In this, the last home match of the 2008-2009 season, City beat Rotherham 3-0.
In the final part of our Odsal odyssey we chart the departure of the Bulls from Valley Parade and the proposed Odsal Sporting Village. Ground sharing between Bradford’s two professional sporting clubs is back on the agenda, but despite the grand plans for Odsal, it’s debateable where the shared ground will be.
With the collapse of the Tesco development at Odsal in 2002 the council came under increasing pressure to fund a return of the Bradford Bulls to Odsal. Though the Bulls had received £1.2m from the council to compensate them for their two year sojourn at Valley Parade, they also wanted the council to foot the bill to bring Odsal up to standard. Bulls chairman Chris Caisley even threatened to take the Bulls out of Bradford. In truth it was probably a bluff to increase the pressure on the Council as they assed the options. The council revealed that repairs and improvements to Odsal would cost at least £660,000 just to bring the ground back up to the basic health and safety standards.
Chris Caisley claimed the Council was only prepared to do 'the bare minimum' for the club over the next decade-and-a-half: "That means spending a minimum amount on health and safety grounds. It will mean that after two years, capacity will drop from 25,000 to 14,000 and that in the interim period, there will be no bars and hospitality facilities open to the public. It doesn't seem to be a stadium for the World Club Champions, does it?
"It seems to me that over a number of years, and certainly throughout my involvement in the club, the Council has abrogated that responsibility to the point where it's allowed the stadium to rot, to become an eyesore in due course and, if their present plans are to be believed, to make it very difficult to sustain a business within that stadium."
Councillor Simon Cooke, Deputy Leader of Bradford Council commented: "We're obviously in a situation that none of us, not the Bulls, not the developers nor the Council or indeed the people of Bradford, wanted to be in and we have now got to work for a long-term solution. In the short-term, however, we have a requirement, and Chris has made it absolutely clear on a number of occasions that he wants to go back to play at Odsal, and I understand why he wants to do this, and why Bull fans want to do that. What we are doing as a Council is the bare minimum at this point necessary to enable him to get back and play next season.”
The shenanigans put even greater momentum behind the supporters campaign to return the Bulls to Odsal. The council eventually bowed to public pressure and in August 2002 announced details of the agreement that was to take the Bulls home. The council agreed to pay the Bulls £4.64m over two years. The deal attracted intense criticism from sections of the public, but the council said the deal would be paid for by the sale of land and properties owned by the council, as well as some borrowing. A 150-year lease was signed at a peppercorn rate, reputedly £1 per year. The council also spent £660,000 on health & safety work to bring Odsal up to standard for the 2003 Super League season.
The Main Stand was refurbished, with nearly 5,000 new seats and roof. New floodlights completed the refurbishment and all was ready for the triumphant return on 9 March 2003 when the Bulls met Wakefield Trinity. The improvements didn’t stop there. A two-storey corporate hospitality facility was later constructed on the site of the speedway pits at the Low Moor end of the ground.
The cost to the local taxpayer for the collapse of the Tesco development was immense. The Bradford Bulls received just short of £6m of public money between 2000-03. Another £1m was spent on a combination of bringing Odsal back up to scratch to facilitate the Bulls return and consultancy fees.
In 2004, when Bradford City was on the brink of closure, council leader Margaret Eaton told City fans that the council was unable to help out as City was ‘a private business’. Today in 2009 the council have set aside £15m of public money to help develop the Odsal Sporting Village. If the Sporting Village goes ahead it would mean that since 2000 £23m of public money will have been spent on Odsal related matters.
The council seem determined to press ahead with a development that has, at its heart, a brand new stadium for the Bradford Bulls. Yet reports suggest that Valley Parade – a virtually brand new 25,000 capacity all-seater stadium – is for sale for around £2.5m.
Saturday 25 April 2009
Monday 13 April 2009
Lincoln City
This match resulted in a 1-1 draw.
We continue our Odsal odyssey with the National Superdome and the Tesco developments. As ever the ‘Wembley of the North’ was to prove elusive.
In the mid-1990s the Government invited applications for a new national stadium to replace the aging Wembley. Former Bradford City director John Garside fronted a bid to make Odsal the National Stadium. In April 1995 £200m plans for an 80,000 all-seater ‘Superdome’, covered by a sliding roof, was unveiled to a sceptical public. Deadline after deadline passed without any progress. Eventually Odsal failed to make the national shortlist, and despite assertions that the project would go ahead regardless, it inevitably fizzled out.
