Odsal is No Way Fit Enough to Stage SL!!

[Eddie]

4 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Alright, fair enough, they got an average of 3k last year.

Yeah but with a competitive squad I feel sure that would be higher, like 4k! 

[Bulls2487]

1 hour ago, idrewthehaggis said:

 

And despite the various bullsh!tters, it has crowds much lower than Salford or Huddersfield.

 

The Bulls average attendances are between 3000-3500 outside SL

Around 1000 less than Huddersfield and Salford but outside SL and haven't appeared in a final/MPG for 10 years so not that successful

You would see an increase in Super League

We got 4792 against Toulouse with next to no away fans.

[graveyard johnny]

why dont they put the stock car racing and bulls games on at the same time? - that way boosting the crowd  and also giving the wingers an extra incentive not go over the touch line 

[hindle xiii]

34 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

why dont they put the stock car racing and bulls games on at the same time? - that way boosting the crowd  and also giving the wingers an extra incentive not go over the touch line 

The refs whistle wouldn't be loud enough, that is the only reason I can think of.

[graveyard johnny]

2 minutes ago, hindle xiii said:

The refs whistle wouldn't be loud enough, that is the only reason I can think of.

youre not thinking this through- while the video ref is making his decision the crowd could watch a few laps of speedway or stock car racing without getting bored

[AB Knight]

5 hours ago, dboy said:

No, Bulls have defo be favoured.

Looking the other way whilst the club owner becomes RFL boss, whistling up to the sky whilst he "divests" himself of his shares, ignoring the truly shambles of a stadium and pretending it meets standards.

There's the point though - Bulls may well have done enough on and off the field as business, over the last few years to deserve a place in SL...but no-one cares because of the suspicion, smoke and mirrors surrounding the club.

They aren't trusted.

 No one can seriously trust a process whereby an ‘independent’ panel has on it a former Bradford CEO who served in that position for 3 years and was a Bradford player before then.  
 

As for the ‘4792 against Toulouse with no away fans’ stance, Bradford also had 1606 against Sheffield earlier this season at Odsal (with some away fans). I’ve no doubt crowds would increase at Odsal if Bradford are selected for SL26 though. 
 

No throthing at the mouth here. Just facts. 

[dboy]

3 hours ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

If I was a Bradford fan I think I'd find it highly amusing that we live rent free in so many peoples heads.

It's not rent-free; I'm keeping tally in my head and I'm determined they will pay!!!

Mwahahahahahahaha!

[Taffy Tiger]

8 hours ago, Expatknight said:

What world do you live in?

The league table finishes at the end of the regular season , hence the awarding of the League leaders shield, there is a clue in the name there, the play offs are a totally different matter conjured up to make some more money by extending the season for the top six teams it is knock out rugby and does not determine who is top of the league.

still I suppose it gives you something to cling on to until you get back from Toulouse.

But it does determine who finishes where . The team winning the GF gets number 1 position for IMG purposes , not the LLS winner . It is true that the LLS winner is given recognition for their achievements , but they could still finish as low as 3rd officially , and for the purpose of grading . Whether that's right or wrong is another topic of debate , but as things stand that's not the case . GF Winner will be number 1 team this season . Apart from LLS Winner the regular season is used to determine who plays who (and where) in the play-offs .

[Blind side johnny]

7 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Has there ever been any talk of a completely new stadium being built in Bradford by the council, to be shared with the football? You'd think a city the size of Bradford could have a much nicer, up to date stadium than either Odsal or Valley Parade.

If Hull council can find the funds to do it in a city half the size then surely Bradford can? If I remember rightly, Hull council sold off shares in Kingston Communications and got a regeneration grant from the government, as well as financing a large portion of it themselves.

Surely a city the size of Bradford could get some money from the government and Sport England, or even some private investors, to build even just a 20,000 seater stadium?

No, no this has never been discussed on this forum. What a great idea.

[Blind side johnny]

7 hours ago, paulwalker71 said:

I believe that Stock Cars have a contract until 2041. So there would be a considerable financial penalty for the Bulls in "getting rid of stock cars," as numerous people on here repeatedly say. As if you can just click your fingers and make it happen!

It shouldn't be forgotten that the Bulls were playing at Dewsbury before Stock Cars returned, making it financially viable for rugby to return to Odsal.

People glibly saying "they" should "get rid of the stock cars" have no idea what they are talking about. I think it's almost certainly financially unviable unless a Derek Beaumont or Ken Davy stylr moneyman rocks up (and that's never happened in Bradford, despite numerous "financial events" in recent years when they could have picked up the club for a song!

