Trevor Storton was working in the game as long as he could and the bereavement Avenue feel will be mirrored at FC Halifax Town, where he was assistant manager at the time of his death, and Guiseley, where he was assistant to Neil Parsley.

The Keighley-born defender came to prominence with Tranmere Rovers in the 1960s and was signed by Liverpool’s legendary manager Bill Shankly in 1972. He spent two years at Anfield but his first-team chances were limited and he moved to Chester City in 1974.

They were an established Football League club then but Storton was their most expensive incoming transfer as Chester had to part with £25,000 to secure his services. He was at Sealand Road for ten years and made a record number of league appearances for the club.

Storton moved into non-league when he signed for Oswestry Town and later Telford United, where he was player-coach.

He led Telford out twice at Wembley Stadium, in the FA Trophy finals of 1988 and 1989.

He gained his first managerial experience with Chorley before accepting the Bradford job.

He was appointed as manager at Horsfall Stadium in September 1996 and quickly established himself.

His teams were always hard to beat, and in the first four seasons of his reign Avenue never finished outside the top ten of the UniBond League First Division.

Storton was Avenue's longest serving manager since Fred Emery (1942-51) and became the oldest player to turn out for the club in peace time when he appeared as a second-half substitute in a UniBond Division One match at Workington in 1998.

Storton guided Avenue to promotion to the Premier Division in 2001 and achieved top-ten finishes in the higher tier for the next two campaigns.

He left Horsfall in 2004 after a disappointing season and was replaced by former Bantams and Leeds United forward Carl Shutt.

*Statistics supplied by Bradford (Park Avenue) historian Tim Clapham