One casualty of the Superdome was the Bradford Dukes speedway team. The reigning British Champions, they were forced to vacate Odsal in 1997 to facilitate preparatory works. The Dukes had a lease that was renewed yearly by the Council, the lease was suspended with the expectation that the Dukes would return once the Superdome was built. However, they were never offered the opportunity to return to Odsal even after the Superdome scheme officially died on 31 December 1998.
Allan Ham, team manager of Bradford Dukes, appealed to the Council to come up with possible sites for a track in a bid to re-launch the club. Ultimately, he was unable to find a base anywhere in West Yorkshire. Devastated fans wrote to Bradford Council to protest. Craig Asquith of Netherlands Avenue, confined to a wheelchair since his speedway bike went out of control and crashed into fencing at Odsal Stadium, said: "I believe a way must be found to save speedway in Bradford. Odsal was one of the best tracks in the world and it was lost all because of a development which didn't go ahead."
Leeds based Sterling Capital emerged in December 1999 as the new developers for Odsal. The redevelopment was to comprise of a 26,000-seater stadium, 28,000 parking places, a Tesco supermarket and multiplex cinema. On 23 August 2000, the Telegraph and Argus revealed: “Bradford Council has agreed, behind closed doors, to contribute £110,000 to a study of the [Odsal] site”. The editorial wondered what the point was of yet another site study?
In November 2000, a tripartite agreement was signed between the Council, Sterling Capital and the Bulls. £1.2m was paid to the Bulls to facilitate their two year move to Valley Parade. Councillor Barry Thorne said: "We have no objections to them receiving these payments. What we do not want is for this to come out of the limited leisure budget, which is already having to make cuts." Bulls chairman Chris Caisley said any figures were part of a confidential contract between himself and Bradford Council. However, it would not remain confidential for long. In August 2001 Keighley Cougars, who were fighting to stay afloat amid huge financial problems, complained that the Bulls were being given preferential treatment. Chris Caisley blasted: "It is uninformed rubbish and I wish that people would get their facts right before making such statements. The truth is that we have actually saved the Council money by moving to Valley Parade because they would have had to spend millions on making Odsal safe for us to stay there this season. Our current arrangement with the Council dates back to the re-development of Odsal for the 1986 World Speedway Championship.
"Under that agreement we gave up revenues from the bars, car parks and other events within the stadium. In return we have been compensated for that loss and that deal still forms the basis of our current financial arrangement. We have not received any extra monies above and beyond what we were entitled to under that arrangement."
The Cougars had meetings with the Council asking for financial assistance to get them through a ‘difficult period’ but they were informed that it was not possible. Cougars chairman Bob Chapman said: "We do not begrudge the Bulls the money they have received from the Council but it would have been nice if we had received a small percentage of that."
The Bulls temporary move to Valley Parade divided the Bulls fans, one said: "You can get 24,000 in and get a lot of noise. A lot better than Odsal." Others disagreed: "I don't like Valley Parade. I've always been a Bulls and Park Avenue supporter, but never City." Though the Bulls were to remain unbeaten in the Super League at Valley Parade, the fans began to hanker for a return to their spiritual home.
Bradford Council's regulatory committee eventually gave its backing to the Odsal scheme. The final hurdle was the approval of Steven Byers - the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions. The £60m scheme was reliant on the retail development, but with Government policy against further out-of-town developments in February 2002 it was announced that the scheme would be subject to a public inquiry.
The decision to hold an inquiry caused the scheme to collapse. BBC North Sport reporter Tanya Arnold explained: "It's the fact that it's had to go to a full planning inquiry - a long and costly affair. What they say is that it is additional costs, timescale, delays and uncertainties created by this that have meant they, and the co-developers Tesco, have decided not to proceed. They just don't want to go into that inquiry which I've heard could cost up to £1million."
The announcement put the future of Odsal Stadium in jeopardy, with Bradford Council's Chief Executive, Ian Stewart, describing the plans as 'dead in the water'. A question mark even hung over the Bradford Bulls themselves. Since the start of the 2001 season, they had been playing home games at Valley Parade. But with the Bantams in administration, and the football club up for sale, the future of that arrangement looked uncertain.
