Odsal - RFL Selling the lease

[Barley Mow]

12 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

I wish this website would, and stop giving him credibility. Another stick to hit the Bulls with. His "radio station" doesn't exist!

It obviously isn't a radio station, but I for one appreciate that it provides another source of free commentary online.

He wouldn't be my first choice of commentator and I will usually listen to one of the BBC radio commentaries of another match if they are on at the same time, but when Bradford have played on a Saturday afternoon or Friday/Monday evening it is another option that wouldn't exist if Gledhill didn't run it.

Bradford also put full-match replays on their youtube channel during the week following their games. With the commentary (even his commentary) it is easier to watch than another club I can think of who do the same but don't have a commentator they can call upon.

Edited October 20, 2023 by Barley Mow

[paulwalker71]

1 hour ago, dboy said:

I don't like the RFL being in bed with the Bulls, but I fail to see how, for the Bulls, it was a bad thing (at the time at least), as without it, Bulls would have died there and then.

What was the alternative Paul?

It's all water under the bridge now, but I never bought the narrative that the Bulls wouldn't exist without the RFL buying the Odsal lease.

Yes, the club were in financial difficulties. So are lots of clubs at various times. We should have made the necessary changes and adapted accordingly - remember, the crowds at the time were routinely 12-13K. We might have had to cut costs or sell players. That's part of the ups and downs in sport.

We were told that "predators were circling" around Odsal. Well, if they were, they've had plenty of opportunities to show their hand since, but nobody has. They could even step forward now and buy the lease - but I doubt they will.

It might sound conspiratorial, but I've always believed there is more at play with the RFL inserting their grubby fingers into the Bulls. Remember that the guy who now owns our club - and rarely says a word in public - was the RFL chief at the time of the lease issue. Will it all now play out? Who knows...

And so what if someone would have bought Odsal for some other purpose? It happens all the time in sports.  People find other ways to share grounds with football or RU or find a way to build something new, even if much more modest.

Anything better than the slow, lingering, inexorable decline over the past 10 years that has sucked the life out the club.

[paulwalker71]

*

Edited October 20, 2023 by paulwalker71

[RigbyLuger]

There was a great, long form piece by George Clark in Forty-20 a few years back about the demise of the Bulls and the RFLs role in it. Probably too close to the bone for some regarding that!

[The Masked Poster]

5 hours ago, paul hicks said:

the past is just history and history does not pay the bills.  yes, it would be nice to see bradford  at headingley again but been realistic i can't see Bradford attracting that sort of crowd again. 

they have gone too far down and the support has moved on. really a bit like the Huddersfield situation.

 

by the way i would never take pleasure in any team dropping out of the league but i do feel a number are living on past glory. its the future that's important and so many don't seem to be able to grasp that fact.

I’m not talking about the past though, I’m very much talking about the present and the future. Who has stepped forward to replace the games for Leeds between Leeds and Bradford? I’d say nobody. So go ahead and say “it’s the past”, which it is. But unless you replace ‘one thing’ with something roughly similar you are losing something. 

[The Masked Poster]

3 hours ago, WakefieldCityLoyal said:

It’s not entitlement it’s IMG scoring.

Up the Trin 

Nah mate, you’ve got at least one new person who hopes Wakefield don’t get promoted now. 
 

 

[WakefieldCityLoyal]

45 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

Nah mate, you’ve got at least one new person who hopes Wakefield don’t get promoted now. 
 

 

Promotion is already confirmed IMG IMG IMG

Up the Trin 

[The Masked Poster]

Just now, WakefieldCityLoyal said:

Promotion is already confirmed IMG IMG IMG

Up the Trin 

Honestly, I really look forward to quoting these next October. It’s going to be even more fun supporting ABW. I’m glad I now have a dog in the fight so to speak, it was a bit ‘meh’ just being a general RL supporter. 

[The Masked Poster]

3 hours ago, RigbyLuger said:

I wish this website would, and stop giving him credibility. Another stick to hit the Bulls with. His "radio station" doesn't exist!

And you contribute….what? Jaded moaning on this forum? Great effort.

 

[bigbaldnmad]

9 hours ago, dboy said:

Not because of their historic success though - it's the way the RFL looked after them, the way their directors took the money and ran after players auctioned stuff off and the fans raised thousands, and then the arrogant and entitled attitudes of the fans who think they somehow deserve a place in the top league.

Add to that, the fact that they have been allowed to continue running an academy, while other championship clubs were forced to disband theirs, with the exception of Newcastle and London.

