Bradford (Park Avenue) (H) – Tuesday 13th August 2024

The Opposition - History
Bradford (Park Avenue) were formed in 1907 and in their early days were an established Football League side, moving there from the Southern League after one season.
The reached the First Division in 1914 but by 1922 had been relegated twice.
They bounced back to win the Third Division North in 1928 and remained in the Second Division until 1950.
Following promotion from the Fourth Division in 1961, they suffered relegation again two seasons later and in 1970 failed to gain re-election to the Football League, eventually spending four seasons in the Northern Premier League before disbanding.
The present club rose from the flames in 1987, moving from the Central Midlands League in to the North West Counties League three years later and gaining promotion at the first attempt.
Recent years have seen them win the NPL Premier Division in 2001 but suffer successive relegations in 2005 & 2006.
They won the NPL First Division title in 2008 and gained promotion from the Premier Division via the playoffs in 2012.
Last season saw them finish 19th out of 21 teams, placing them in the NPL Division One East.

The Opposition - This Season
The Green Army played seven pre-season friendlies, enjoying a mixed run of results:
Tue 9 Jul A Campion AFC 5 - 2
Sat 13 Jul H Eccleshill United 1 - 1
Tue 16 Jul A Wakefield 3 - 1
Sat 20 Jul A Golcar United 1 - 0
Tue 23 Jul H Bradford City 0 - 3
Sat 27 Jul A Mossley 0 - 1
Tue 30 Jul H Stalybridge Celtic 0 - 1

Their league campaign began with a home victory over North Ferriby, Kareem Hassan-Smith securing the three points in the 55th minute.

The Nailers
Belper picked up three wins in their six friendlies.
The campaign started with defeat at Ashby Ivanhoe where on a very difficult playing surface and with lots of new faces, the Nailers lost to the only goal of the match.
Next up was a 2-2 draw at Mickleover where Harry Draper and Ioan Evans were on the scoresheet.
An excellent 1-0 win at Barwell followed, Mason Warren securing victory from the penalty spot.
There was a setback at Sutton Coldfield with a disappointing performance leading to a 2-0 defeat.
The bounce back from this was impressive with a 3-0 victory over Burton Albion (Austin, Rawson x 2) and a 4-1 thumping of Long Eaton United (Draper, Warren, Rawson x 2).
The league campaign started with a first ever visit to Heaton Stannington and the Nailers came away with the points, Crofts and August on the scoresheet.

Head to Head
The two sides have met on 12 occasions and the record does not make good reading for Nailers fans.
The first two meetings were the only two in Cup competitions, Park Avenue winning 2-0 in the FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round in September 1992 before Belper exacted some revenge in October of the following year with a 1-0 FA Vase victory, Allen on the scoresheet.
Our next, and last victory in the fixture came in April 1999 when Morgan (2) and Weston helped secure a 3-1 win at Christchurch Meadow.
Park Avenue have won the last five in a row but this is a first meeting since March 2007.
Overall the Belper record in the fixture reads: P 12 W 2 D 2 L 8 F 7 A 19.
The return fixture at the Horsfall Stadium will take place on Saturday, 4th January.

Form Guide (League)
Belper Town: W
Bradford (Park Avenue): W

Team News
Ben Rhodes is available for selection having served his ban.

Permutations
The table means very little after one or two games but either side could end the night top with a win (or in Belper's case a draw, though very unlikely) if other results go their way.

Match details
Belper Town vs. Bradford (Park Avenue)
Northern Premier League Division One - East Division
Tuesday, 13th August 2024 - 7:45pm kick off
Raygar Stadium
Bridge Street
Belper
Derbyshire
DE56 1BA
Tickets: Adults £11, Concessions (U16 & 60+) £7, U11s (with accompanying adult) £Free

Follow the match
Live commentary is available with Tom on Radio Belper Town - https://radiobelpertown.mixlr.com
Full coverage on X (Twitter). Team news, HT & FT scores on Facebook.
Match reports to follow on the website and in the Non-League Paper.

This evening in Division One East
Ashington AFC vs. Bishop Auckland
Belper Town vs. Bradford (Park Avenue)
Carlton Town vs. Sheffield
Consett AFC vs. Garforth Town
Liversedge vs. Dunston
Newton Aycliffe vs. Emley AFC
North Ferriby vs. Sherwood Colliery
Pontefract Collieries vs. Heaton Stannington

Tomorrow's fixtures
Brighouse Town vs. Bridlington Town
Grimsby Borough vs. Ossett United
Stocksbridge Park Steels vs. Cleethorpes Town