BRADFORD (Park Avenue)’s director of football Martin Knight has hit back on Twitter, following the sale of star goalkeeper and captain George Sykes-Kenworthy to York City.

Former Bantams stopper Sykes-Kenworthy had been arguably Avenue’s best player since joining the club in December 2021, helping to keep the side up in his first season at Horsfall.

Avenue were relegated from National League North last term, with Sykes-Kenworthy’s heroics part of the reason why that battle went down to the last day.

With the keeper having signed a two-year deal in the summer of 2022, he was expected to play a pivotal role in Avenue’s attempts to bounce straight back up this season.

But the club, specifically owner Gareth Roberts and director of football Knight, felt they were in no position to turn down the undisclosed fee offered by York for his services.

That saw Sykes-Kenworthy leave Avenue for good on Thursday evening, in order to join the National League side, managed by Neal Ardley.

With Avenue currently in the Northern Premier League Premier Division relegation zone, the mood of the club’s fans is understandably downbeat, and the sale of their star man has naturally caused some frustration.

When a fan called Sykes-Kenworthy’s departure ‘another nail in Avenue’s coffin’, while also imploring Roberts to leave the club, Knight shot back, leading to a fraught exchange:

Avenue have moved swiftly to replace Sykes-Kenworthy at least, bringing in Bradford City stopper Heath Richardson on loan ahead of today's huge league encounter at home to Marske United.

The North-East side, who have former Avenue strikers Adam Boyes and Eddie Church, have won three games in a row.

But they also lost 10 of their first 11, meaning this encounter is a relegation six-pointer.

If Avenue manage a win, they will move a point clear of the drop zone.