THE FORGOTTEN FOOTBALL CLUB: A Pictorial History Of Bradford Park Avenue.

BRADFORD PARK AVENUE FC CLUB HISTORY 

 

The history of Bradford (Park Avenue) Football Club is a sad but occasionally uplifting tale that will hopefully achieve it's desired happy ending in the fullness of time. The wonderful old stadium that gave the club it's name is all but gone (only a few fragments remain) but the club's CEO Bob Blackburn has dangled the carrot of a new 20,000 capacity stadium in the Thornbury area in an effort to return the club to its former glories. Although these ambitious plans have been revised downwards in recent times as the recession has begun to bite, there is no doubt that the will exsists within the club to see it re-emerge as a serious rival to the City's other club League Two's Bradford City.

 

The club started life in 1863 as Bradford Football Club but the sport played was Rugby Football rather than Association. In 1884 the club won it's first major trophy the Yorkshire Cup before breaking away from the RFU to join the rebel Northern Rugby Football Union following a dispute in 1895. Bradford went on to win the new Championship in 1903-04 and the Challenge Cup in 1905-06. In 1907 a majority of members voted to change the club to Association rules, leaving the dissenting members to form a breakaway club Bradford Northern which is now the modern day Bradford Bulls.

 

The now Association playing club joined the Southern League in 1907-08, replacing Fulham who had joined the Football League. Bradford themselves had only one season to wait before joining the Football League, entering Division Two for season 1908-09. An FA Cup Quarter Final place was achieved in 1912-13 before in 1913-14 the club finished as runners-up in Division Two and was promoted to the First Division. The following season the club achieved its highest league position to date, finishing ninth in what is now The Premiership. The First World War intervened to stop any further progress and after the cessation of hostilities a slump set in, although the club did make it back to the FA Cup Quarter Finals in 1919-20. Relegation back to the Second Division came at the end of the 1920-21 season but worse was to follow a year later as the club fell into the newly created Third Division North. However, the club regrouped and in 1927-28 they were promoted back to the second tier as Champions. A return to the top flight was almost achieved the following season but in the end the club had to settle for a third place finish. This was a consistent period for the Avenue and up until 1934 the club were barely out of the top six without quite being able to push on back to the top level. The late 30's, though, saw a slump with Avenue just hanging on in 1936-37 when they finished 20th out of 22 clubs in Division Two. Once again the war years intervened but the club could not use the break to their advantage and continued to struggle after the resumption of the league in 1946, although in their first season back 1945-46 they completed a hat-trick of appearances in the FA Cup Quarter Final.  In 1949-50 they were relegated in bottom place despite only losing half of their games (W 10 D 11 L 21) in a very competitive division. Fortunes flucatuated over the next few seasons but Avenue chose the wrong season to finish in 22nd place in 1957-58 as the league re-organised Division Three South and North into Divisions Three and Four. Needless to say Avenue were placed in the latter.

 

In 1960-61 the club achieved promotion back to the Third Division, finishing fourth in Division Four. The clubs position of 11th in Division Three in 1961-62 sadly remains the clubs highest position achieved in the almost 50 years that have followed. In another ridiculously competitive season in 1962-63 the club were relegated in 21st place, despite achieving what would be a points total of 54 with the modern scoring system. The same season the club achieved their best League Cup run, losing in a Third Round replay.  A few seasons of struggle followed at the end of the 1960's culminating in three consecutive seasons with a bottom of the table finish. In 1969-70 the 'old pals act' failed to save them from re-election and Cambridge United replaced Avenue in the Football League. In a modern context this may all seem fair enough but you have to remember that at the time several clubs had finished in the re-election places on dozens of occasions but still retained their Football League placings. So Avenue can consider themselves a little unlucky to have been plying their trade in the Northern Premier League for season 1970-71. In 1972-73 a revival was briefly threatened as the club achieved a 5th place finish but it proved a false dawn and at the end of the 1973-74 season the club went into liquidation after finishing in 21st place.

 

The club continued to play in Sunday football in the Bradford Amateur Sunday Football League, winning promotion in 1974-75. Progress continued at this minor level culminating in promotion to the newly formed Bradford Sunday Alliance Football League at the end of the 1984-85 season. In 1988-89 the Saturday side of the club was resurrected, joining the West Riding County Amateur Football League. The club then joined the Central Midlands League before moving to the North West Counties League the following season. After spells groundsharing at Rugby League clubs Bramley and Batley the Avenue returned to a home of their own in Bradford at the Horsfall Athletics Stadium. This was at the start of the 1995-96 season and saw the club back in the Northern Premier League having won the North West Counties League in 1994-95.  In 1999-99 the club achieved its best FA Trophy run to date, reaching the Fourth Round. In 2003-04 Avenue reached the FA Cup First Round Proper for the first time since season 1971-72. Following a re-organisation of the Football Conference the club found themselves competing in Conference North for the 2004-05 season, the highest level of football achieved by the club since the 1969-70 season. Hopes of a return to the Football League were dashed, however, as relegation followed after just one season at step two. Worse was to follow as Avenue found themseleves relegated to Division One North at the end of the 2005-06 season, equalling the lowest level of football played by the club in Saturday football. In 2007-08 the next revival began as the club were promoted back to the Northern Premier League's Premier Division. Last season was one of heartbreak for the club. A great closing run saw Avenue on the brink of promotion back to Conference North, only to be pipped at the post by local rivals Guiseley after losing two back to back matches against the eventual champions. The play off semi-final was won, only to lose out to Boston United (another ex-Football League club) in the final at Horsfall. Damien Reeves had given Avenue a 35th minute lead but Marc Newsham's 61st minute effort took the game into extra-time before Anthony Church's 93rd minute winner caused heartache for most of the 2,208 crowd. The Avenue fans humour was not helped by news that boss John Deacey had announced his resignation at the end of the match.