You and your facts, just spoiling everything again.

[Blind side johnny]

6 hours ago, Spotty Herbert said:

Bradford Council is bankrupt. Its sold off most of its assets in the last couple of years just to pay for its child social care liabilities. And the cost of being city of culture.

They are not bankrupt. However, they certainly wouldn't spend money on Odsal.

[Blind side johnny]

6 hours ago, gingerjon said:

You either have minimum standards, or you don't.

RL is mostly now deciding, as it always does under Wood, that it doesn't.

Is it? Where has this been demonstrated?

[LeytherRob]

This randomly popped up on my YouTube algorithm and quite surreal listening to an American channel discussing the history of Odsal, it's actually a pretty well researched video 

[The Blues Ox]

3 hours ago, Bulls2487 said:

 

We got 4792 against Toulouse with next to no away fans.

To be fair Bradford nearly got that against Fax a couple of seasons ago with less than 2000 people in the ground.......

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, LeytherRob said:

This randomly popped up on my YouTube algorithm and quite surreal listening to an American channel discussing the history of Odsal, it's actually a pretty well researched video 

I put that up a couple of weeks ago on one of the many Odsal threads we have - it's a decent channel. 

[Whippet13]

On 24/09/2025 at 21:41, Pulga said:

As an Aussie that only sees it through photos and video, to me it looks like a former Soviet national stadium that has fallen into disrepair.

To think that top flight rugby league could be played there is a joke.

How does PNG have a better stadium?

 

Because the Australian and Chinese governments are battling each other for control of its considerable untapped natural resources.

[Whippet13]

7 hours ago, hindle xiii said:

The refs whistle wouldn't be loud enough, that is the only reason I can think of.

Simple fix, electronic whistle connected to a flashing light on the refs head.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

12 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

youre not thinking this through- while the video ref is making his decision the crowd could watch a few laps of speedway or stock car racing without getting bored

Even better idea: send a couple of stock cars out driven by the mascots of each team whenever a video referee decision is being made. One car is green for "Try" and other red for "No Try".

No more inconclusive decisions!

[lucky 7]

23 hours ago, M j M said:

There's no denying Odsal is a mess and wouldn't meet lots of people's expectations for a modern stadium. 

However... to be factual all sides of the stadium gained their current incarnations in the past four decades, be it the work done for the 1985 World Speedway Championship or the later developments funded by the Bulls.

Unless they have expanded the pitch size, it doesn't even meet the minimum requirement for that does it?

[Ainley Top]

14 hours ago, Bulls2487 said:

The Bulls average attendances are between 3000-3500 outside SL

Around 1000 less than Huddersfield and Salford but outside SL and haven't appeared in a final/MPG for 10 years so not that successful

You would see an increase in Super League

We got 4792 against Toulouse with next to no away fans.

Utter claptrap and you know it. Are you related to Diane Abbott by any chance?

[Wolford6]

22 hours ago, AgbriggAmbler said:

Don't know what the 'home' terracing is like, but the section behind the sticks where I stood last year is in shocking condition...has it been renovated since?

Nothing drastic. Not like when Trinity had a tap put into the Gents toilet.

[Bulls2487]

48 minutes ago, Ainley Top said:

Utter claptrap and you know it. Are you related to Diane Abbott by any chance?

Prove me wrong then?

[dboy]

1 hour ago, Wolford6 said:

Nothing drastic. Not like when Trinity had a tap put into the Gents toilet.

When "whataboutery" is your best defence, you know you are screwed.

If the Bulls and their fans simply accepted that Odsal is not fit for SL, with the club making a statement that they were committed to making the necessary improvements, they'd get a much easier ride from the rest of the RL world.

Pretending that Odsal is anything but a shambles just makes you all look idiotic.

[Bulls2487]

3 hours ago, lucky 7 said:

Unless they have expanded the pitch size, it doesn't even meet the minimum requirement for that does it?

It meets the minimum requirements. 

[Ethereal]

2 hours ago, lucky 7 said:

Unless they have expanded the pitch size, it doesn't even meet the minimum requirement for that does it?

Pre-2021 the official pitch width was 52m (88m long). Although York did make a bit of a stir by measuring it and finding it was only 50.8m wide (playing there under special rfl dispensation).

 

Then pitch expansion works were done to expand the pitch so the new official measurements of 55m, 88m, with 6m in goal areas. Precisely meeting the official minimum requirements for the rfl.