Dave Hatfield, Rugby League correspondent for The Independent, said it was unclear what effect the developments could have on the team: "They're going to have to work out where they're going to play rugby. I know that their contract with Bradford City was only for this season. They don't even know who they have to negotiate with, so that's all up in the air. As for returning to a patched-up Odsal, it's an unattractive proposition."
As we will see in the final part, that ‘unattractive proposition’ became a reality.
We continue our Odsal odyssey with the National Superdome and the Tesco developments. As ever the ‘Wembley of the North’ was to prove elusive.
In the mid-1990s the Government invited applications for a new national stadium to replace the aging Wembley. Former Bradford City director John Garside fronted a bid to make Odsal the National Stadium. In April 1995 £200m plans for an 80,000 all-seater ‘Superdome’, covered by a sliding roof, was unveiled to a sceptical public. Deadline after deadline passed without any progress. Eventually Odsal failed to make the national shortlist, and despite assertions that the project would go ahead regardless, it inevitably fizzled out.
One casualty of the Superdome was the Bradford Dukes speedway team. The reigning British Champions, they were forced to vacate Odsal in 1997 to facilitate preparatory works. The Dukes had a lease that was renewed yearly by the Council, the lease was suspended with the expectation that the Dukes would return once the Superdome was built. However, they were never offered the opportunity to return to Odsal even after the Superdome scheme officially died on 31 December 1998.
Allan Ham, team manager of Bradford Dukes, appealed to the Council to come up with possible sites for a track in a bid to re-launch the club. Ultimately, he was unable to find a base anywhere in West Yorkshire. Devastated fans wrote to Bradford Council to protest. Craig Asquith of Netherlands Avenue, confined to a wheelchair since his speedway bike went out of control and crashed into fencing at Odsal Stadium, said: "I believe a way must be found to save speedway in Bradford. Odsal was one of the best tracks in the world and it was lost all because of a development which didn't go ahead."
Leeds based Sterling Capital emerged in December 1999 as the new developers for Odsal. The redevelopment was to comprise of a 26,000-seater stadium, 28,000 parking places, a Tesco supermarket and multiplex cinema. On 23 August 2000, the Telegraph and Argus revealed: “Bradford Council has agreed, behind closed doors, to contribute £110,000 to a study of the [Odsal] site”. The editorial wondered what the point was of yet another site study?
In November 2000, a tripartite agreement was signed between the Council, Sterling Capital and the Bulls. £1.2m was paid to the Bulls to facilitate their two year move to Valley Parade. Councillor Barry Thorne said: "We have no objections to them receiving these payments. What we do not want is for this to come out of the limited leisure budget, which is already having to make cuts." Bulls chairman Chris Caisley said any figures were part of a confidential contract between himself and Bradford Council. However, it would not remain confidential for long. In August 2001 Keighley Cougars, who were fighting to stay afloat amid huge financial problems, complained that the Bulls were being given preferential treatment. Chris Caisley blasted: "It is uninformed rubbish and I wish that people would get their facts right before making such statements. The truth is that we have actually saved the Council money by moving to Valley Parade because they would have had to spend millions on making Odsal safe for us to stay there this season. Our current arrangement with the Council dates back to the re-development of Odsal for the 1986 World Speedway Championship.
"Under that agreement we gave up revenues from the bars, car parks and other events within the stadium. In return we have been compensated for that loss and that deal still forms the basis of our current financial arrangement. We have not received any extra monies above and beyond what we were entitled to under that arrangement."
The Cougars had meetings with the Council asking for financial assistance to get them through a ‘difficult period’ but they were informed that it was not possible. Cougars chairman Bob Chapman said: "We do not begrudge the Bulls the money they have received from the Council but it would have been nice if we had received a small percentage of that."
The Bulls temporary move to Valley Parade divided the Bulls fans, one said: "You can get 24,000 in and get a lot of noise. A lot better than Odsal." Others disagreed: "I don't like Valley Parade. I've always been a Bulls and Park Avenue supporter, but never City." Though the Bulls were to remain unbeaten in the Super League at Valley Parade, the fans began to hanker for a return to their spiritual home.
