Odsal Sports City

[Amber Avenger]

Interesting - if depressing thread. 

To me, the redevelopment of Odsal is a complete dead cat thrown into a fans forum where they didn't have much good to say and a number of legitimate concerns dismissed or inadequately addressed. It's laughable that they couldn't find anything better to say, as literally nobody is giving it even the slightest chance of happening.

I find it continually baffling that the one thing anyone coming into the club post Chalmers et al should have known is that the relationship between boardroom and fan is at an all time low, especially if you've been around as long as Mr Wood has been. To my mind there has been the square root of naff all to fix that in his tenure. There are only so many times to be told to trust in the various parade of chairmen. Fool me once, shame on you. What is it when you've been fooled six or seven times? 

It's eight years ago today since the Bulls were officially relegated from SL and I can't see us ever getting back. I never would have thought that at the time - this article from Aaron Bower pretty much sums up my thoughts at the directionless gaslighting the fans are being fed. 

It's funny to see the comments about the size of Bradford district etc. It's irrelevant. As a newbie, why would you come and watch such a damaged brand right now?

The damage done in the past decade means the club are left with an aging, dwindling fanbase - not many kids coming through - that nobody in professional RL wants to touch with a bargepoll (see Aaron's article regarding recruitment for the current head coach!) There is no quick fix, the damage done will last a generation more or longer.  I fear there is further to fall, before this can get turned round. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Amber Avenger

[Oxford]

17 hours ago, Hemi4561 said:

So why do you think it should be locked?

Because someone will post something completely innocuous and harmless and that's all it takes.

[Bobby123]

On 15/07/2022 at 13:14, Loiner said:

The plans were shown to the fans on the back of a wet beer mat. It had a drawing of the new Castleford ground scribbled out.

Thas more chance o" platting soot

[Dallas Mead]

2 hours ago, Amber Avenger said:

Interesting - if depressing thread. 

To me, the redevelopment of Odsal is a complete dead cat thrown into a fans forum where they didn't have much good to say and a number of legitimate concerns dismissed or inadequately addressed. It's laughable that they couldn't find anything better to say, as literally nobody is giving it even the slightest chance of happening.

I find it continually baffling that the one thing anyone coming into the club post Chalmers et al should have known is that the relationship between boardroom and fan is at an all time low, especially if you've been around as long as Mr Wood has been. To my mind there has been the square root of naff all to fix that in his tenure. There are only so many times to be told to trust in the various parade of chairmen. Fool me once, shame on you. What is it when you've been fooled six or seven times? 

It's eight years ago today since the Bulls were officially relegated from SL and I can't see us ever getting back. I never would have thought that at the time - this article from Aaron Bower pretty much sums up my thoughts at the directionless gaslighting the fans are being fed. 

It's funny to see the comments about the size of Bradford district etc. It's irrelevant. As a newbie, why would you come and watch such a damaged brand right now?

The damage done in the past decade means the club are left with an aging, dwindling fanbase - not many kids coming through - that nobody in professional RL wants to touch with a bargepoll (see Aaron's article regarding recruitment for the current head coach!) There is no quick fix, the damage done will last a generation more or longer.  I fear there is further to fall, before this can get turned round. 

Crikey, what a depressing read that article by Bower.  I think I’d rather have Boris J as chairman than Big Nige.  Fewer lies and less spin.

[RP London]

On 15/07/2022 at 12:18, The Future is League said:

I think i heard rumours something like this pre brexit, and it was something like the EU would pay for a total refit of Odsal out of some fund they had and the RFL was going to move in lock, stock and barrel. Obviously that isn't going to happen on either count now.

Whether there was in substance in the above rumours i don't know or it could have been pie in the sky

Cant possible be the bit in bold... Big nige would be like Homer in outer space 

[Blind side johnny]

8 hours ago, steve oates said:

I lived in Pudsey then and I went to a Bradford Bulls game against London. There were the usual London gang of about 50 lads who did the away trips in the 13,000 crowd. 

I don't really see what Bradford's population or ethnicity has to do with the attendances. Go to Manchester on a Wigan matchday and see the Manchester based Wigan fans going to the game.  I know Saints fans who live in Liverpool. One Castleford fan told me he goes to every game with his mates none of whom are from Castleford......

When the Bulls marketing department were ramping up support for the early Superleage bulls they didn't have a map of the Bradford postcodes on the wall. They sold as far and as wide as they could, especially south of Bradford, into west Leeds, up towards keighley  I was 10 minutes from Odsal.  I can't remember the name of the Marketing Director even though his achievements were legendary.

But I do remember the Batley Chairman complaining hard about the Bulls sending season ticket vans into the centres of Batley, Deswbury, Keighley, Morley etc anywhere they could get a sale. 

Steve Deakin, I think.

[Vyvyan]

Peter Deakin

[Martyn Sadler]

3 hours ago, Amber Avenger said:

Interesting - if depressing thread. 

To me, the redevelopment of Odsal is a complete dead cat thrown into a fans forum where they didn't have much good to say and a number of legitimate concerns dismissed or inadequately addressed. It's laughable that they couldn't find anything better to say, as literally nobody is giving it even the slightest chance of happening.

