Bradford (Park Avenue) FC and The Horsfall Community Stadium would like to thank long serving fan David Bruce for his sizeable donation that has funded and part funded some developments in the stadium.

David Bruce (pictured) said, “I am delighted to have funded the white pitch side perimeter fence at Bradford (Park Avenue) FC and also to have part funded the new security fence that is going into the stadium this Summer. As a supporter of the club for over 50 years it’s great that Gareth has finally been able to obtain the new Lease, 3G pitch and commission the new Stadium Security Fence. Up the Avenue!”.

David was presented with his new season ticket by Neil Fawcett. Neil is a very well-known ambassador for Bradford (Park Avenue) FC with many years’ kind voluntary service. He continues to help with so much at the Club.

Well it’s Day 4 of the building of the new 3G pitch at the Horsfall Stadium and we are all very excited. Unfortunately the great British weather slowed progress today.

Building work started on Monday and anyone who has seen the pictures on our website will see that good progress has been made already. We hope the surface will be ready by September 1 for community use, friendlies and matches for Bradford (Park Avenue) FC, and for Rugby clubs and other community uses. You’ll have seen our hopes for West Bowling ARLFC to relocate here, and all other rugby union and rugby league clubs are welcome to book and speak with us too – just call us on the contact emails below. By the time the pitch is ready, we hope also to have agreed some improvements to the Athletics facilities which will be built by December latest.

The site is now a construction site with all associated Health and Safety requirements, so please do not try to come into the Stadium area or interrupt workers. If you wish to view progress or take pictures, this can easily be done from Park Road which sits on high ground overlooking the whole Stadium.

The work is now possible because late last Friday 12 June, Bradford Council completed a 35-year lease with Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC CIC, and with a Licence to do these works.

There are now two major ‘sides’ to the ongoing football and wider community and stadium projects. The Stadium and Community side is run by Mark Leadbeater, the Stadium Operations Manager. Mark can be contacted at mleadbeater@live.com. The Stadium and Community side is expected shortly to be governed under a Management Agreement from BPA FC as Leaseholder, and the new Horsfall Community Stadium CIC (HCS) will manage and operate the Stadium facilities on behalf of BPAFC as the Leaseholder. HCS is a subsidiary of The Horsfall Community Trust which is Chaired by Robert Clunas.

The football club side is governed by its Directors. These are Gareth Roberts, John Dean and (subject to final ratification) David Little, who has already been Company Secretary for a couple of years. The football operations are led on the Directors’ behalf by Martin Knight, the BPA Director of Football Operations. Martin can be contacted at m.a.knight@hotmail.com.

So please direct any Stadium or Community matters to Mark, and any football-specific matters to Martin.

Our Press Release of Friday 12 June celebrates the long-awaited completion of the Lease and confirms that we are committed to the building of the pitch, and of the new Security Fence that will go around the stadium area. Gareth is putting in hundreds of thousands of pounds at present to help build a sustainable financial future for Bradford Park Avenue (the football Club) and the Horsfall community project more widely. The 3G pitch is of course an obvious example of how the income and cost balance now shifts considerably in our favour. We are also grateful for the support of the Football Stadia Improvement Fund, and we hope more partners will be on board for further developments.

We look forward to serving the Bradford and Calderdale area well over the coming years and for football, rugby, athletics and many other activities to thrive here and throughout our local community. As ever, it’s “Up the Avenue!”.

We will update you again before the end of June.

Cullen is joining the club as it embarks on an ambitious restructure of its entire set up, from 1^st team right the way down to its under 5’s junior section. There will be a vast amount of work to get through from an operational and process perspective, something acknowledged by the clubs ownership, and demonstrated by their support of this appointment.

On a day to day basis, Cullen will be helping with the football administration, club shop, program production and supporting the club secretary and directors. He will also be part of the Academy team as we seek to deliver a multi age, fully inclusive proposition for all the people of Bradford and the surrounding area.

Cullen brings an understanding of what it takes to run an amateur football club, having set up the football group Friends of FC; a collection of teams that spreads the length and breadth of Leeds. This knowledge of grass roots, financially prudent, planning and execution will help fill some of the experience gaps to our existing management team.

Calum Cullen –

‘I am delighted to be here, and grateful for the opportunity and faith shown in me by Martin and Gareth. Even though we are still affected by Covid-19, there is lots to be getting on with and I am looking forward to the challenge’.

‘The dream has always been to work full-time within the game and when the offer came, it was an easy decision for me to come work at a club with a great history, loyal fanbase and, with the new lease, an unbelieve amount of potential’.

Martin Knight –

‘Calum will bring to the table a new set of skills having set up his own club from scratch. We will need his ‘can do’ attitude and energy as we start the journey to make the club a self sustaining, 5* experience for all of our, fans, players, students, parents and staff. He brings new ideas and perspective, something I hope will help us achieve our goals and hopes for the club on and off the field. I hope that we can all extend to Calum the same friendly Bradfordian welcome that I have received.’

#UTA

End of day 3 and not a blade of grass in sight. Next up levelling and rolling.

Following the recent news that the club has finally secured a 35 year lease on the Horsfall Stadium. The club can officially confirm that work has started on replacing the playing surface with a state of the art 3G pitch ahead of next season.

The Horsfall is officially a construction site with contractors and machinery making light work of removing the turf from the pitch in preparation of drainage work commencing.

The club will continue to provide a daily update so supporters can keep updated on progress on the long awaited redevelopment of the Horsfall Stadium.

Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC CIC football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, has today completed a deal with the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council to take a 35-year Lease to the Council property, the Horsfall Stadium in South Bradford. The Club has been based at Horsfall Stadium for some years, but now this provides a permanent home for the Club. It enables the Club to maintain, repair and develop the facilities to create an increasingly improving experience for users. It is hoped that West Bowling ARLFC will soon also relocate to the Stadium, while retaining their current access to Emsley Recreation Ground. The Stadium will continue to be the base for Bradford Airedale Athletics Club and there are plans to invest in the athletics facilities too.

The Horsfall Community Stadium Development Project has long been a dream of Director, Gareth Roberts, who continues to invest heavily in the Club. The completion of the Lease enables work to start on the long-awaited new 3G artificial grass pitch and new site boundary security fencing around the Stadium area. The new security fence and gating system will help protect the new infrastructure. The fencing is being in part grant-aided by the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF). As sister organisation of the Football Foundation, the FSIF are the largest funders of non-league football in the country.

Once work gets under way, this opens the door to potential further developments in months to come. These depend on all partners being happy with the additional plans and funding arrangements.

The immediate developments will enable greater community use of the Stadium from the public and from organisations in many sports. It will also allow more opportunity for the football club to accommodate and develop its academy, junior and ladies’ teams at the stadium itself. All our club affiliated teams have had to play away from Horsfall Stadium over the years due to insufficient facilities. This much-needed investment will enable the football club to develop the whole playing pyramid from grass-roots to senior football at the club and provide a better experience for users and public. 

Gareth Roberts, the Club’s owner and long-time benefactor, said:

“We would like to thank the FSIF and the Premier League for their assistance in helping us create an improved venue. It is part of our broader plan to create a sporting hub at Horsfall Stadium that will be of benefit for years to come with a focus on improving both the Club and grassroots sport in the community, within the Bradford area. We hope to have further developments in due course.”