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.