The 2009/10 season is now well and truly underway with FC United playing their second game in three days making the short journey over the Pennies to meet old adversaries Bradford Park Avenue on Monday evening. Craig Phillips provides this preview...
Both teams didn’t get the start to the season they wanted; while United went down narrowly at home to Boston United, Avenue could only manage a 1-1 away to Buxton, so both will be looking to notch their first victory of the season at the second attempt.
The two teams are no strangers to each other having met a total of six times over the past two seasons and United’s record is not a good one against our West Yorkshire rivals. In fact, United have never beaten Avenue in those six meetings with three draws and three defeats - the biggest being in an FA Trophy replay in 2007 which Bradford comprehensively beat the Reds 4-1 at Stainton Park.
The West Yorkshire side looked to have again shown their financial muscle with the reported capture of former Wigan and Oldham Athletic player Andy Liddell in the summer but he recently signed for League Two side Rotherham United leaving Avenue little over a month after signing for the club.
The club were originally formed in 1907 after several members of the old Bradford Football Club switched from the Northern Rugby Football Union (Rugby League) to association football.
After only a year after their formation the club were elected into the football league, and quickly moved up to the first division by 1913. The club finished in their highest ever league position in the 1914/1915 season, when they finished 9th in the first division.
After the First World War though the club fell out of the top flight and never returned, they had several spells between the lower divisions in the football league, continuing all the way up to the 1960’s.
They were voted out of the Football league in 1970 (to be replaced by Cambridge United), they dropped down to the Northern Premier League and had to sell Park Avenue stadium in 1973. In 1974 the club was put into liquidation and Bradford PA seemed no more.
The name was kept alive through Sunday League football and they played at that level for more than a decade. In 1988 they found their way back into professional football via the West Riding County Amateur Football League before progressing onto the NWCFL.
They won the NWCFL in 1995 and became founder members of the Conference North in 2004. However, they were relegated back the Unibond Premier League the same season, which was then followed by relegation to the UniBond Division One the season after.
Bradford of course were promoted to the UniBond Premier Division the same season as FC United, winning the league championship, and like the Reds missed out on a play-off spot last term after the two clubs drew in a final day thriller at Gigg Lane.
The club have a long list of famous faces who have played for them over the years including Vic Buckingham (who went on to manage Ajax & Barcelona), Ron Greenwood, Len Shackleton, Paddy Kenny, Neil Redfearn, Craig Bellamy and of course Rory Patterson was an Avenue player for a few months last term.
The club was also home to the only professional footballer to receive the Victoria Cross; Donald Simpson Bell. Bell played for the club before World War One and went off to the war where he was awarded the cross for his bravery in saving the lives of his battalion by risking his own life to take out a machine gun which was firing on him and his company. Only days after this great act of bravery Bell was killed during a similar act of bravery, he was aged 25.
Monday’s fixture is a 7.45pm kick off with admission priced at £6 adults, £4 concessions and £2 children. So get yourself down to that football ground for what should be an entertaining battle.
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