THE long wait is over for Bradford Park Avenue, who have confirmed on Saturday that Alex Meechan has been appointed as their new head coach.

Meechan arrived at the club in March as assistant to Darren Edmondson but Avenue’s first friendly, expected to be at Toolstation Northern Counties East League Division One Eccleshill United three weeks tomorrow (Tuesday, July 5), will not be his first in charge of the Bradford dugout.

When Bradford turned to Edmondson and Meechan following the departure of Martin Drury and second-in-command Jamie Price, Edmondson was on gardening leave from his former club Barrow.

With contractual issues to sort out, Edmondson was not in a position to take over, so Meechan was in charge for the first two games.

As it turned out, it was one and a half games as he oversaw Bradford’s 1-0 home win over Chorley but the following game – at promotion-chasing AFC Fylde – was abandoned after just 34 minutes due to a deluge.

Meechan will work alongside Terry Dolan, who has recently been made Bradford’s director of football.

Their first priority will be to sign up a number of players they have been in talks with over recent weeks.

Meechan played as a striker and midfielder and had experience in the Football League with Chester City, York City and Dagenham and Redbridge.

He was born in Plymouth but has local roots as his family come from Bingley and have had links with both Bradford clubs over the years.

It is a proud time for Meechan and for his family and he is happy to be in Yorkshire.

He said: “It’s an exciting opportunity for me. I know it is not going to be easy but the work starts now.

"We really need to lift the supporters, who have been anxious about all the uncertainty in pre-season.

“A lot of planning has gone on behind the scenes, and Terry and I will now be acting swiftly to strengthen and prepare the team for the season ahead.

"It’s a great time to be part of things, with all the plans for more community involvement and youth development.

"All of that really needs to happen – for the club and the city of Bradford – and I feel privileged that I’ll play a key part in that.”

Dolan added: “We have been impressed by the work they did as a management team and we are pleased that Alex has committed to us in a permanent role.

"We would like to thank both Alex and Darren for helping us over the past few months and we wish Darren well for the future.”