Park Avenue

I am also sure that Avenue had many more attendances over 18000, especially in the Wool City Derbies

 

The board has recently changed, they are currently in the process of transferring the club to a Community Interest Company and the new board of directors is as follows: Gareth Roberts (from Holmewood but lives in Texas), Jonathan Collura (American and founder of Bugeaters FC of Nebraska and on the Board of the Gulf Coast Premier League) Dr John Dean (from Pudsey worked at Filtronic with Prof Rhodes). The Company Secretary is David Little and the Football Secretary is Colin Barker.

 

What the hell happend at the club to be in the state they are after nearly getting promoted last season.
I'd love them to get league status again.
Some good, but mostly bad memories of the Bradford derbies.

 

Think they massively overspent and now have had to cut their cloth accordingly

 

Really Dave?
Do you honestly believe that Bradford can support two FL teams? It's bad enough having Bradford people supporting Leeds, Man U etc without splitting those that watch their football in Bradford.
The last thing City need is a resurgent rival for their affections. I wouldn't want them to fold, but I'd be happy to see them drop a couple of divisions and cease to be a threat.

 

Yes really.
I believed the City could support two teams they did for many years, they as us would have to cut the our cloth to suit, Avenue getting back into the Football League would not bring them 5/6,000 fans instantly, but I'm not afraid of competition within the City.
I doubt very much Bradford City fans would change their allegiance so it would be a slow build of fan base for the Stan's, our destiny is in our own hands and I don't believe it would be at the detriment of Bradford City.

 

When there were two FL teams in Bradford, both were stuck in the old 3rd & 4th divisions for decades. Only after Avenue folded did City became an established 2nd Division team and eventually reached the PL. Is that just a coincidence?
I want to see City fight their way back up to at least the Championship. Having the Stans competing for local fans would be an impediment to that. If we get stuck in L2 for a few seasons (as could easily happen, on current evidence) it would only take a couple of seasons of them finishing above us to start to see people switching allegiance, especially folk from the south of the City whose families traditionally supported Avenue.

 

I have a fair grasp of Bradford footballing history but still disagree. Do I think us getting to the Premier is coincidence, no I dont believe it was anything to do with how poorly our neighbours Avenue or any other football club locally were doing.
Fortunatly we had a chairman with vison who saw the potencial of the club (bearing in mind he always had Dean Richards as an asset that could return is investment plus some) and for little money compared with today achieved our dream.
I would suggest apart from 7/8 years during my 60+ yearsof watching our club we have always been 3rd/4th division or as now league 1 or 2.
I agree our aim should be a decent Championship club but in all honesty Avenue being a football league club would IMO have nothing to do with us acheiving that goal.

 

I think we've more than enough on our plate getting our one FL club to reach its potential, with existing competition from near neighbours Leeds and Huddersfield, without throwing another local FL club into the mix.
We'll have to agree to disagree Dave.

 

Even in a new stadium it would take many years to bulid a good fan base and that would have to go along with improvement on the pitch.
It would be competition for our owner/owners to make sure they gave the manager at Bradford City the means to climb the league ladder and always be ahead of the opposition.

 

Its nearly 50 years since Avenue folded as a league club sadly lots of their fans will no longer be with us
At the time a good percentage of their fans which wasnt a lot transfered their allegiance to our friends from Beeston or the short hop on the motorway to Manchester United both teams were competing in europe at the time and packing their grounds
Not many Stans became City fans
. It would take many years and a new stadium to build up their fan base to match ours
However it may make our owners sit up a bit and realise they had local competition which wouldnt be a bad thing
Fond and not so fond memories of the "Wool City Derbies" wouldnt mind seeing them back again
In the Championship of course

 

On the up won away at Darlington.

 

Reading that again one has to wonder apart from Mr Homewood Gareth Roberts why would the rest be in the slightest interested in a "Community Interest Company" is there a coincidence in @king karl post https://bantamtalk.com/index.php?threads/bulls-to-leave-odsal.2780/page-8#post-252013 and Bradford Council having input, they love a community gig do our councilors .

 

Avenue owner Gareth Roberts has stated today, that it costs him personally, £5k a week, to keep them going

 

And that is after he has had them cut costs since last year