I find it continually baffling that the one thing anyone coming into the club post Chalmers et al should have known is that the relationship between boardroom and fan is at an all time low, especially if you've been around as long as Mr Wood has been. To my mind there has been the square root of naff all to fix that in his tenure. There are only so many times to be told to trust in the various parade of chairmen. Fool me once, shame on you. What is it when you've been fooled six or seven times? 

It's eight years ago today since the Bulls were officially relegated from SL and I can't see us ever getting back. I never would have thought that at the time - this article from Aaron Bower pretty much sums up my thoughts at the directionless gaslighting the fans are being fed. 

It's funny to see the comments about the size of Bradford district etc. It's irrelevant. As a newbie, why would you come and watch such a damaged brand right now?

The damage done in the past decade means the club are left with an aging, dwindling fanbase - not many kids coming through - that nobody in professional RL wants to touch with a bargepoll (see Aaron's article regarding recruitment for the current head coach!) There is no quick fix, the damage done will last a generation more or longer.  I fear there is further to fall, before this can get turned round. 

The application for levelling-up funding was supposed to be made initially on 7 July, which is a date I remember because it was my late brother's birthday.

That date has now been put back, I think to 1 September, which I would need to check on, but coincidentally that happens to be my birthday. Could the stars be aligning?

The bid is an absolutely serious bid by Bradford Council and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

I can't think of a city in the country that would appear to have a greater claim on levelling-up funding than Bradford.

That, of course, is no guarantee of success but Nigel Wood extracted £200 million from Sky for the broadcasting contract and £25 million from the government for the World Cup. The bid for funds is being made by a partnership with the local authority as the lead player, rather than the Bulls, but Wood has a track record of persuading organisations to part with their money and I hope he can be successful once again, unless of course he is driven out of the club by some of its supporters.

[Mumby Magic]

For me the Bulls potential now is just like most clubs. Just because we were a big club at one stage doesn't always mean we will be again. I was there to or 1500 fans in the early 90s then 5 years later there's 15000. What you have with Bradford fans is we are probably one of the most fickle set of fans going. One example was the other year. Steady crowds, then Leeds in the cup 10k, then back to steady crowds. 

The stock car scenario. Most fans think we have a god forsaken right to be at Odsal and sod the stock cars. They can't see past the fact that if it wasn't for the stocks tidying up the stadium a bit we wouldn't be there today.

One final comment from my uncle a few years back. We we're in League 1. He said "I'll start going again when we start winning more" Erm we won enough games to get promoted!!!!!

[northamptoncougar]

Bradford won’t even be the biggest champ team with a BD postcode next season.

Can we have our half of the levelling up dosh now please before Nige nicks another 500k.

[Vyvyan]

I imagine Robbie Moore MP in his marginal constituency will be ensuring that Keighley gets plenty of levelling up funds.

[Amber Avenger]

30 minutes ago, Martyn Sadler said:

The application for levelling-up funding was supposed to be made initially on 7 July, which is a date I remember because it was my late brother's birthday.

That date has now been put back, I think to 1 September, which I would need to check on, but coincidentally that happens to be my birthday. Could the stars be aligning?

The bid is an absolutely serious bid by Bradford Council and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

I can't think of a city in the country that would appear to have a greater claim on levelling-up funding than Bradford.

That, of course, is no guarantee of success but Nigel Wood extracted £200 million from Sky for the broadcasting contract and £25 million from the government for the World Cup. The bid for funds is being made by a partnership with the local authority as the lead player, rather than the Bulls, but Wood has a track record of persuading organisations to part with their money and I hope he can be successful once again, unless of course he is driven out of the club by some of its supporters.

Invoking the name of Bradford Council makes it less likely for any Bradfordian to think this will happen, not more. 

[Martyn Sadler]

58 minutes ago, Amber Avenger said:

Invoking the name of Bradford Council makes it less likely for any Bradfordian to think this will happen, not more. 

I suppose you have every right to feel cynical about this but it would be better, I think, to try to support the initiative for the sake of the city, the stadium and the club.

[Blind side johnny]

1 hour ago, Blind side johnny said:

Steve Deakin, I think.

Or was it his brother, Peter?

[The Future is League]

1 hour ago, Vyvyan said:

I imagine Robbie Moore MP in his marginal constituency will be ensuring that Keighley gets plenty of levelling up funds.

He will need to if he wants to hang onto his seat

As he ever been seen at a Cougars home game apart from around election time?

[The Future is League]

2 hours ago, Vyvyan said:

Peter Deakin

He certainly knew how to deliver bigger crowds wherever he went in our game and union.

[The Future is League]

2 hours ago, Blind side johnny said:

Steve Deakin, I think.

The last i heard about Steve Deakin was he had some roll at the Catalan Dragons, but he certainly had some wanderlust about him and i doubt if he's still there now. I don't even know if he's still alive, but hopefully he is.

[Amber Avenger]

1 hour ago, Martyn Sadler said:

I suppose you have every right to feel cynical about this but it would be better, I think, to try to support the initiative for the sake of the city, the stadium and the club.

