The club would once again like to thank the army of volunteers who turned up at the Horsfall today. The cleaning and weeding of the stand is nearly complete and work has now started on repairing the current perimeter fence ahead of the new outer fence been installed. Work has also started on the pavilion which has been cleared out so work can start on renovating the changing rooms.

Final testing completed and all the league requirements have been met. The first set of contractors have now moved off site ahead of the next contractors arriving Monday to start laying the new pitch.

Also a reminder to fans that there will be a volunteer day held tomorrow from 9am. With still plenty to do around the ground to help get the stadium ready for the start of the season all help will greatly appreciated. If you would like volunteer please contact Mark Leadbeater on mleadbeater@live.com so he can track numbers.

The club were saddened to hear today that longtime Avenue fan David Osleton has passed away suddenly on the 25th June aged 63.

David resided in nearby Skipton and was a local postman until his early retirement following a stroke a few years ago. He was a regular at the Horsfall and was a long time volunteer who manned the turnstiles at Avenue during the 90’s into the centenary years.

Everyone at the club would like to pass on their condolences to Dave’s family and friends at this sad time

Bradford (Park Avenue) are excited to confirm that next season, we will be offering fans not one, but two ways to enjoy our newly revamped match day programme. Following consultation with our fans, and internal discussions, we are excited to announce that alongside our traditional offering of a physical copy, we are making a move towards the future and will be offering fans the option to download our programme via an app on your phone or tablet. 

Football Operations Manager Calum Cullen said; ‘We have been looking at ways to make sure we can cater for all our fans, not just those who attend the games, but fans who might not be able to get down, or live away from the Horsfall, and this solution allows us to do this. With just a few clicks on your device, you can download our programme and have it with you forever. As the world moves towards a modern digital lifestyle, we wanted to ensure the club kept up with the wants and needs of the digital generation. At the same time we were appreciative that there are fans out there who would still like to be able to have a physical copy, and we want to delight them as well.’ 

Dave Stordy, of the development fund; ‘I am happy that the club have decided to keep the physical program for those hardened programme collectors, and I’m aware there are several of us within the club. I know the club appreciates what a programme from a match means to us and will continue, for the foreseeable future, to produce a paper version of the match-day programme. The digital solution that the club are proposing to run along side the traditional programme I hope will increase the number of people who enjoy reading the latest news about what’s going on in and around the club. Calum has consulted with myself and few other fans to make sure that our views were reflected in this key decision for the club.’ 

Will Biggs Managing Director of MatchDayInfo added 

‘We are really pleased to be working with Bradford Park Avenue ahead of the 2020/21 season. If you are unable to make it to the fixture or prefer to read the match day programme on your smartphone/tablet, then MatchDayInfo is the answer, we can bring the match day experience to you. We have a good following in the Vanarama North League which is ideal for the Bradford Park Avenue fanbase, never miss match day content for both home and away games’ 

The newly designed program will be 36 pages crammed full of news, stats and views from those within the club and community. As physical numbers available might be limited it might be an idea to secure a copy from Dave Stordy (Development fund) who can reserve you a copy to pick up on match-day. These should be pre-ordered 48 hours before a game. Dave also offers via the Program Shop the option to order a full seasons programmes in advance of the season starting (several supporters already do this for both home and away programmes). 

Dave can be contacted either by email davestordy@hotmail.co.uk or telephone 01274 512989. 

#UTA 

Curbing edge now finished off with concrete and you guessed it……more leveling. Further leveling and rolling to take place over next few days with the first testing phase to start on Thursday. Hopefully the next set of contractors can then move on site to start work on the crash pad and 3G pitch next week.

Also a massive thank you to the army of volunteers from BPA and West Bowling for their efforts this past week. West Bowling made light work of the stand which has been swept and weeded top to bottom, every chair washed and all the broken seats have been replaced. All while BPA cleared the area behind the club house to make way for a newly refurbished beer garden. Work was also started pressure washing down the running track. If anyone would like to volunteer please contact Mark Leadbeater at mleadbeater@live.com

Neil Holroyd – Macron Wakefield Owner

‘Macron are very pleased to have signed a multi year deal with Bradford park Avenue and are very excited for the future of the club and Macron working with you to achieve your goals . Having met Martin and visited the ground, there is a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes and with the facilities . A club with a lot of history and loyal fans, we are looking forward to helping you for fill you ambitions and plans . Welcome to the Macron family.’

Martin Knight –

‘This has been a tricky process, trying to balance the financial needs of the business, the traditions of the club and the desires of the fans. After speaking with three major brands during the process it became clear that Macron offered us the best solution to try and meet the majority of those key drivers. Neil and Andrea, have been incredibly patient and professional with us. We are really pleased that we have a long term agreement in place with them, that stability will allow us to plan better for the future.’

#UTA

If you are interested in sponsoring the kit this season that will give you access to over 100,000 visitors to the Horsfall, all of our academy games, all of the ladies and men’s 1^st team games ,home and away, then please contact our Operations Manager Calum Cullen at calum.cullen@bpafc.com

As soon as we realised our oversight by not acknowledging the passing of two of the clubs previous players, we began a review of how this had happened and how we might try to find a solution moving forward. 

As way of our apology our Life Time Vice President, John Helm, offered to celebrate and eulogise about the two players we recently lost – RIP Jim Fryatt and Ralph Wright.

Over the years Avenue have been associated with quite a few characters – in the nicest possible sense. 

There was the eccentric goalkeeper Chick Farr who loved nothing more than dribbling the ball up to the halfway line and even taking throw-ins !

The incomparable Clown Prince of Football Len Shackleton, little Whelan “Polly ” Ward, particularly adept at conning referees into awarding penalties, and Alvan Williams who struck a ball so fiercely he ended the careers of two goalkeepers.

Jim Fryatt who passed away recently was another who fell into the category of “character” and not just because he still holds the record of scoring the fastest ever goal in English football – four seconds in against Tranmere Rovers. When you think of the greatest headers of a football you think Tommy Lawton, John Charles, Denis Law – well Jim Fryatt was right up there with the best. Prodigious in the air he scored and created many goals over a three year period with Avenue fondly remembered for the exploits of Kevin Hector, particularly the 1965-66 season during which they shared 55 goals in the league alone. Wherever Jim plied his trade he became renowned for his selfless contributions, particularly with his amazing ability to pick out a colleague with a headed pass from almost anywhere. He was also distinctive because of his height and bald head, so years later when I was covering a golf tournament in Thailand and spotted an identikit called Ed Fryatt I couldn’t help but ask the question. Ed was thrilled that somebody remembered his dad and his exploits at the likes of Park Avenue and Southport, Blackburn and Oldham. It was somehow unsurprising when Ed told me that Jim was by then a greenkeeper at a golf club by day and a croupier by night in Las Vegas.

Typical of the character.

Ralph Wright played just the one season for Avenue – poignantly the last season of the club’s Football League existence 1969-70, so his 14 appearances and 1 goal do not feature prominently in the club’s historical record. Yet he remains well remembered as one of it’s favourite sons for his deeds on leaving these shores. Born in Newcastle, Ralph did play for a number of league clubs after Avenue’s  demise, notably Hartlepool United, Stockport County and Bolton Wanderers but he left a greater mark on the sport after emigrating to the United States. There he linked up with the famous New York Cosmos team and found himself playing alongside the likes of Pele and Franz Beckenbauer – with all due respect a little dfifferent to Pete Brannan and Terry Dolan !

His career continued to flourish at Miami and Dallas and he eventually took up permanent residence in the States where he passed away last month.

John Helm

#UTA

Thank you John.