BRADFORD Park Avenue boss Mark Bower has praised his club’s ticket initiative after they announced a two-tier pricing structure for the coming season.

Most of Avenue’s 21 home games will come under ‘Category B’ where admission for a full paying adult is £9, while the cost for ‘A’ games will be £4 more.

Bower said: “The lower tier price represents the lowest in the league, making Avenue the most affordable club to come and watch, and I think it’s a very good move by the club.

“Hopefully it will work well and get people through the turnstiles, which will make the atmosphere better.

"The players always respond when there is a bigger crowd and it certainly helped on Saturday when our neighbours (Bradford City) were here.”

Avenue hosted Stuart McCall's men at Horsfall Stadium and came out on top, grabbing the bragging rights for another year with a 3-0 win.

The Bantams are significantly ahead of Avenue in terms of offering deals to their fans and that fact is not lost on Bower – a former City centre-back and club captain.

He added: “We’ve seen it at City with the cheap season tickets and the flexi card deals – and the ground is packed week in week out.

“I was there ten years ago and we certainly weren’t getting 15,000 every game back then and it was a different place. But they’ve done it for years now and their backing is very strong.”

The main aim of Avenue's board of directors is to ensure that the club is self sufficient, especially now that it is a community-owned venture.

“I can see why they’ve done it and I’m all for it,” said Bower.

“Attractive pricing is going to appeal to people and should lead to an increased fan base, bringing younger fans in because we need to build for the future.

"Some of it might be about taking a hit in the short term with a reduced income but getting the next generation of Avenue supporters in the long term.

“The ground has been improved even more to make it a good match-day experience for fans – visiting ones as well – and that’s building for the future.

"Everything is going in the right direction and it’s up to us to get the product right on the pitch.”