MORE than 30 members of the family of World War One hero, and Bradford Park Avenue player, Donald Bell will attend the club’s pre-season fixture against Newcastle United.

Mr Bell played for both clubs, and the teams meet on Sunday, July 10, to mark the 100th anniversary of his death.

He was the country’s first professional footballer to enlist in the Great War and remains the only one to be awarded the Victoria Cross, which recognised his exceptional valour during service in the trenches in northern France on July 5, 1916.

Just five days later, without even knowing he was to receive the nation’s highest military honour, he was fatally shot in the head aged 25 during a similar brave attack that saved the day for his comrades.

Also attending the match will be members of the military, representatives of the schools in Harrogate where Mr Bell was a teacher and a pupil, the FA, and Bradford dignitaries including the Lord Mayor of Bradford.

The match will also be the first outing of Bradford’s new home kit, designed in honour to Mr Bell, and supporters can also see Mr Bell’s Victoria Cross medal, which is usually kept at the Football Museum in Manchester.

Mr Bell played as an amateur for Newcastle and other smaller clubs, before signing professional terms with Bradford, who he represented from 1912 until November 1914, when he was enlisted in the 9th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment, with whom he would serve on the front line with at the Battle of the Somme.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross after running out into No Man’s Land while his unit was under heavy machine gun fire. He shot the gunner with his revolver and threw a grenade that blew up the weapon.

Avenue chairman John Dean said: “We want to make it a very proud day for Donald Bell’s family, for his regiment and for some of the institutions he was associated with during his all-too-short life.”

Tickets for the match cost £5 for adults and £2 for children.