Bradford Council's regulatory committee eventually gave its backing to the Odsal scheme. The final hurdle was the approval of Steven Byers - the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions. The £60m scheme was reliant on the retail development, but with Government policy against further out-of-town developments in February 2002 it was announced that the scheme would be subject to a public inquiry.
The decision to hold an inquiry caused the scheme to collapse. BBC North Sport reporter Tanya Arnold explained: "It's the fact that it's had to go to a full planning inquiry - a long and costly affair. What they say is that it is additional costs, timescale, delays and uncertainties created by this that have meant they, and the co-developers Tesco, have decided not to proceed. They just don't want to go into that inquiry which I've heard could cost up to £1million."
The announcement put the future of Odsal Stadium in jeopardy, with Bradford Council's Chief Executive, Ian Stewart, describing the plans as 'dead in the water'. A question mark even hung over the Bradford Bulls themselves. Since the start of the 2001 season, they had been playing home games at Valley Parade. But with the Bantams in administration, and the football club up for sale, the future of that arrangement looked uncertain.
Dave Hatfield, Rugby League correspondent for The Independent, said it was unclear what effect the developments could have on the team: "They're going to have to work out where they're going to play rugby. I know that their contract with Bradford City was only for this season. They don't even know who they have to negotiate with, so that's all up in the air. As for returning to a patched-up Odsal, it's an unattractive proposition."
As we will see in the final part, that ‘unattractive proposition’ became a reality.
Saturday 4 April 2009
Brentford
A late goal by Peter Thorne earned City a 1-1 draw.
We continue our look at the public investment into Odsal Stadium by moving into the 1980s. The era of the World Speedway Final and, of course, our own term at the ground.
The 1985 World Speedway Final seemed to offer the opportunity at long last to develop Odsal’s undoubted potential. On 15 May 1984 the Telegraph & Argus reported that Odsal was set to become Britain’s national speedway home, a £1.5m transformation (financed in part by a substantial EU grant) would increase the capacity from 25,000 to 40,000 in time for the 1985 World Individual Final.
The 50-year-old Main Stand was to be demolished and replaced by open concrete terracing. Under the terracing new dressing rooms were to be built. The North Stand was to be refurbished, giving it a new roof and a 6,000 capacity. The rugby pitch was to be moved slightly to accommodate a newly laid speedway track. Crush barriers were replaced on the Rooley Avenue end. It was the most comprehensive refurbishment of the stadium for decades.
After years of prevarication, the council seemed to have finally grasped the Odsal nettle. The council took over day-to-day running of the stadium from Northern, whose staff transferred to the council’s payroll. Liaison with stock cars, and the all-important speedway, passed to the council.
Arguably, Odsal’s proudest day since the staging of the famous Challenge Cup Final in 1954, came on 31 August 1985 when 37,000 fans enjoyed the new, albeit basic, facilities, to witness the World Speedway 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.
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 thoughts of City fans were expressed by former City Gent editor John Dewhirst, writing in When Saturday Comes.
“Our first season away from Valley Parade was one of despair. The local authority appeared reluctant to assist in the redevelopment of our home ground, and it seemed that we might have to watch our football at the inhospitable Odsal stadium.
“Followers of the Bantams were active in petitioning for the return to Valley Parade. The initial hesitation of local government to provide money alienated people who pointed to the fact that enormous amounts of money had been spent on restoring a Bradford theatre. Correspondence to the local press included the usual sermons from the law and order brigade, demanding why public money should be used to assist a private limited company.”
Of course, City eventually returned to a rebuilt Valley Parade, made possible by a grant from West Yorkshire County Council. Back at Odsal Bradford Council seemed determined to press ahead with improvements. Between 1986-90 £3.5m was spent and in 1990 the World Speedway Final returned. 26,418 saw the final, some ten thousand lower than the 1985 final. Steep prices rises were blamed with fans having to pay £35 for a seat and £17.50 on the terraces. Without doubt it priced out many locals who may have been attracted to watch the novelty of a World Final on their doorsteps.
The council signed a new agreement regarding the running of Odsal in 1986. As former Northern chairman Chris Caisley explained the rugby club would received annual payments as compensation: "We gave up revenues from the bars, car parks and other events within the stadium. In return we have been compensated for that loss”.
