NEW AVENUE FOR BOSS BOWER
PROMOTION winner Mark Bower is confident he has the tools to turn things around at Bradford Park Avenue – and he’s ready to lead another great escape act.
The 36-year-old defied all odds to take Avenue’s neighbours Guiseley into the National League for the first time in their history in 2014-15 before repeating the trick again the following season by keeping the Lions in the top-flight.
Now, after his threeand-a-half year spell at Nethermoor Road came to an end last month, Bower arrives at the Horsfall Stadium with another big job on his hands with the club rock bottom of the Vanarama National League North table with just three points from their opening 10 matches.
But Bower, who led Guiseley from the relegation places to fifth in his first season with the club, is confident he can achieve the impossible again and lead Avenue on a similar charge up the table.
“There’s plenty of potential in the dressing room – players with Conference and top-half North experience,” Bower told The
NLP. “I’ve seen a couple of games and both were narrow defeats against top sides in Darlington and Salford City, so they are not a million miles away. If we can make a couple of adjustments and bring one or two more in then I’m sure we can start climbing the table.”
As a player, Bower spent 12 years at cross city neighbours Bradford City and turned out for York City, Luton Town, Darlington and Halifax Town before taking over as boss at Guiseley in 2013. Now he can’t wait for the next chapter of his career – which started with yesterday’s opener against former club FC Halifax.
“It’s great to be here,” he added. “It’s a level I am familiar with, geographically, it’s close to me and I’m familiar with a lot of the players.
“Guiseley was a big part of my career, but it’s all about writing new history now with Bradford.”