MARK BOWER wants Bradford Park Avenue to be competing with the best the National League North has to offer next season after their safety was confirmed.
The former Guiseley manager, who led the Lions to promotion from Step 2 in 2014-15, has signed a contract to keep him at Avenue until January 2019 while his assistant Danny Boshell has also put pen to paper.
Bower replaced Alex Meechan in September with Avenue rock bottom but the 1-1 draw at leaders AFC Fylde on Easter Monday confirmed their Step 2 safety.
The former Bradford City defender has overseen 12 wins and four draws from his 28 National League North games in charge to guide Avenue away from trouble.
The management team signed their deals after the Fylde result and Bower is predicting a brighter future after a season of struggle at the Horsfall Stadium.
“We want to go on and finish what we've started, and not have the club in the position it's been in this season,” Bower said.
“Danny and I are confident that we will have the resources to improve on the squad and build on the results we've achieved.
“If the season had started when we got our first win of the season at Altrincham, we'd be well inside the top half of the table.
“We've already started recruiting for next season and that will continue, and now we're safe that just allows us to put a lot more concentrated effort into that.
“I'm not here to be in a relegation battle, I'm here to compete with the best in the league, and that's what we're going to do.”