The agreement was due to run to 2019. There’s no doubt that it was an excellent deal for Northern as by 2001 the annual payment they received from the council had grown to £337,000. In time the council were to rue signing the deal, it placed Northern in a very strong bargaining position and it caused huge resentment from Bradford City and the Keighley Cougars who received nothing like that kind of support from the public purse.
In truth City’s decision to return to Valley Parade had undermined any chance of the Odsal development reaching its potential. With Valley Parade rebuilt as a modern stadium the likelihood now was the Northern would come the other way and Odsal abandoned. However, with so much public money invested in Odsal, the council obviously wouldn’t want to be linked to such a spectacular failure. The political impact would have been enormous. So, they were forced to plough on. In the Lincoln programme we will relive the Superdome, the death of the Bradford Dukes and the Bulls at Valley Parade.
We continue our look at the public investment into Odsal Stadium by moving into the 1980s. The era of the World Speedway Final and, of course, our own term at the ground.
The 1985 World Speedway Final seemed to offer the opportunity at long last to develop Odsal’s undoubted potential. On 15 May 1984 the Telegraph & Argus reported that Odsal was set to become Britain’s national speedway home, a £1.5m transformation (financed in part by a substantial EU grant) would increase the capacity from 25,000 to 40,000 in time for the 1985 World Individual Final.
The 50-year-old Main Stand was to be demolished and replaced by open concrete terracing. Under the terracing new dressing rooms were to be built. The North Stand was to be refurbished, giving it a new roof and a 6,000 capacity. The rugby pitch was to be moved slightly to accommodate a newly laid speedway track. Crush barriers were replaced on the Rooley Avenue end. It was the most comprehensive refurbishment of the stadium for decades.
After years of prevarication, the council seemed to have finally grasped the Odsal nettle. The council took over day-to-day running of the stadium from Northern, whose staff transferred to the council’s payroll. Liaison with stock cars, and the all-important speedway, passed to the council.
Arguably, Odsal’s proudest day since the staging of the famous Challenge Cup Final in 1954, came on 31 August 1985 when 37,000 fans enjoyed the new, albeit basic, facilities, to witness the World Speedway 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.
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 thoughts of City fans were expressed by former City Gent editor John Dewhirst, writing in When Saturday Comes.
“Our first season away from Valley Parade was one of despair. The local authority appeared reluctant to assist in the redevelopment of our home ground, and it seemed that we might have to watch our football at the inhospitable Odsal stadium.
“Followers of the Bantams were active in petitioning for the return to Valley Parade. The initial hesitation of local government to provide money alienated people who pointed to the fact that enormous amounts of money had been spent on restoring a Bradford theatre. Correspondence to the local press included the usual sermons from the law and order brigade, demanding why public money should be used to assist a private limited company.”
Of course, City eventually returned to a rebuilt Valley Parade, made possible by a grant from West Yorkshire County Council. Back at Odsal Bradford Council seemed determined to press ahead with improvements. Between 1986-90 £3.5m was spent and in 1990 the World Speedway Final returned. 26,418 saw the final, some ten thousand lower than the 1985 final. Steep prices rises were blamed with fans having to pay £35 for a seat and £17.50 on the terraces. Without doubt it priced out many locals who may have been attracted to watch the novelty of a World Final on their doorsteps.
The council signed a new agreement regarding the running of Odsal in 1986. As former Northern chairman Chris Caisley explained the rugby club would received annual payments as compensation: "We gave up revenues from the bars, car parks and other events within the stadium. In return we have been compensated for that loss”.
The agreement was due to run to 2019. There’s no doubt that it was an excellent deal for Northern as by 2001 the annual payment they received from the council had grown to £337,000. In time the council were to rue signing the deal, it placed Northern in a very strong bargaining position and it caused huge resentment from Bradford City and the Keighley Cougars who received nothing like that kind of support from the public purse.
In truth City’s decision to return to Valley Parade had undermined any chance of the Odsal development reaching its potential. With Valley Parade rebuilt as a modern stadium the likelihood now was the Northern would come the other way and Odsal abandoned. However, with so much public money invested in Odsal, the council obviously wouldn’t want to be linked to such a spectacular failure. The political impact would have been enormous. So, they were forced to plough on. In the Lincoln programme we will relive the Superdome, the death of the Bradford Dukes and the Bulls at Valley Parade.
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