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.

Manager Craig Elliott took over at the start of this season.

A journey of around 76 miles awaits the Nailers today.

The Opposition - This Season
The Green Army kicked off the season with a win in the league at home to North Ferriby but suffered defeat by the Nailers on matchday two.
They then went three without a win including elimination from the FA Cup before bouncing back with a couple of good wins.
After defeat in the FA Trophy at the hands of Ossett United they went on a four game winning streak in the NPL and ended up going undefeated in nine matches overall before Newton Aycliffe ended the run in early November.
They have won their last two home matches comfortably against Sherwood Colliery and Bridlington Town and are undefeated at the Horsfall Community Stadium since August.
Last time out they were 1-0 down at Liversedge before goals from Paddy Sykes and Benni Ndlovu in the 80th and 81st minutes secured the three points.

League (8th): P 23 W 11 D 5 L 7 F 33 A 25 Pts. 38
Cups: P 3 W 1 D 0 L 2 F 6 A 6

Top goalscorers: Connor Shanks (8), Paddy Sykes (7), Dan Francis (5)
Most appearances: Dan Francis, Luke Hogg and Paddy Sykes (26 each)
Biggest victory: 3-0 vs. Stocksbridge (9th October) and 4-1 vs. Sherwood Colliery (30th November)
Heaviest defeat: 1-4 vs. Liversedge (26th August)
Highest home attendance: 486 vs. Emley (22nd October)
Average home attendance: 364 (8th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 4
Most games without a win: 4
Most consecutive defeats: 2
Most games without a defeat: 9

The Nailers
Belper started the season well, winning their first three matches before coming unstuck at Emley.
They bounced back with another couple of wins before Bromsgrove Sporting ended the FA Cup run in a replay.
An excellent performance and win at North Ferriby was followed by a home defeat to leaders Cleethorpes Town but a run of five successive wins followed.
Successive home defeats to Brighouse Town and Newton Aycliffe in the space of five days provided a setback but this once again propelled the Nailers who won five out of their next six before a poor performance at Stocksbridge.
A penalty shootout win over Glossop North End in the Derbyshire Senior Cup followed and then after no draws in the league in their first 18 games, matches with Garforth and Brighouse both finished all square.
Belper are one of the form teams in the league in recent weeks, having enjoyed comfortable wins over Heaton Stannington, Sheffield FC and Sherwood Colliery over the festive period.
Harry Draper is well clear as leading goalscorer with 22 while Curtis Burrows and Luke Rawson have seven each. Nat Crofts is on five.

Head to Head
The sides have met on 13 occasions, with the Nailers having a poor record in the fixture.
The first meeting was in September 1992, an FA Cup tie which The Green Army won 2-0 but the Nailers gained some revenge just over a year later by eliminating them from the FA Vase.
All of the meetings since have been at Step 4.
Earlier in the season a solitary goal from Ben Rhodes secured a 1-0 victory for Belper at the Raygar Stadium, ending a run of five successive wins for Bradford although this was the first meeting for over 17 years.
Overall record for Belper: P 13 W 3 D 2 L 8 F 8 A 19.
(1 x FA Cup, 1 x FA Vase, 11 x Step 4)

Form Guide (all comps)
Bradford (Park Avenue): WLWLLW
Belper Town: DDDWWW

Team News
Harry Draper is suspended while there are no other injury concerns or suspensions.

Permutations
Belper's win on New Year's Day combined with defeat for Cleethorpes means for the first time in a few games, there is the possibility of going top of the table.
This would require a Belper win combined with Cleethorpes dropping points due to their superior goal difference.
2nd place is safe for the day with Dunston six points behind.
For Bradford, they cannot quite reach the playoffs but with a win and other results going their way they could go one place outside them into 6th.
If they fail to win they can only drop one place and that will happen if Garforth better their result.

Match details
Bradford (Park Avenue) vs. Belper Town
Northern Premier League Division One East

Saturday, 4th January 2025 - 3:00pm kick off

Horsfall Community Stadium
Cemetery Road
Bradford
BD6 2NG

Admission prices: Adult £13, Concession £10, Student £5 (Student ID Required), Youth (12-17) £3, Junior (under 12, must be accompanied by an adult) Free.
The Horsfall Community Stadium is not segregated unless otherwise stated.
The turnstiles open around an hour and a half before kick off and are located at either end of the ground on Cemetery Road and Park Road.

The Clubhouse will be open before and after the game which has a fully-licensed bar offering a range of beers, real ales and spirits. The Avenue Café is located next to the Clubhouse and serves a range of hot food and drinks.

Parking is first come, first served and the only designated parking is in the official car park, which you can enter on Cemetery Road. Please exit through the Park Road exit, turning right.

Follow the match
Full coverage of the match:

• Audio commentary with Chris on Radio Belper Town
• Full text coverage on X, Facebook and Bluesky
• Match reports on the website (all matches) and in the Non-League Paper (Saturday matches only)

NPL East fixtures
Belper are the only team in the top four playing away from home, Cleethorpes have a tricky home game with Stocksbridge while there's a big game at Emley where fellow playoff placed team Newton Aycliffe are the visitors.
Bridlington entertain Brighouse in the game of the day in terms of the relegation places.

(12th) Bishop Auckland vs. Ashington AFC (16th)
(8th) Bradford (Park Avenue) vs. Belper Town (2nd)
(21st) Bridlington Town vs. Brighouse Town (20th)
(1st) Cleethorpes Town vs. Stocksbridge Park Steels (6th)
(3rd) Dunston vs. Liversedge (14th)
(4th) Emley AFC vs. Newton Aycliffe (5th)
(9th) Garforth Town vs. Consett AFC (13th)
(19th) Heaton Stannington vs. Pontefract Collieries (15th)
(17th) Ossett United vs. Grimsby Borough (11th)
(22nd) Sheffield vs. Carlton Town (10th)
(18th) Sherwood Colliery vs. North Ferriby (7th)