BRADFORD City Women have a new “home” and club chairman, Qasim Akhtar has expressed his delight with the latest announcement.

From the start of the 24/25 season, the Bantams’ women and girls’ teams will be using Carlton Bolling School as their new training ground.

The club have agreed a five-year deal with the Bradford School - who laid down new astro-turf back in September - which will also see the u23’s and junior sides play their matches there.

The women’s side will continue to play their fixtures at Bradford (Park Avenue)’s Horsfall Stadium but will use Carlton Bolling as a training base throughout the week.

Speaking to the T&A regarding the announcement, City Women’s chairman, Akhtar, said: “It’s been in the pipeline for a while now, so we are delighted to be able to get this over the line.

“Carlton Bolling have been great to deal with, and we’ve seen the relationship blossom between ourselves and the school itself.

“We can’t thank them enough for allowing us to use their amazing facilities for the next five years. It’s an immaculate place to play and train.

“It will be the training base for all things Bradford City Women, whether it be the development centre, all the academy groups, the u23’s and the first team.

“And it will be the matchday ground for some of our junior sides and u23’s.”

🤩 | 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬- 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 🏟️

We are delighted to announce a new 𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 partnership with @CarltonBolling to become our new 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 from 2024/2025 🤝

The move will see all… pic.twitter.com/SgjKnYUhnW

Discussing the significance of the move, Akhtar said: “I think if you speak to any football club, everybody wants a home, so to speak.

“It’s genuinely one of the hardest things to find at our level of football, and even above for that matter.

“If you like at the women’s side of the game, whether it be tier four, tier three or even tier two to an extent, clubs often struggle to find a permanent base.

“Of course, clubs like Sheffield United train at the men’s base, but that just wasn’t possible for us.

“Our men’s team train at Woodhouse Grove, as do the Academy, so the demand almost outweighs the supply, which is a shame.

“But on the flip side of that, the facilities at Carlton Bolling are amazing and we can see ourselves building a strong future there.

“Their school strives for excellence, and that’s what we are pushing to achieve as well.”

Bradford were scheduled to take on Redcar Town Ladies in their last two league fixtures of the North East Regional Women’s Football League season, but Redcar have forfeited both matches meaning the Bantams have been awarded all six points.

It leaves Emily Senior’s side with one game left to play away at Hull United on Sunday, which means they could finish the season in 3rd place given results go their way.

Reflecting on the season, Akhtar said: “After relegation to the North East League last season, we wanted to bounce back and get promoted as soon as possible, of course we did.

“However, when you look at the league table this season, it’s probably been the most strongly contested season in a long time. Congratulations to Barnsley who have been promoted; they’ve been very good. They’ve also lost four games, which, in previous years, has been unheard of. So, it shows the quality and strength of the teams in this division."