
Funded by Bradford Council with the support of Heritage Lottery Fund, we look into the history of one of Yorkshire’s most important outgrounds – Bradford Park Avenue.
We are delighted to present the following exhibition and oral interview series that explore the rich history of Park Avenue and its role in Bradford life.
Oral Histories - Audio Interviews

Park Avenue- A Community Ground
First built in…
1880, the Park Avenue ground has thrived as a place for community engagement. Sport in Bradford provided a distraction from the poor living and working conditions of the rapidly growing city during the Industrial Revolution. The unique architecture of the ground was a symbol of pride and local identity. Cricket gave new migrants to Bradford a way to build support networks and Park Avenue continues to engage with Bradford’s vast and diverse community today.
Discover the rich history of Park Avenue through the memories and stories of the people of Bradford. Click the audio link to hear more and look for ‘What makes Park Avenue special’:
- Dickie Bird – Former cricketer and international cricket umpire
- Geoff Cope – Played first-class cricket for Yorkshire from 1966 to 1980
- Kirsty Gavillet – Club Chair at Bradford Park Avenue Ladies Cricket Club
Image: An autographed programme. Courtesy of Richard Griffiths.
Bradford Cricket, Athletic and Football Club
During the Industrial Revolution, Bradford grew into a major manufacturing centre. Workers and their families moved to Bradford to find employment and the rapid increase in people meant that many lived in poor conditions. The first elected Town Council in 1847 worked to improve living conditions and sanitation. Public parks were created and sports like cricket, rugby, and football thrived within the city.
Bradford Cricket Club was founded in the year 1836 and played at various sites before finally finding a home on land at Park Avenue. Bradford Football Club was formed in 1863, but the name was later changed to Bradford Rugby Football Club in 1866. During 1879, both teams merged to create a multi-sport ground at Park Avenue named Bradford Cricket, Athletic and Football Club.
In 1895 there was a ‘Great Split’ in rugby, meaning that two different forms of rugby were created; rugby league and rugby union. In 1907 the football club chairman Harry Briggs led on a plan to change to association football rather than rugby. The rugby club became Bradford Northern and Bradford Park Avenue Football Club was born.
Please open the boxes below to view our images:
An Iconic Ground
The Bradford Cricket, Athletic and Football Club and the ground at Park Avenue encapsulated the sense of sporting pride in Bradford. The ground’s name is taken from Horton Park Avenue, which links Great Horton Road and Little Horton Lane. The piece of land acquired in 1879 was a perfect location for a sports ground, adjacent to the train station that had been opened in 1878. Park Avenue was officially opened on 20th July 1880 by Mayor Alderman A Holden. The early ground included a large cricket ground and a rugby pitch with an iconic pavilion.
Image above: A view of the iconic pavilion
Copyright unknown
Further development came in 1907 when the architect Archibald Leitch designed a double-sided pavilion between the football ground and the cricket pitch. This back-to back football and cricket stand had a gable at each end and one in the middle which proudly displayed the Bradford Coat of Arms. Another covered stand was built to the west and a large terrace to the east. The distinct ‘Doll’s House’ structure housed changing rooms and, in later years, the ground included bowling greens, a bowling alley, and function rooms to host sports dinners and events.
Search our clips for memories of the iconic ground:
- John Dewhirst – local historian describes his memories of ‘The Ground’.
- Shivanie Patel – Secretary at Bradford Park Avenue Ladies Cricket Club talks about her ‘First experience of Park Avenue’.
- Alan Douglas – Lived in the groundskeeper’s cottage at Park Avenue, describes the work his dad Harry Vincent Douglas undertook at the ground in ‘Groundsman’.
- Richard Griffiths and Brian Sanderson – Lifelong supporters and friends discuss the history and architecture of Park Avenue as they walk the ground in 2024 in ‘A walk around Park Avenue today’.
Image above: Aerial view of Bradford Park Avenue Cricket Match – Yorkshire v West Indies 1950
Copyright: Bradford Museums Photo Archive (Bradford District Museums & Galleries)
The decline of football at Park Avenue
Image: Bradford Park Avenue football programme. Courtesy of Richard Griffiths.
Click here to read the whole programme!
For many years, both cricket and football were enjoyed by sports fans at Park Avenue. The cricket ground was used for county and touring matches, and the football attracted tens of thousands of spectators. However, the football club began to struggle financially following the death of its main benefactor Harry Briggs in 1920. The club’s Football League status was lost in 1970, followed by rapid decline.
The last Football League match was played at Park Avenue on 21st April 1973. The Park Avenue supporter’s club kept playing as Bradford Park Avenue AFC, however the football pitch and stands continued to fall into disrepair. By 1980, the main stand connecting the two sports was deemed unsafe for use and later demolished.
Images: Photographs taken by fan Tim Clapham of the last-ever league match played at Park Avenue on 21 April 1973, against Great Harwood, in the Northern Premier League
During the 2013 project ‘Breaking Ground’, archaeologists unearthed many artefacts relating to the heyday of football at Park Avenue, with many Bradford Park Avenue AFC supporters joining in the excavation and sharing their own stories and memorabilia.
Image: The stands during the demolition, photographed by Tim Clapham
Cricket at Park Avenue
Image: Ray Illingworth, Fred Trueman, Brian Close & Geoffrey Boycott at Bradford Park Avenue Cricket ground. 1964
Copyright: Bradford Museums Photo Archive (Bradford District Museums & Galleries)
Search here to listen for memories of:
- Geoff Cope reminisces about his first match played at Park Avenue in ‘First Match’.
- Dickie Bird shares his earliest memories of sport in ‘Earliest Memories’.
Although football was declining at Park Avenue, cricket was still going strong.
A total of 306 First-Class matches were held at the ground throughout its history, with many international sides including Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, India, New Zealand and South Africa playing there. In 1973, Park Avenue hosted a match between England and Jamaica during the Women’s Cricket World Cup. Bradford Cricket Club left the ground in 1983 after merging with Bingley, and in May 1989, the Yorkshire Academy of Cricket was established at Park Avenue before eventually relocating to Headingley. Yorkshire played their final First-Class match at the venue on 20th June 1996.
Image: Supporters of the Pakistani cricket team at a match against the West Indies at Bradford Park Avenue.
Copyright: Bradford Museums Photo Archive (Bradford District Museums & Galleries)
In recent years, a major redevelopment supported by Yorkshire Cricket, the England and Wales Cricket Board and Bradford Council, set out to revitalise Park Avenue with new changing rooms, cricket nets and six re-laid First-Class pitches. In 2023, two cricket domes replaced the cricket nets, providing an all-weather facility that today is used by a number of teams who train alongside schools, groups and local families. The new facilities have made Park Avenue more accessible and led to wider engagement, especially with local South Asian communities.

