BRADFORD Park Avenue are looking to see if they can improve their match-day experience at Horsfall Stadium.

Club secretary Colin Barker said: "We have an award-winning tea bar, but we can only offer basic catering, such as a pie and a pint.

"What we would like to offer is a pre-match corporate meal, such as clubs like Halifax Town, although we have put a marquee up at the far end of the ground three or four times this season for our bigger matches.

"It is cosy in our only bar for beer and food, which means that spectators can mingle, but the marquee means that there are two bars for spectators to use instead of one, and that has worked well."

Home fans (and away fans for that matter) can create a good atmosphere at Horsfall Stadium, but the biggest issue about Avenue's home ground is that spectators can be a long way from the action due to the running track.

Barker added: "We have put up a stand behind the goal at the Cemetery Road end of the ground for home fans, which gets them closer to the action.

"But in general we haven't felt the need to segregate fans very often.

"We did it earlier this season for the York City match, although we might not do it in future as York didn't bring as many fans as we had been expecting, and we have also done it for Stockport County."

Another issue that Avenue are grappling with is trying to get a longer licence period (and eventually a longer lease), giving them more scope to implement longer-term plans.

Avenue have also announced that their sports academy are re-locating to Horsfall Stadium (they have also used Southfield Grange's 3G pitch), and they are inviting applications from 16 to 18-year-old male and female students who are interested in a career in the sports industry – particularly rugby (both codes) and football.

Students will take a BTEC Level Two or Three, and for further information and an application form, potential students should contact Rob Stanley (rob.stanley@bpafc.com) or Alex Meechan (meeks80@tiscali.com).