Kulwinder Sandhu insists that all the players involved in Albion Sports’ final season in the amateur ranks will be given their chance after the club stepped onto the non-League ladder.

Sports are now classed as a semi-professional outfit and can pay their players. But that will be up to them as some sides in Kool Sport Northern Counties East League Division One only pay bonuses, while others allow players to negotiate their own sponsorship deals.

Albion manager Sandhu said: “Everybody from last season will be asked back and they are good players, so we are hoping a lot – if not all – of them will make the grade.

“We will probably need a bigger squad and we have more to offer now in terms of stature, so we are looking to make a few signings.

“I have been a manager for 20 years now and I know it is a results-based business, so we have to make progress.

“We feel we can bring more opportunities now so might attract some players with more experience.

“We have wanted some players to join us in the past but they have declined because we were not on the football pyramid.

“They were good local players and that was why we went in for them. Ideally I want a team of Bradford lads.”

Sandhu and the committee of the club, who have had to move away from Myra Shay to become tenants at Horsfall Stadium in order to make the step up, are keen to remind people that they are a very grounded set of individuals.

“It is a new challenge for us and we will be visiting a lot of new grounds and there is plenty of work to do to establish ourselves,” he said.

“We have come a long way but we are still aware of the enormity of the hurdles ahead of us if we are to make our mark.

“One thing we don’t lack is ambition and we have done our homework and done so much behind the scenes to get this far. We haven’t done that just to come into this level and not try.

“We want to gain a firm footing and we are prepared to work hard for as long as it takes to reach that.”