The switching of Bradford Park Avenue’s FA Cup tie at home to Kidderminster Harriers next weekend was made on police advice but the club are hoping it will also help swell the numbers on the terraces.
Finance director Kevin Hainsworth confirmed during the week that the fourth qualifying round tie has been moved from Saturday to Sunday.
The switch was under consideration soon after last Monday’s FA Cup draw, with discussions taking place between the two clubs, the police and the Football Association and the decision being made the following day.
Hainsworth said: “I think it is the correct decision given the scale of our game and our Football League neighbours having big games on the Saturday.
“The police were concerned right away, not that there will be any problems with the cup tie or any safety issues at Horsfall Stadium.
“They were worried that with City at home to Wolves and Huddersfield at home to Leeds, they would have enough to deal with.
“We could see that and didn’t want them to be overstretched and we offered to play our game a day later.
“Kidderminster have been getting home crowds of around 2,000 for their Conference Premier games.
“There won’t be anywhere near that number travelling up for the cup game, so we are not looking at segregation at this stage.
“We are expecting a bigger than normal attendance but we are waiting on Kidderminster to give us some estimated figures once they work out what demand there is for tickets from their supporters.”
Avenue are a division below Kidderminster in the Conference set-up but if they can make the most of home advantage they could reach the first round proper for a third successive season.
To maximise home advantage, Bradford are again running a price promotion for locals who may follow other clubs. They did the same in the last round against Penrith and it proved popular.
Not wishing to see Avenue outnumbered on the terraces, Hainsworth said: “We will be running a similar deal and hoping it boosts our crowd as much as it did last time.
“City, Leeds, Huddersfield and Halifax Town, who are away in the cup, will all have played on Saturday, so some of their fans who live nearby might come along to watch us.”
Prices are adults £12, concessions £6 and children £2 but season ticket holders of any club will pay a reduced £10, £5 or £1.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel