Aldershot

City went on to win this game 5-0.

The decision by the Council to put £15m into the Odsal Sporting Village will undoubtedly reignite the debate as to whether City should leave Valley Parade and share the huge stadium in south Bradford.
In later programme notes I will chart the history of Odsal, and the huge public investment that has been made in the stadium over the last 75 years, but for now we’ll look at City’s involvement thus far.
Ever since Odsal Stadium was developed in the 1930s, City have been linked with moves there on numerous occasions. Odsal was the central plank of a 1937 proposed merger between City and Avenue, the brainchild of Avenue chairman Stanley Waddilove, the new club was to be housed at a ‘continental style’ stadium at Odsal. The City board rejected the proposal on the grounds that one transfer could solve their financial problems. Additionally, City had recently purchased the freehold to Valley Parade and had undertaken ground improvements. Less understandable was the attitude of the Northern board, who opposed the plan on the grounds that they didn’t want a shared tenancy. One can only assume that the reality of maintaining, let alone developing, the huge stadium hadn’t at that time become apparent to the Northern board.
Twenty-four years later, Council Engineer Ernest Wardley drew up a plan in September 1951 for a 92,000 capacity ‘European’ style stadium, at a cost of £250,000. In the event £50,000 was spent on terracing the Rooley Avenue end in 1964, before the Wardley plan was officially dropped the following year. Arguably, the Wardley plan was the biggest missed opportunity of Bradford’s sporting history. From almost that moment, any hope of a cohesive plan for developing a shared City of Bradford stadium was gone.
But still the dreams of a ‘Wembley of the North’ persisted. Two decades on the Council convened talks with Northern, City and Avenue. On 21 October 1971 the Telegraph & Argus pondered ‘could Odsal be developed as a new multi-sport complex, catering for both soccer and rugby league?’ Alderman Newby, the instigator of the talks, said the likely £1m cost “would have to come from somewhere else, such as bringing in a development company”.
On 12 December 1972, a developer stepped forward, but rather than a shared arena, their plans envisaged Northern vacating their traditional home. The Telegraph & Argus reported ‘A £4m scheme for Odsal is being discussed between Bradford Corporation and a London company. Under the scheme there would be no place for Bradford Northern and rugby league at the stadium’.
Hackney and Hendon Greyhounds Plc proposed a 22,000 all-seater stadium, swimming pool, cinema and ancillary sports facilities. A condition of the scheme would be a new home for Northern at Park Avenue. The company was prepared to invest £3m, provided the Council contributed £1m.
Not surprisingly the scheme attracted huge controversy, which was fuelled further when City chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, discussed on YTVs ‘Calendar’ programme the possibility of City moving to Odsal.
On 2 January 1973, Alderman John Senior said the Council were not prepared to accept the scheme, unless the terms were improved. However, he was confident that Odsal “isn’t going to stop a hole in the ground forever”. By April the deal had collapsed, negotiations broke down when Hackney & Hendon Greyhounds wanted the Council to pay £3m towards the development.
In the early 1980s Odsal was refurbished in order to stage the World Speedway Final of 1985. On 31 August of that year 37,000 fans enjoyed the new, albeit basic, facilities, to witness a thrilling Final.
Of course, a few months earlier Valley Parade had been devastated by the terrible fire that caused the deaths of 56 fans. Although City played a handful of games at Leeds Road, Huddersfield and Elland Road, Leeds, Odsal was the obvious venue for the Bantams whilst the future of Valley Parade was decided. On 23 September 1985, a Football League delegation visited Odsal to view the stadium in order to pass it fit to host City’s home games. Segregation fences were erected on the old Main Stand side and 1,000 uncovered seats were bolted onto the terracing – it was planned to install 7,000 in the future.
Odsal’s first professional football match came on Tuesday 8 October, when Brighton were the visitors in a League Cup second round tie. It was hardly an auspicious start, the game was played in a torrential downpour and City lost 0-2 in front of 5,368 spectators.
Fans of both City and Northern viewed City’s Odsal sojourn gloomily. The latter felt put out by the erection of segregation fences at ‘their’ ground, whilst the former were busy lobbying hard for a return to Valley Parade and the construction of a stadium as a fitting reminder to the 56 fans who had died in the fire.
The Council initially didn’t hide its desire to see City move permanently to Odsal. The momentum seemed to be with Odsal, perhaps sensing that this was the big chance to finally realise the ‘Wembley of the North’ dream, plans of a £15m development were unveiled on 5 November 1985. The master plan was for two new 14,000 capacity cantilever stands, terracing behind each end and a 61,000 capacity by 1990. It was envisaged that Rugby League Challenge Cup Finals and FA Cup semi-finals would be staged at the new stadium.
Meanwhile a further £1m was spent to conform with new safety standards – bringing the total spent on Odsal to £3.5m. New boundary walls, turnstiles, exit gates, a bus lay-by in Rooley Avenue and access road were added.
But it wasn’t to be, the emotional draw of Valley Parade was too strong and in December 1986 City returned to a rebuilt ground. Given the subsequent developments at Valley Parade, the spectre of City at Odsal has receded for at least another generation.