Ronnie Bottomley was the scourge of referees and the man who told Bradford (Park Avenue) to ‘mark ‘em tighter’ for over 20 years.
Ronnie was well known across the Non League circuit for his ever-present Avenue green and white bobble hat and for his shouts of ‘mark ‘em tighter Avenue, really tighter’ and ‘referee you cabbage’ and other memorable catchphrases from the back row of the main stand at Horsfall Stadium or right behind the opposition’s goal at away games.
Ronnie was loved by all those connected with Avenue past and present and he was heavily mourned when he passed away in 2010. Until recently, the main stand at Horsfall was named the ‘Ronnie Bottomley Stand’.
His passion for Avenue and his connection with the club’s players typified the pre-2007 culture at Avenue.
Ronnie was an ever-present figure on Saturday away coach trips – sat next to fellow supporter John Ferdinand, with his sandwiches made by his caring neighbour Mrs (Joyce) Brown. He was always ready for his Avenue heroes, armed with his autograph book and a pen.
He was once mascot for an Avenue home game and a picture exists somewhere with on the pitch with captain Wayne Benn (and possibly John Helm). It was once on the front page of the fanzine ‘The Wings of a Sparrow’.
The former Trafford goalkeeper (who also managed them) Mark Molyneaux once came out for a game and went to the stand to present Ronnie with a Christmas card.
Any interview with any Avenue player from pre-2010 sees Ronnie get a mention, along with several other well known supporters.
Rather than publish an article about Ronnie with just one or two contributors, we thought we would open the floor to everyone. If you’re an ex-player, manager, referee, supporter, volunteer and have stories or memories of Ronnie, however long or short, we’d love to hear from you in the comments section below, or in the comments section on our Facebook post of this article. James can also be contacted privately by email: info@nonleagueyorkshire.com.
We will then look to publish an article in the coming weeks with all the contributions together.
If you want to hear Ronnie’s immortal ‘mark ‘em tighter Avenue’ catchphrase you can hear him on the video below if you scroll to three minutes and 47 seconds.