Bradford & Nigel Wood

[Bulls2487]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

Are the Bulls planning on buying the RFL’s stake back?

Mark Sawyer has said negotiations are on going with the RFL. 750k is a large amount to find for a Championship club.

[The Future is League]

10 hours ago, Hopping Mad said:

Speedway in GB is struggling to retain even its hardcore support. Of the existing 19 clubs, I'd say only six are capable of attracting 1,000+ crowds. Across London and the entire South East, speedway has just one club - based at Sittingbourne. The remorseless sale to developers of dog tracks is a major problem. There are new initiatives aimed at producing British talent. Just as well. Long gone are the days when the world's top riders rode in GB. Most of the big names now concentrate on Poland and Sweden, where crowds and wages are much higher.

When I worked on Teesside, I used to watch the speedway at Middlesbrough. In the club's last season, 1996, the average crowd was about 850. A couple of years ago, I attended a meeting at the town's new track, on the Middlesbrough/Redcar boundary, and got chatting to the promoter's wife. I asked her about attendances. She said they'd had a very good one a couple of weeks before. How many? 581! Hence the '500/500 sport' jibe. 500cc bikes watched by 500 spectators.

It's very sad to see the demise of Dog tracks. I was a regular at 2 of them a few years ago when i lived in London and sadly both are gone now, along with quite a few in London and other parts of the country.

[silverback]

 WOW.

 

[silverback]

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

One of the problems with Odsal is the lack of covered terracing - any sign of a solution to this problem?

[matt newsholme]

 

Tbf weve got over 5k covered seats which are never even close to full so cant see us spending money putting cover on terrace of a ground we dont own. Only costs a small amount to uograde to seating and very few people take it up. 

[Pen-Y-Bont Crusader]

3 minutes ago, matt newsholme said:

 

Tbf weve got over 5k covered seats which are never even close to full so cant see us spending money putting cover on terrace of a ground we dont own. Only costs a small amount to uograde to seating and very few people take it up. 

Genuine question. What’s the actual physical cost difference to sitting compared to standing ? Perhaps better to fill the seating area creating a better experience and atmosphere first ? 

[matt newsholme]

28 minutes ago, Pen-Y-Bont Crusader said:

Genuine question. What’s the actual physical cost difference to sitting compared to standing ? Perhaps better to fill the seating area creating a better experience and atmosphere first ? 

Last time we were at oddal cost £5 to upgrade on the day. Think difference is less if you pay for seating in first place. 

It isnt a cost thing, majority of bulls fans just prefer standing. Even when its raining very few upgrade. When we had stupidly cheap season tickets around 2011 there wasn't a marked increase in numbers going in seating as opposed to terrace.

[Leyther_Matt]

1 hour ago, matt newsholme said:

Last time we were at oddal cost £5 to upgrade on the day. Think difference is less if you pay for seating in first place. 

It isnt a cost thing, majority of bulls fans just prefer standing. Even when its raining very few upgrade. When we had stupidly cheap season tickets around 2011 there wasn't a marked increase in numbers going in seating as opposed to terrace.

Worth pointing out that, in 2019, the £5 upgrade cost was on top of a basic £25 ticket, taking the total to £30 (that's THIRTY English pounds) to watch a run of the mill Championship fixture with the luxury of not getting wet through. If you played it smart then you could buy a £23 ticket in advance and then pay your fiver. £28. Bargain.

I know Odsal will undoubtedly hold a lot of fond memories for Bulls fans and there's no doubting it's iconic status - largely down to one game in the 1950s - but it was unsuitable for the 21st century at the turn of the Millennium and that isn't a situation that has improved over time. I honestly struggle to think of a single redeeming feature for the place.

[Mumby Magic]

5 hours ago, Chronicler of Chiswick said:

One of the problems with Odsal is the lack of covered terracing - any sign of a solution to this problem?

Umbrellas

[GUBRATS]

8 hours ago, Chronicler of Chiswick said:

One of the problems with Odsal is the lack of covered terracing - any sign of a solution to this problem?

