Blue Square Bet North final position 7th (P42 W19 D9 L14 F75 A52 GD23 Pts66)

 Bradford Park Avenue enjoyed a very good season on their return to the Conference North, and came close to securing a place in the play-offs.

Avenue finished seventh, just as neighbours City did in their division, but there was to be no play-off final to work towards as the Bantams did in such style.

John Deacey’s men were two places below the clubs that competed in the end-of-season extras.

The small squad that Deacey was balancing at Bradford began to fall apart with the strains of an arduous campaign taking their toll towards the end.

The manager went on record as saying that he had to go into the final four games of the season with just 12 fit players and some walking wounded padding out the bench - such as assistant manager Mark Hume.

However, after an all-too-brief one season stint as founder members of the Conference North under Carl Shutt’s leadership, Avenue did not come to make up the numbers after being promoted via the play-offs in the previous campaign.

They banked their first point with a home draw on the opening day and made it four with their first away win three days later.

In fact, despite Avenue stepping up a division, they were not to taste defeat until their sixth game, which was a 3-1 home loss to established side Stalybridge Celtic.

Avenue put little runs together and there was a superb purple patch towards the end of November when they won three on the trot, scoring 14 goals and conceding just two.

It began with the 4-0 demolition of Hinckley Town, progressed to the 6-1 whipping of Workington – at the Cumbrian’s home - and ended with a 4-1 win at Histon on December 1.

That was when Avenue’s season hit the wall, with Deacey’s selection problems causing him huge headaches.

The fixture list was also unkind as over the turn of the year Avenue faced seven games against sides above them, including home and away against title-chasing neighbours Guiseley, early pacesetters Brackley Town and leaders Chester FC, who eventually won the league by a distance.

Chester were the only side not to beat Avenue during that run. In fact, Deacey’s men took two points from the champions as both league games finished all-square. Four consecutive postponements followed as the bad weather caused havoc.

Avenue got their season back on track with a run of five straight victories, which kicked off a ten- game unbeaten run.

Going into the last month, the play-offs were within touching distance, and back-to-back victories over neighbours FC Halifax Town and Harrogate Town saw confidence rocket sky high.

But one point from back-to-back games in the space of three days against Oxford City, a home draw against former manager Lee Sinnott’s Atrincham and a shock home defeat to strugglers Colwyn Bay, just after former Chelsea defender Frank Sinclair had taken over as their player-manager, snuffed out Bradford’s lingering hopes of a play-off place.

Appearances (+ substitutes from a maximum of 48)): Paul Walker 45+3, Richard Marshall 44+2, Michael Duckworth 42+2, Nathan Hotte 41, Jordan Deacey 40, James Knowles 36, Alex Davidson 32+2, Martin Drury 28+1, Adam Clayton 28, Danny Holland 27+14, Tim Deasy 24, John Lamb 23, Matty James 19+11, Jamie Price 18+1, Rob O'Brien 13+11, Ross Daly 11+6, Tim Ryan 10, Tom Greaves 7+18, Tom Corner 7+12, James Riley 6+1, Aiden Savory 5+7, Liam Wakefield 5, Jamie Jackson 4+12, Craig Radcliffe 4+5, Liam Needham 3+1, Adam Baker 2+6, Jordan Snodin 2+1, Simon Garner 1+1, Ben Higginson 1+1, Matt Dempsey 0+5, Callum Howe 0+2, Mark Hume 0+1, Amjad Iqbal 0+1. There were 33 players used.

Goal-scorers: Marshall 19, Holland 13, Davidson 11, Greaves 8, Walker 6, Hotte 5, James 5, Knowles 4, Corner 3, Deacey 3, Duckworth 3, Baker 2, Clayton 1, Daly 1, Jackson 1, Savory 1, own goals 2.