m still getting my head round why what’s happened has happened.
“I don’t think it’s the owner’s fault, I think they’ve gone from one extreme to the other in terms of an over inflated budget to a very restricted one, and then adding all the players on contract within that restriction.
“So we want to protect the core that have something about them, and that we can develop, and have some honest conversations amongst the group, and have a week where we can make some changes.”
Despite the scoreline, Avenue did have their moments at North Street with an Akeem Hinds strike ruled out for offside before Rod Orlando-Young sliced wide early in the second half.
“We actually started the game very brightly,” the interim boss said. “Then we had the goal ruled out which was a matter of inches.
“All in all, we have got some very nice footballers, who have been educated through the academy system.
“The side competed on Tuesday at Gateshead because of the way they play, pretty on the eye, trying to open play up, and that suited us.
“Alfreton are a different beast. They are no nonsense, very experienced non-league team, who make good decisions due to their know-how.
“That shows you the gulf in terms of the education that this side is missing, we just haven’t competed.
“Yes, we’ve played good football and we had the offside goal, and another great chance at 2-0 which could have changed things, but again, a more experienced player probably puts that away.
“Of course it’s going to be difficult to attract players and find the ones that suit what we need, but I’m not going to shy away from the challenge.
“I’m not going to make excuses, I’m not going to blame anyone, the situation is what it is, but the decision making in the past has made our job very hard, but we’ve got to get on with it, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Bradford (Park Avenue) fell to a fifth defeat of the season thanks to a 4-0 loss away at Alfreton Town.
A first-half brace from Amari Morgan-Smith was followed up by a Danny Clarke strike and a Mitchell Lund own goal in the second period to condemn Avenue to yet another heavy loss in the National League North.
Akeem Hinds had a goal ruled out for offside and Lewis Knight saw a goalbound effort tipped onto the bar but Bradford were second best for the majority of a difficult afternoon at North Street.
The visitors actually started the game on the front foot playing down the slope at Alfreton, but that was all undone when Ben Hedley sold debutant and captain Rhys Taylor short with a backpass, Morgan-Smith nipping in and rounding the goalkeeper for the easiest of finishes.
Alfreton had a couple of penalty appeals waved away as the game slowed down, Knight hitting a free-kick which flicked off the wall and landed just over the bar.
Bradford then found the back of the net with a well-worked goal, Alex Hurst slipping in Hinds who finished confidently under former Avenue stopper Jack Atkinson, only for a dubious linesman’s flag to rule him out.
Moments later and the referee did point to the spot as Jon Moran pulled down Morgan-Smith, the striker picking himself up and sending Taylor the wrong way from 12 yards.
The hosts should have made it three just before the break as one full-back found the other, but Josh Wilde could only stab Josh Clackstone’s excellent ball over the bar.
Just after the interval, Clarke had a similar chance and found a similar fate, volleying over the bar from Wilde’s cross.
Bradford’s big chance came six minutes into the second period when Elliott Holmes’ low cross ran all the way through to half-time substitute Rod Orlando-Young, but he sliced his effort horribly wide.
And once again the visitors were stung as five minutes later, Alfreton capitalised on another mistake to extend their lead. It was Moran this time who underhit his backpass and Clarke ran through to make it 3-0.
Clackstone came close with an effort that skimmed the roof of the net, in between good saves from Taylor to deny Clarke and Morgan-Smith adding to their earlier efforts.
But with 15 minutes to play, Alfreton’s pressure paid off as Wilde’s cross from the left was deflected past a wrong-footed Taylor by Lund.
Avenue did strike the woodwork late on, Knight cutting inside before improvising a clipped effort which looked to have beaten Atkinson, only for the ‘keeper to preserve his clean sheet with an impressive fingertip save onto the top of the bar.
Alfreton Town: Atkinson, Clackstone, Wilde (c, Bacon 80), Lynch (Whitham 67), Killock, Qualter, Thacker, Smith, Clarke (Tomlinson 75), Morgan-Smith, Johnson
Subs not used: Blake, Williams
Goals: Morgan-Smith (12, 39P), Clarke (57), Lund (OG 74)
Booked: Clarke (43), Whitham (70)
Bradford (Park Avenue): Taylor (c), Hedley, Hinds (Orlando-Young 46), Lund, Cresswell, Moran, Marriott, Holmes, Hakeem (Clarke 62), Knight, Hurst
Subs not used: Bennett, Laird, Rathbone
Booked: Cresswell (31), Moran (39)
Referee: Michael Barlow
Attendance: 378
If you can’t make it to Alfreton today then be sure to tune into today’s live match commentary, broadcast from our new Mixlr account, BPAFC.
You can join our commentary team at 14:55 at the following link: http://mixlr.com/bpafc/