I'm not against the initiative, I think it's pie in the sky. As my original post states, my concern for the club runs deeper than the 42nd artists impression of a new Odsal. 

Hope for the best yeah, but prepare for the worst. It's possible to want Odsal to get investment and yet remain cynical that it will ever come to fruition. Even if it comes off, it'll be papering over the cracks. The problems are deeper than just the stadium.

Make no mistake - what I'm after is clear accountability and communication from the club, not a Nigel out witch hunt. Lessons have clearly not been learned from the past, and it's worrying that so much reassurance of the intentions of our chairman has to be decoded by his colleagues in the industry who have worked with him in the past rather than coming from the club directly. 

But anyway, that's just me. I know we aren't going to see eye to eye on this.

Edited July 20, 2022 by Amber Avenger

[Hemi4561]

1 hour ago, The Future is League said:

He will need to if he wants to hang onto his seat

As he ever been seen at a Cougars home game apart from around election time?

Doesn't matter, he should be an astute enough to know that he has a responsibility to his constituents not to the rest of BMDC ratepayers. As such I am sure he will be dissecting every move the Council make. I will be asking him for his views. 

[Leyther_Matt]

2 hours ago, The Future is League said:

The last i heard about Steve Deakin was he had some roll at the Catalan Dragons, but he certainly had some wanderlust about him and i doubt if he's still there now. I don't even know if he's still alive, but hopefully he is.

Steve Deakin is a former coach of, well, far too many clubs to list.

The marketing genius was Peter Deakin who passed away in 2003. It’s only upon checking that date that it turns out the man of the match in the RU Grand Final is named in his honour. 

[Martyn Sadler]

2 hours ago, Amber Avenger said:

I'm not against the initiative, I think it's pie in the sky.

It may or may not be feasible and there is no guarantee that the government will support the project but to describe it as pie in the sky is surely a defeatist attitude. If you live in Bradford you would be better advised to contact your councillors and urge them to support this project. Insist on some accountability from them.

2 hours ago, Amber Avenger said:

The problems are deeper than just the stadium.

But if the stadium development goes ahead, all the other problems would become much easier to solve.

2 hours ago, Amber Avenger said:

Make no mistake - what I'm after is clear accountability and communication from the club.

There is no doubt that communication from the club has been very poor but when you refer to accountability in this context, what precisely do you mean?

[Oxford]

4 hours ago, Martyn Sadler said:

but to describe it as pie in the sky is surely a defeatist attitude.

That should have been the title of the thread!

[gingerjon]

9 hours ago, Martyn Sadler said:

It may or may not be feasible and there is no guarantee that the government will support the project but to describe it as pie in the sky is surely a defeatist attitude. If you live in Bradford you would be better advised to contact your councillors and urge them to support this project. Insist on some accountability from them.

But if the stadium development goes ahead, all the other problems would become much easier to solve.

There is no doubt that communication from the club has been very poor but when you refer to accountability in this context, what precisely do you mean?

Tell me you're BFFs with Nigel Wood without telling me that you're BFFs with Nigel Wood.

[Amber Avenger]

9 hours ago, Martyn Sadler said:

It may or may not be feasible and there is no guarantee that the government will support the project but to describe it as pie in the sky is surely a defeatist attitude. If you live in Bradford you would be better advised to contact your councillors and urge them to support this project. Insist on some accountability from them.

But if the stadium development goes ahead, all the other problems would become much easier to solve.

There is no doubt that communication from the club has been very poor but when you refer to accountability in this context, what precisely do you mean?

Martyn, with the greatest of respect - it looks like we live in completely separate realities. I'm trying to chose my words carefully here, but I find it hard to believe someone could read everything I've posted in here, and then seriously suggest my next step is to lobby Bradford Council (I haven't lived in Bradford for 17 years incidentally, but I do go back often). 

But here we are, someone who works in the game, and knows the pain this club and the fans have gone through and suggests that I as a fan - who has poured his heart out sharing some of that pain - should be doing more even more to back an institution I have literally just told you I have no faith in. Ok then. I'm so so tired of talking into a void. Faith has run out, I cannot keep backing things on people's say so. 

There is more than enough in my initial post in this thread if you are genuinely curious about my feelings on the more immediate issues facing the club but I'm not particularly minded to discuss it further with you - like I said, there's more than enough evidence we won't see eye to eye and I don't think either of us have much new to say.  

If in the event Odsal does get some levelling up funding, I'm happy to come back and discuss as the landscape will have changed significantly - but until then (!), for my own sake and nobody else's, I cannot keep coming back and discussing history repeating itself at the club. 

Edited July 21, 2022 by Amber Avenger

[Martyn Sadler]

28 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Tell me you're BFFs with Nigel Wood without telling me that you're BFFs with Nigel Wood.

My opinion of Nigel has modified over time, partly because of learning more about what actually went on at the RFL and partly because of what happened after he left the RFL.

But I don't really think he will ever be my BFF.

So don't get jealous. He won't be replacing you in that regard.