Bring a brolly 

[GUBRATS]

2 hours ago, Leyther_Matt said:

Worth pointing out that, in 2019, the £5 upgrade cost was on top of a basic £25 ticket, taking the total to £30 (that's THIRTY English pounds) to watch a run of the mill Championship fixture with the luxury of not getting wet through. If you played it smart then you could buy a £23 ticket in advance and then pay your fiver. £28. Bargain.

I know Odsal will undoubtedly hold a lot of fond memories for Bulls fans and there's no doubting it's iconic status - largely down to one game in the 1950s - but it was unsuitable for the 21st century at the turn of the Millennium and that isn't a situation that has improved over time. I honestly struggle to think of a single redeeming feature for the place.

Basically it's a dump , it will always be a dump , a big dump , but still a dump , so that's 4 ' dumps ' , that's a lot of ****

[Spidey]

5 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

Odsal could be the venue for finding the cure for C19 and it would still bring the anti Bradford whingers out. 
 

Jealousy is not a nice trait.

What a load of tripe - people are calling out Odsal as dated stadium, much like they do to Castleford & Wakefield

[Spidey]

22 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

The only tripe is in the moaning. Someone is actually doing something with the stadium, got off their behinds and are doing something. It is only the people not involved (who obviously know more about it than the people on the ground) that are dismissing their efforts. 
 

What has been done to the stadium for rugby supporters?

[silverback]

6 minutes ago, Spidey said:

What has been done to the stadium for rugby supporters?

Lots been done for everyone to see.landscaping,repaired terracing,new crush barrier,old buildings/sheds got rid of,all  getting a coat a paint, pitch looks real well,  go have a peep in gate if your not far away, still couple a months work been done by fans of rugby and stock cars.am sure under them new floodlights it will look super on telly.

[Lowdesert]

On 30/03/2021 at 09:04, The Blues Ox said:

I feel for Bradford fans. The club pretty much needed a total rebuild and then Nigel Wood came in. Nigel Wood is not the person you want running a rugby league club. What a shambles.

Who would you choose?  Whoever comes in, unless they are rolling in money or have a rich benefactor, they would make sure the club is in profit or sustainable first.  I doubt they would earmark all the high cost upgrades on a stadium they don’t own.

I agree in that the Bulks situation is difficult.  I personally think the answer is away from Odsal though.

 

[Spidey]

38 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

Who says they are doing it for rugby supporters? The point is someone is doing something, not just complaining. 
 

But anyway by default it would become a better stadium for rugby supporters too. Who could then go on to denigrate their efforts as a bonus.

We are on a rugby forum so I guess what people want to chat about is the impact on Bradford Bulls. By the sounds of it it’s good news so far. I’d be interested to hear what the overall plan is for the club

[Damien]

51 minutes ago, silverback said:

Lots been done for everyone to see.landscaping,repaired terracing,new crush barrier,old buildings/sheds got rid of,all  getting a coat a paint, pitch looks real well,  go have a peep in gate if your not far away, still couple a months work been done by fans of rugby and stock cars.am sure under them new floodlights it will look super on telly.

Sounds great, well done to all concerned.

I think what Fev showed, and what Bradford are now doing shows, that an awful lot can be done just by getting fans engaged and doing something about your current situation rather than just moaning that it is everyone else's fault.

There is nothing stopping any club improving their current stadium by giving it a new lick of paint or adding more/better toilets. Small incremental improvements every year aren't unachievable for any club. Doing nothing and pinning all your hopes on a new stadium that may never happen isn't much of an excuse.

[Leyther_Matt]

So it turns out you can polish a ###### after all.

[John Drake]

23 hours ago, Leyther_Matt said:

I honestly struggle to think of a single redeeming feature for the place.

That's because it isn't your club's traditional home ground.

Fans get emotional about this sort of stuff.

If they didn't, it wouldn't matter where any games were played, as basically any ground is just a rectangle of grass with differing standards of spectator facilities around it.

Let's face it, as an away fan, you're not supposed to like it, really. 

Lots of people from outside Bradford like to say how rubbish Odsal is, but it is our club's proper home, and in the absence of any better alternatives within the city presenting themselves in reality rather than fevered imaginations, I for one can't wait till the Bulls are back playing there again.

