Bradford Park Avenue have pulled the plug on a sponsorship deal two years early in a cash row with managing director Allan Ham.

The club have fallen out with their main sponsor over money he claims is due to his firm, Ham Construction (Bradford) Ltd, for building work at Horsfall Stadium.

It means that the team will play in blank shirts when they wear their new kit for the first time in the Len Shackleton tribute match against Sunderland Reserves tonight (7.30).

Ham is threatening to take legal advice if Avenue are unable to reach an agreement.

The news of the split with Hams comes as Avenue are preparing for a new season in the UniBond Premier Division following their First Divi-sion championship triumph three months ago.

The club say they are now looking for a new sponsor as they prepare to meet the demands of a higher grade of football in the new campaign.

The Ham brothers, Bobby and Allan, have been associated with Avenue for many years as players, supporters and more recently sponsors.

Chairman Frank Thornton said: "They have completed one year of a three-year sponsorship deal and have enjoyed a very good year, in which we won the championship and received a lot of attention."

He said money to finance work on the ground came from the FA and the Ham sponsorship. The dispute was over work he claimed had not beencompleted.

"These things happen in business and you resolve them. Unfortunately, this has not been possible in this case and I have terminated the sponsorship deal," he added.

Ham said: "We are hoping to re-negotiate an amicable solution with the club. If we fail to do that we will be seeking legal advice, but we don't want to do that. It wouldn't be good for the club.

"We have a long association with Avenue, but business deals are business deals.

"We helped to give them a social club that can create revenue and bring success to the club. Bob and I also helped to bring in a lot of outside sponsorship and we felt we contributed as much as anyone."

Avenue manager Trevor Storton has named a full strength squad for tonight's game. Admission is £5 for adults and £2 for under-16s and OAPs. People are asked to arrive early because of the limited number of turnstiles.