BRADFORD (Park Avenue) are mourning two popular former players, who have both died in the space of the last week.

Former Avenue forward Derek Draper passed away last Thursday at the age of 81, following a battle with dementia.

Signed in September 1967, from Derby County for a fee of £4,000, he made his debut at Park Avenue against Bradford City in a Fourth Division derby.

Playing in a struggling team, Derek failed to score in his first 26 appearances.

But the following season, despite the team again floundering at the bottom of Division Four, he was leading scorer with seven goals despite being sold to Chester in January 1969.

A month before his departure, Derek had scored one of the goals that helped beat Doncaster Rovers at Park Avenue in the club’s first and only fixture to be televised.

He spent eight years with Chester scoring 54 goals in 322 appearances, and in 1974-75 helped the club win promotion to Division Three and reach the semi-finals of the Football League Cup.

Derek retired from the game in 1977, and later became a milkman and a postman in the Chester area.

Another former Avenue player, Clive Freeman, then died on Tuesday at the age of just 61.

Clive famously scored the November 1992 BBC Goal of the Month for Altrincham in an FA Cup second round tie against Chester City, before arriving at Horsfall Stadium just under four years later in September 1996.

He quicky became a key figure in manager Trevor Storton's side, later becoming the boss’ assistant, while on the field he scored 15 times in 132 appearances before leaving to join Goole in 2000.

Simon Freeman (right) had two spells as assistant manager with Avenue, having spent four years there as a player as well.Clive Freeman (right) had two spells as assistant manager with Avenue, having spent four years there as a player as well. (Image: Simon Orrell.)

Freeman put his name in the Avenue history books in 1998-99, after scoring in three countries with goals at Gretna and Colwyn Bay.

Clive’s first honour as a player was picked up with Bridlington Town, when he appeared for them in the FA Vase final at Wembley in 1990.

He then had spells with Terry Yorath's Swansea City, Carlisle (loan) and Doncaster Rovers making 43 Football League appearances in total.

After retiring as a player, he came back to Horsfall Stadium in 2006 as manager Phil Sharpe's assistant, the duo guiding Avenue to a fourth-place finish in the NPL First Division in 2006-07.

He later coached at Guiseley and he was an assistant manager at Buxton.