That is 10 years of having an advantage of developing their own players, while other sides have had to 'buy' a team. I know that they fund it themselves, but other clubs who ran self funded academies were forced to disband them

The level playing field that all clubs should have, ceased to exist when the RFL showed clear favoritism for one heartland club over all the others.

Like most others, it's the club and the RFL I detest, not the Bradford fans. 

[paul hicks]

1 hour ago, The Masked Poster said:

I’m not talking about the past though, I’m very much talking about the present and the future. Who has stepped forward to replace the games for Leeds between Leeds and Bradford? I’d say nobody. So go ahead and say “it’s the past”, which it is. But unless you replace ‘one thing’ with something roughly similar you are losing something. 

indeed, we need a big new local club doing good but im afraid that over the years that's always been a short-term thing.

who that would b e i don't know but im pretty sure Bradfords days of mas support are behind them so i dont see them as the future. a lot of bull's supporters saw the mess that was the bulls and walked away and i see no sign of them coming back not even this season which has been the best for 10 years.

as i said before they have the same problem as Huddersfield in that failure over a number of years has drained the support and at Huddersfield it's not come back and i see no reason Bradford will be any different. 

i don't see it as Leeds needing Bradford but rather that Bradford need Leeds. 

[OdsalBull]

On 19/10/2023 at 17:21, paul hicks said:

truth is most leeds supporters never even bother to discuss Bradford these days. it's a bit like when hunslet disappeared it was just another rival from a few years back.  that's the past for you i suppose. 

Bradford was just another in the list of rivals that changed from time to time depending on how they were playing and if they had much support.  since the fall of hunslet in the late 1960s it's just been a matter of who is the new rival that's playing well. there is no real derby rival of long tradition.

 

You’re full of it. 
 

didn’t seem that way the last time the two sides met. I think you know deep down that if the Leeds Bradford derby was to return many Leeds fans would be happy 

[OdsalBull]

8 hours ago, bigbaldnmad said:

Add to that, the fact that they have been allowed to continue running an academy, while other championship clubs were forced to disband theirs, with the exception of Newcastle and London.

That is 10 years of having an advantage of developing their own players, while other sides have had to 'buy' a team. I know that they fund it themselves, but other clubs who ran self funded academies were forced to disband them

The level playing field that all clubs should have, ceased to exist when the RFL showed clear favoritism for one heartland club over all the others.

Like most others, it's the club and the RFL I detest, not the Bradford fans. 

Jesus what a take

[paul hicks]

2 hours ago, OdsalBull said:

You’re full of it. 
 

didn’t seem that way the last time the two sides met. I think you know deep down that if the Leeds Bradford derby was to return many Leeds fans would be happy 

just another game.

personally, i prefer the games against saints,wigan and Catalan with hull kr just behind them.  were a club is situated is for me less important than the quality of game i will be seeing.

should Bradford ever become a good team again then yep i would enjoy seeing them but other than that they would be just another opponent. i would perhaps look forward more to seeing a good London team if as i hope they have a good season.

the derby games really don't exist for Leeds now. over the years it's been a change of opponent with at one time or another depending if they were doing well HUNSLET, BRAMLEY, WAKEFIELD, BRADFORD or CASTLEFORD as the derby game. suppose these days Huddersfield would be the derby game as they are the best team in west Yorkshire. in reality the closest team and thus the derby game is against hunslet as indeed for Bradford the derby game is against Keighley. 

[Barley Mow]

22 minutes ago, paul hicks said:

 ... In reality the closest team and thus the derby game is against hunslet as indeed for Bradford the derby game is against Keighley. 

I can see your logic for a derby match being your closest neighbour, but Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds, Batley, Dewsbury and Hunslet are all closer to Odsal than Keighley is (despite Bradford and Keighley being run by the same Council).

[OdsalBull]

32 minutes ago, paul hicks said:

just another game.

personally, i prefer the games against saints,wigan and Catalan with hull kr just behind them.  were a club is situated is for me less important than the quality of game i will be seeing.

should Bradford ever become a good team again then yep i would enjoy seeing them but other than that they would be just another opponent. i would perhaps look forward more to seeing a good London team if as i hope they have a good season.

the derby games really don't exist for Leeds now. over the years it's been a change of opponent with at one time or another depending if they were doing well HUNSLET, BRAMLEY, WAKEFIELD, BRADFORD or CASTLEFORD as the derby game. suppose these days Huddersfield would be the derby game as they are the best team in west Yorkshire. in reality the closest team and thus the derby game is against hunslet as indeed for Bradford the derby game is against Keighley. 