Image: A member of the Bradford Park Avenue Ladies Cricket Club, founded in 2019 for all women and girls.
Copyright: Bradford Park Avenue Ladies Cricket Club

Image: Bradford Park Avenue today (2020s)
Copyright: Bradford Park Avenue Ladies Cricket Club
Spotlight on Bradford Park Avenue

Special events at Park Avenue
Image: Queen Elizabeth II visits Park Avenue in 1954
Copyright Daily Herald Archive / Science Museum Group
On 28th October 1954, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Bradford. During a visit to Park Avenue, they travelled around the cricket ground in an open-topped Land Rover. To celebrate this visit, 30,000 schoolchildren sang a rendition of the Yorkshire folk song ‘“On Ilkla Mooar Baht’at”.
In 1956, Bradford Parks Amateur Lawn Tennis Association sponsored a tennis match that was played at Park Avenue on a specially constructed court within the ground. On the 28th August 1972, Park Avenue hosted Bradford Pop Festival and around 2000 fans gathered on the football pitch in front of a stage specially built for the event.
In 2019, Park Avenue hosted the Inspirational Women’s Sponsorship Tournament Awareness which aimed to educate and inspire women to participate in sport and make people aware of the gender inequality which still exists in sport. Many local women were encouraged to play cricket which led to the creation of Bradford Park Avenue Ladies Cricket Club.
Halima Khan set up the non-for-profit organisation Opening Boundaries. Search here to hear her speak about organising women’s cricket matches at Park Avenue in ‘Events at Park Avenue’.
An Inspirational Ground
Park Avenue has provided inspiration to local historians, writers and artists. Paul Town describes his first experience at Park Avenue, which led to his career as an artist.
“From a very young age I have always been mesmerized by the Bradford Park Avenue football ground, a love affair that has lingered to this day. Its architectural beauty was there for all to see and from crawling through a small gap in a turnstile gate as a ten year old the vision of the main stand paved way and ignited an artistic urge to paint the old classic football grounds from the past. This has become a way of life within for me within the last 13 years, where I have embarked on painting portraits for football lovers around the globe on a daily basis.”
Visit Paul Town’s website to see his work depicting the first floodlit match at Park Avenue ‘Bradford Park Avenue floodlit scene v Czechslovakia’ at themanwhopaintsfootball.com

Spotlight on: Donald Simpson Bell
Donald Simpson Bell was a teacher and amateur footballer from Yorkshire who turned professional with Park Avenue in 1912. After World War 1 broke out, he became the first professional footballer to enlist into the British Army, joining the 9th battalion, Yorkshire Regiment. In 1916 he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery after crossing no man’s land to destroy an enemy machine gun. Sadly, he was killed five days later.
Image: A menu from a Bradford Park Avenue Football Club dinner held at Midland Hotel 25th April 1914, signed by players including Donald Simpson Bell
Image courtesy of Richard Griffiths