NEW Bradford Park Avenue owner Gareth Roberts and the club go back a long way, so the lifelong supporter is delighted to be heading the reformed board of directors at Horsfall.

The wealthy American-based businessman comes from a humble background and football was his escape. He was bitten by the bug and became a dyed in the wool Avenuite.

Roberts said: "When I was a child, my father had passed away, so it was my uncle that used to take me to Avenue home games and your first club becomes a part of you.

"I grew up on Holme Wood and a lot of my family are from that area, so Avenue was the club.

"I remember when we got voted out of the Football League and my uncle was heartbroken. He was really upset because it meant so much to him.

"I've always kept up with the club. Even when I'm not in England, I always check for updates and whenever I can I go to games.

"I was at the tragedy that was Totton a few seasons ago when we got beaten 8-1 all the way down in Hampshire. You get days like that as a fan.

"John (Deacey) has got us to the first round of the FA Cup a few more times, so thankfully that day is just a faded bad memory now.

"This season started very well and I thought after the first seven or eight games we were promotion material.

"I made a contribution then, and we had a budget that we felt would make us competitive, but it all went wrong. The injuries we got made John's job almost impossible and that brought about the drop down the table."

Roberts' business commitments mean he will not be attending many games for the remainder of this season, which will make him even more nervous than the Avenue fans watching anxiously from the terraces.

"I still have a lot of family in the city and I have a son at Manchester University, so I am here regularly, but I won't be able to spend too much time in England during the rest of this season," he said.

"I will be following all the games though, and catching highlights on Youtube and video websites, and I'm sure we will stay up. The T&A coverage is very good as well and we very much appreciate that."