Bradford (Park Avenue)’s first major landmark as a reformed club was dramatically winning the 1991 West Riding County Cup Final at Valley Parade.
Avenue beat Pontefract Collieries 5-1 after extra-time in front of over 900 people (including a young Craig Elliott) and you can watch the highlights of the game on the YouTube link above.
Neil Brandon’s Pontefract, with a squad containing notable names such as Lyndsey Dawson, Kevan Locke, Alan Billingham, Karl Slater, Darrell Bowman, Darren Holmes (Glasshoughton defenders will receive a masterclass watching this!) and Andy Hayward, were on course to win the trophy until Peter Edmondson equalised in the last minute to force extra-time.
Slater is believed to have been Pontefract’s goal-scorer.
Darren Wardman (2), Rohan Eli and the late Gary Kershaw, Avenue’s captain, sealed victory for Jim Mackay’s men in extra-time.
The score-line was harsh on Pontefract as it had been a close game with feisty challenges – with one involving Dawson a stand-out moment. Perhaps that was because Mackay had previously managed Ponte and his Avenue side contained old Colls players such as the Eli brothers and goalkeeper Paul Allen.
Wardman was Avenue’s star man in their early years as a reformed club and he was their all-time top goal-scorer until Hayward ironically overtook him.
Avenue’s victory was significant as it put them on the local football map for the first time since reforming in 1988.
Avenue: Paul Allen, Billy Payton, Rupert Eli, Craig Sidda, Graham Wroot, Andy Pickles, Darren Wardman, Bob Mackay, Andy Watmuff, Carl Slater, Rohan Eli. Subs: Gary Kershaw, Peter Edmondson.
Pontefract’s squad: Darrell Bowman, Stephen Heptinstall, David Abbishaw, John Hilditch, Darren Holmes, John Faulkner, Karl Slater, Paul Corbett, Steve Coyles, Lyndsy Dawson, Neil Garbutt, Andy Hayward, Alan Billingham, Kevan Locke and Nigel Gerrard.
If you have enjoyed reading this article, please watch the video at the bottom of the page and consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams so when the green light to return is given, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and we have incurred losses which we cannot recover. We have not been hit as badly as other organisations, but we do need raise £2000 to put us back at the level we were at in mid-March and enable us to make a difference once again to our players’ lives in the future, without having financial worries. As each day goes on, a substantial number of our players become further isolated so we need to be ‘ready for action’ when restrictions are lifted.
Any amount raised above £2000 will be put towards new projects (when the world returns to normal) designed to further benefit people with disabilities and learning difficulties. You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.
Neil Garbutt scored the Pontefract goal