Fair enough. I would think you are in the minority there but everybody is different 

[paul hicks]

20 minutes ago, OdsalBull said:

Fair enough. I would think you are in the minority there but everybody is different 

indeed, we are and it's not something i have ever shied away from. perhaps I'm swayed by been taken to the Leeds games at Parkside in the early 60s where you could feel the rivalry and passion something i really never got with the other so called derby games. 

for the games with hunslet back then you could feel it for a week before and after and how much it meant but for the newer (derby) games you go and watch it but i never felt the knot in my stomach a few days before or after because it was a case of more than just the two points. even now when we play hunslet and put out a team of kids i want them to beat hunset even in a friendly.  that's what a derby rival is to me. size of crowd or anything else im not bothered about i just want us to beat them and then go to the pub and take the mick out of a couple of mates i know who support hunslet (poor sods).

I'm just of that age i guess more than likely the last of the old sods that feels that way and by the way i have nothing against Bradford and just have no feeling either way about them so not a real rivalry for me.

[paul hicks]

46 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

I can see your logic for a derby match being your closest neighbour, but Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds, Batley, Dewsbury and Hunslet are all closer to Odsal than Keighley is (despite Bradford and Keighley being run by the same Council).

i would not know about the mileage but i would guess bradford could be Keighley's local club and at least in the same city.

i suppose you could hit me with well does that not wigan v leigh the real derby game for wigan but as that's in what used to be Lancashire nothing g surprises me there. in reality in rugby league, it seems to be who is the club fairly close that's in the same division and doing well rather than the closest and most traditional.

[Barley Mow]

1 minute ago, paul hicks said:

i would not know about the mileage but i would guess bradford could be Keighley's local club and at least in the same city.

i suppose you could hit me with well does that not wigan v leigh the real derby game for wigan but as that's in what used to be Lancashire nothing g surprises me there. in reality in rugby league, it seems to be who is the club fairly close that's in the same division and doing well rather than the closest and most traditional.

I agreed with you on the point that what Leeds fans see as their derby has changed over the years - Successively Hunslet, Wakefield, Bradford, Castleford. I think all of the bigger W Yorkshire clubs see Leeds as being a rival though. For Leeds it seems whichever of those clubs is most competitive at any point is the one that is the rival.

Failing an almost unimaginable Hunslet revival and a proper Leeds derby, Bradford is the one that seems the biggest deal when the clubs are competitive (with it being another large city, and having demonstrated the potential for large crowds in the past).

My point was simply that if you are looking at distance, there are six clubs closer to Odsal than Keighley is - the other side of that coin however is that Bradford is the closest club to Keighley.

[gazza77]

Back to the lease, any likelyhood of the Bulls actually being the ones to take it back on?

[Agbrigg]

17 hours ago, WakefieldCityLoyal said:

Promotion is already confirmed IMG IMG IMG

Up the Trin 

As a fellow Wakey fan, I just think you are jumping the gun. Yes as a club we are now in a good place, but don't take things for granted.

[Morris Wanchuk]

12 minutes ago, Agbrigg said:

As a fellow Wakey fan, I just think you are jumping the gun. Yes as a club we are now in a good place, but don't take things for granted.

Wise words mate, it’ll be tough for Trinity next season & hopefully the new guy is ticking those IMG boxes behind the scenes. The sceptic in me can’t help but think the IMG criteria will be modified to accommodate London in SL. A resurgent Bradford would do more for SL than any combination of London, Catalan or Toulouse! 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

33 minutes ago, gazza77 said:

Back to the lease, any likelyhood of the Bulls actually being the ones to take it back on?

Wasn't there a theory that the RFL under Big Nige, bought the lease so that he would be able to get his hands on it 'on the cheap' at some point in the future? 

<conspiracy mode/on> I love it when a plan comes together..........<conspiracy mode/off>

[Agbrigg]

5 minutes ago, Morris Wanchuk said:

Wise words mate, it’ll be tough for Trinity next season & hopefully the new guy is ticking those IMG boxes behind the scenes. The sceptic in me can’t help but think the IMG criteria will be modified to accommodate London in SL. A resurgent Bradford would do more for SL than any combination of London, Catalan or Toulouse! 

There has been too many people at our club swallowing the garbage Minards has been peddling . We have a tough task on our hands to get back to SL. 

Yes I also share your concern regarding RFL/IMG the whole concept was to enable manipulation 'legally' . I am sure that is the reason for the delay in gradings .We are months away from the new season and the first'adjustments' have already been made.

[dkw]

Is the land at Odsal even developable (that doesn't look like a real word)?

It's a huge tract of land, but is it viable to build stuff on?