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Albion Sports, one of the most successful Sunday teams in Bradford football history, are packing in playing on the sabbath.

Instead they are starting to pursue their dream of semi-professional Saturday football by entering the West Riding County Amateur League next season.

"We are known not only county-wide but country-wide through Asian tournaments and our exploits in the FA Sunday Cup and we haven't got anything to prove on Sundays any more," said Sports manager Kulwinder Sandhu.

"So we thought we would try and climb up the national pyramid structure that is present on Saturdays.

"Eventually we would like to be playing against the likes of Farsley Celtic and Bradford Park Avenue."

Sports, who were formed for the 1977-78 season, won Divis-ion Four of the Bradford Amateur Sunday League before garnering greater triumphs in the Bradford Sunday Alliance League.

They lifted the Premier Division title in 1995-96, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03 and 2005-06 and the Senior Cup in 1995-96, 1996-97, 1999-00, 2002-03 and 2004-05.

The Bradford & District FA Sunday Cup also fell to Albion Sports in 1995-96 but in 1999-2000 they were also British Asian champions, West Riding FA County Cup winners and, most notable of all, runners-up in the FA Umbro Sunday Cup to Hull side Prestige Brig-hams at Nottingham Forest's City Ground.

It was little wonder that Sandhu was named manager of the season by the Bradford Sunday Alliance League - an honour he repeated in 2002-03 and 2004-05.

"We started out as an Asian club but now have more white players than Asian and are truly multi-cultural," said Sandhu.

"We see our progression as being through the West Riding County Amateur League to the Northern Counties East League, though we need to sort out our facilities so there are no hitches if we do progress.

"But we are very mindful of how Brian and Pat Goodall of the Bradford Sunday Alliance League and Carol and Albert Dent of the Bradford & District FA have helped us over the years and we are very grateful. We won't forget them."

Brighouse Town and Hems-worth Miners' Welfare are just two of the clubs who have made the jump next season from the County Amateur League to Northern Counties East League Division One, the first step of the semi-professional ladder.

3:43pm Monday 16th June 2008

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