Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Bradford Park Avenue's final moved to Sunday on police advice

FC United keeper Sam
Ashton is down after a
clash of heads in last
season's play-off with Avenue.
The final between the two
clubs has been moved from
Saturday to Sunday
 Source: Bradford Telegraph and Argus

 Bradford Park Avenue had an administrative nightmare to contend with today after their Evo-Stik League Premier Division play-off final at home to FC United of Manchester was switched from Saturday to Sunday on police advice.

Director Kevin Hainsworth said: “Within half an hour of us putting our tickets on sale for what we thought was a Saturday game, we were informed that the authorities wouldn’t allow it to go ahead on that day.

“They had gathered information from various FC United fans' forums and decided there was a risk of trouble. They contacted Bradford Council (owners of the stadium), and it doesn’t matter who is providing the stewarding or who holds the safety certificate for the ground when it come to matters like this so it was off from then.

“We had to convene a meeting with the league and FC United and rearrange the game. It will now be Sunday with a 2pm kick-off.

"I would ask any Bradford supporters to buy their tickets as soon as possible because we sold 750 in the first two hours.”

The match is all-ticket with each club having an allocation of 1,000 - exactly half as the capacity has been set at 2,000.