I tip my hat to the work being done there by the stock car entrepreneur and hope that when their sport returns to Odsal, it will be a roaring success.

I've spent many a happy day watching both these sports at Odsal over the years, and I hope to be able to do so again in future.

[Leyther_Matt]

14 minutes ago, John Drake said:

That's because it isn't your club's traditional home ground.

Fans get emotional about this sort of stuff.

If they didn't, it wouldn't matter where any games were played, as basically any ground is just a rectangle of grass with differing standards of spectator facilities around it.

Let's face it, as an away fan, you're not supposed to like it, really. 

Lots of people from outside Bradford like to say how rubbish Odsal is, but it is our club's proper home, and in the absence of any better alternatives within the city presenting themselves in reality rather than fevered imaginations, I for one can't wait till the Bulls are back playing there again.

I tip my hat to the work being done there by the stock car entrepreneur and hope that when their sport returns to Odsal, it will be a roaring success.

I've spent many a happy day watching both these sports at Odsal over the years, and I hope to be able to do so again in future.

Don't get me wrong, John, I have huge admiration for the folks undertaking the work at Odsal. But, let's be honest, it requires significant structural work rather than voluntary labour. I acknowledged the emotional attachment in a previous post and I completely understand that, but heading back to Odsal with nothing other than relatively minor improvements could quite conceivably send the Bulls back down the same black hole (just like Odsal itself, fnar fnar) for the umpteenth time.

[John Drake]

4 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

Don't get me wrong, John, I have huge admiration for the folks undertaking the work at Odsal. But, let's be honest, it requires significant structural work rather than voluntary labour. I acknowledged the emotional attachment in a previous post and I completely understand that, but heading back to Odsal with nothing other than relatively minor improvements could quite conceivably send the Bulls back down the same black hole (just like Odsal itself, fnar fnar) for the umpteenth time.

Playing outside of Bradford for much longer will have the same effect.

If and when the Bulls return to Odsal, it would have to be on different financial terms than before, only a fool would refuse to accept that. 

The cost is the key problem, not the state of the actual facilities, which have been largely the same whether the Bulls were pulling in five figure crowds during their Super League peak, or 3-4k crowds in League 1 and the Championship in recent years.

Given that there are no viably cheaper, realistic alternative home venues presenting themselves within the city of Bradford (if there were, we'd be playing in them already) and given that playing outside of the city for much longer will also inevitably harm the club long term, a return to Odsal on more manageable financial terms seems the only option to me.

 

[Leyther_Matt]

6 hours ago, John Drake said:

Playing outside of Bradford for much longer will have the same effect.

If and when the Bulls return to Odsal, it would have to be on different financial terms than before, only a fool would refuse to accept that. 

The cost is the key problem, not the state of the actual facilities, which have been largely the same whether the Bulls were pulling in five figure crowds during their Super League peak, or 3-4k crowds in League 1 and the Championship in recent years.

Given that there are no viably cheaper, realistic alternative home venues presenting themselves within the city of Bradford (if there were, we'd be playing in them already) and given that playing outside of the city for much longer will also inevitably harm the club long term, a return to Odsal on more manageable financial terms seems the only option to me.

 

What happened to the proposed Bradford Park Avenue option? Would think you could comfortably get a 6,000 capacity with a temporary stand or two? Yes it’s got a running track, but it isn’t particularly wide so the crowd would still be much nearer to the pitch than at Odsal. 

[Phil]

13 hours ago, Leyther_Matt said:

What happened to the proposed Bradford Park Avenue option? Would think you could comfortably get a 6,000 capacity with a temporary stand or two? Yes it’s got a running track, but it isn’t particularly wide so the crowd would still be much nearer to the pitch than at Odsal. 

Parking around there is dreadful, residents are up in arms about it even with the small crowds Park Avenue get

[matt newsholme]

Bradford council won't license horsfall for more than 5K attendances, even if extra stands were added. Problems with parking and access. It would struggle with some of our current attendances and not allow for future growth so not really an option.