 

It was always going to be difficult to lift the squad after such a depressing finish to a season but new boss Simon Collins was the man given the task of attempting to go one better than Deacey in 2010-11. Initial signs were reasonably promising, including a 5-1 thrashing of FC United at Horsfall in front of just under 1,000 fans. However, question marks remained about the style of football being played and there were continual rumours of player discontent behind the scenes, not helped by early exits from the FA Cup and Trophy at the first hurdles. After a 2-3 home defeat by struggling Frickley Athletic Collins decided to call it a day, setting up an emotional return to the club for John Deacey for his third spell in charge. Deacey stated 'unfinished business' as his main reason for returning to Horsfall and fans will be hoping that he can yet prove to be the man that will lead them back to the promised land of the Football League.

 

PHOTO CREDITS INCLUDE: GETTY IMAGES, HISTORICAL FOOTBALL KITS: 

 

  

A Cultural Overview Of Bradford!

The National Media Museum hosts the Bradford International Film Festival annually in March. In June 2009 Bradford was designated the world’s first UNESCO City of Film for its links to the production and distribution of films, its media and film museum and its "cinematographic legacy".

The National Media Museum, Bradford

"Becoming the world's first City of Film is the ultimate celebration of Bradford's established and dynamic history in film and media," said Colin Philpott, director of Bradford's National Media Museum. "With the UNESCO City of Film designation, Bradford will now go on to achieve inspirational projects in film." Simon Beaufoy from Bradford, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire, said the city had played a crucial role in the story of cinema and deserved to be recognised.^[71]
The Bradford Animation Festival - the UK's longest-running animation festival, held each November sees an array of screentalks, workshops and special events. The festival culminates in the annual BAF Awards which celebrate new animation from around the world.^[72]
The city has a heritage in film production and many films and TV productions have been filmed in the city including Room at the Top, Billy Liar and The Red Riding Trilogy.^[73] Bradford was the location for the films Yanks, starring Richard Gere, and The Railway Children, a 1970s classic about Victorian children whose father goes missing. Monty Python's ground-breaking The Meaning of Life and the controversial hit Rita, Sue and Bob Too, about a married man who cannot choose between two teenage lovers, were also filmed in the city.
In recent years Bradford has developed a relationship with Bollywood, hosting the International Indian Film Festival awards in 2007.
There are four theatres in Bradford: the Alhambra which has smaller studio theatre in the same complex. These are operated by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. The Theatre in the Mill is a small studio theatre at the University of Bradford which presents student and community shows and small-scale touring professional work. The Priestley Theatre is a privately run venue with a medium-sized proscenium theatre and a small studio.
Among the professional theatre companies based in Bradford are Kala Sangam, the satirical madcap comedy troop, Komedy Kollective, Lost Dog (based at Theatre In The Mill) and Mind the Gap, one of the longest established, who have always worked with a mixture of disabled and able-bodied performers. Groups and organisations teaching theatre include The Asian Theatre School, Bradford Stage and Theatre School and Stage 84. There are also a number of amateur theatre groups.
St George's Hall is a concert hall dating from 1853 making it the oldest concert hall in Britain and the third oldest in Europe.^{[citation needed]} Bradford Festival Choral Society was founded to perform at the inaugural Bradford Musical Festival that took place in August of that year,^[74] and the choir is still a part of the musical life of the city. The Hallé Orchestra have been regular visitors over the years, as have a wide range of popular musicians, bands, entertainers, comedians and theatrical productions.

St. George's Hall

Bradford is the hometown of rock bands, New Model Army, Anti System, Smokie, Southern Death Cult/The Cult, The Scene, One Minute Silence, Terrorvision and Asian hip hop group Fun-Da-Mental.^{[citation needed]}
Cinemas have been replaced by vast entertainment complexes with multi-screen cinemas. The Leisure Exchange in the city centre has a 16 screen Cineworld and at Thornbury, on the outskirts is the Odeon Leeds-Bradford with 13 screens which replaced the old Odeon next to the Alhambra which is the continuing focus of protests by Bradfordians who do not wish to see the old building demolished.^[75] The University of Bradford also has a cinema run by the Students' Union, operating from the University's Great Hall.^[76]
Nightlife in Bradford has traditionally centred around Manor Row and Manningham Lane. More recently, several clubs and pubs have opened in the West End of Bradford, around the Alhambra Theatre, turning what was previously a fairly quiet area into one that is often crowded and vibrant at night.

A view over Bradford from Peel Park.

Bradford was one of the first areas of the UK to get a local commercial radio station Pennine Radio in September 1975. Today this is The Pulse of West Yorkshire and Pulse Classic Gold. As of 2006^[update] Bradford Community Broadcasting based in the city centre has broadcast on full-time Community Radio license around Bradford and the Aire Valley, whilst the University radio station Ramair broadcasts to the student population. Bradford's only television station AAP TV caters for Bradford's large Asian community. The Telegraph and Argus is Bradford's daily newspaper, published six days each week from Monday to Saturday.
The Bradford Mela,^[77] the biggest of its kind outside Asia, takes place in June. The word mela is Sanskrit for ‘a gathering’ or ‘to meet’. In the UK, melas provide an opportunity for communities to come together to celebrate and share their cultures. Mela festivals include a combination of markets, funfairs, food and drink, arts and workshops, children’s activities, strolling entertainment and a variety of music and dance performances on a number of stages. Bradford held the first mela in Europe in September 1988 and it has been held in Peel Park since then..