This week has been a quiet week due to the Challenge cup weekend in which the final is between Leeds Rhinos and the Castleford Tigers, an all Yorkshire final and may the best team win.
Myself and Tom have had the privilege to go to Odsal this week, and meet with Ryan Sparks ( Media executive ) and Karl Pratt and visit a local community club, Dudley Hill ARLFC It was a great insight into the club and having a peek around our club shop and into the ticket office was great! From our perspective, the club is saying and doing all the right things and working very hard to bring the fans a team and club to be even more proud of than we already are.
We have all now been told that James Donaldson is now to become a Hull KR player of next season. This is a loss granted but, to be fair as said in the last blog we will lose players. Salary caps don't make it possible for us to keep hold of all players and careers are short.
Although some may feel Donno owes the club for sticking by him when he had his injuries, he also stuck by the club when we nearly folded but, that is just our opinion.
In better news, Adam Henry has signed a new 1 year deal with the club! At only 24 years of age, Adam can build on becoming an even better player than he currently is. The squad is now looking great and taking shape daily!
What we want to know is who is next? We have had so many new signings that, it could be anyone and we are very much excited to find out just like all other bulls fans are.
Do you buy a Golden Gamble ticket? Well come see Jay on Sunday who will be selling the tickets. At only £1 a ticket you could win a great cash prize!
Talking of cash prizes, have you signed up to the Big One lottery? £1 a week can put you into the lottery in which you could win cash prizes daily and be entered in the annual draw to win £5000. Please Click Here to sign up as, if you ain't in it, you can't win it. The first draw will take place this weekend and the first 5 winners announced at half time during the game between Hull FC.
Will you be supporting the lads on Sunday? We are at home against Hull FC and would like to see as many people as possible cheering on the lads. We will be there so, come say hello and you may feature in our next blog. Kick off is at 3pm.
Just today we have had a tweet regarding where fans live. Andy Wright tweeted us, I was born raised in Bradford now live in Cheshire, any other bulls fans in similar predicament?
Let's find out where our fans are now situated as we have an expansive fan base and would be interesting who is furthest away. Tweet us or comment on our Facebook group and we will reveal who is furthest in our next blog.
Spotlight Section.
This week we have chosen to do a spotlight feature on Dudley Hill ARLFC.
As part of community links we feel that using local clubs as a feature helps spread the word about grass roots rugby league. This week we took a trip with Karl Pratt to Dudley Hill ARLFC and had a chat and looked around the ground.
Here is the history of the club taken from their website ( with permission )
Established just after the First World War, Dudley Hill has a very long, proud and illustrious history. The team originally played from the old Bierley estate led by Rugby League legend Stanley Brogden. After his top class career with Leeds, Yorkshire and Great Britain as a quality stand-off, Stanley wanted to put something back into the grassroots of Rugby League.
The club was disbanded prior to the Second World War. It was due to Les Brady and Vincent Heslop that the Club was reformed in 1948. Les Brady was running the very successful Bierley under eighteen team at the time.
Mick Oldfield became the first Dudley Hill player to play for Yorkshire in the post-war period, Vinnie Heslop was the first player to progress to Bradford Northern and Richard Rudd the first international player.
During the next few decades, a host of players followed Vinnie and Mick, some into professional ranks and some playing representative amateur honours for Bradford, Yorkshire and Great Britain.
The formation of the British Amateur League Association (B.A.R.L.A) in 1973 was to be the catalyst for the Hill to move forward. In that season Dudley Hill finished the old Bradford League at the bottom. As result, when the Regional Leagues were established, Dudley Hill were placed in the new Pennine League 3rd Division. The Club worked tirelessly to progress in successive years from the 3rd to the 1st division before finally reaching the Premier Division.
The 1973 season saw Dudley Hill start their long climb to the very pinnacle of the amateur game. Even with the improved results and a stronger team, it was not until 1979 that Dudley Hill won their first winner's Trophy. The Bradford League Seven-a-side Competition. Hill's ambition was realised in 1987 when Hill gained membership of the 12-team inaugural National Conference League.
A major tragedy affected the development of the club. It has to be said that this tragedy kick-started the club and inspired key members to accelerate development in the memory of Neil Hunt. December 1976 was the month and year that Neil Hunt was to lose his life as a result of an accident on the field of play. Neil suffered a broken neck in a one-on-one tackle, a freak accident that we hope we have never to experience again. Neil was 16 years old and was making his way in what was becoming a very promising career that was tragically terminated.
September 1st, 1979 was the year Dudley Hill moved to the new Neil Hunt Memorial the ground was dedicated to the memory of Neil by St Johns Church Vicar, the Reverend Mr. J Fry.
In December 2001, it was re-dedicated in a ceremony to remember Neil Hunt 25 years on. Along the way from 1979 until 1992 Dudley Hill won every trophy available to them at local, Regional and National Level. During the period 1984 to 1992 they were at the very pinnacle of the amateur game
In December 2001 Dudley Hill are to celebrate the last 25 years of the clubs history, in that time the club has seen major success both on and off the field. On the field the club has achieved success in all the games major competitions, pride of place goes indeed to the successful years around the 1980's when the Hill were to win very trophy available to them in a purple period for the club from 1984 until 1986 wining the BARLA National Cup, BARLA Yorkshire Cup, BARLA National Sevens, Pennine League Premier Division, Pennine Cup, Bradford Cup 3 times running as well as numerous Sevens titles.
1997 saw the Hill be instrumental in establishing the New National Conference League along with the inaugural other 11 teams that made up the very first league. In 1990 Dudley Hill won the National League title under the Coaching of Peter Roe and Kelvin Lockett.
In 1991 Dudley Hill under the coaching of Kelvin Lockett also finished up very credible runners-up in the BARLA National Cup final in Salford.
A tragic car accident followed at the start of the following season when several members of the first team squad were involved in a serious accident on the way to a social event in Whitley Bay which resulted in two of the stars of the 1991 Cup Final runners up, Stuart Tighe and Paul Baxter were to receive serious injuries. Stuart Tighe, a current U21 International losing his leg.
The success of the Youth & Junior levels was the catalyst for the formation of a Youth & Junior development programme. The programme is the envy of all Yorkshire developing teams at every age group. 1987 saw the formation of a Women's team who were inaugural members of the fledgling first Women's League.
1993 saw the fulfillment of a dream for Dudley Hill with floodlights, new dressing rooms, and an extension and refurbishment of the clubhouse. This was made possible by an arts and sports council grant of £75,000.
The work was lead by Fred Berry who saw the dream through on time for the commencement of the 1993-94 season when the improvements were opened by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Bob Sowman.
Thirteen players are to be identified for inclusion in the Dudley Hill Hall of Fame, which will be announced during the 25-year celebration dinner to be held in December 2001. Andy Harland will lead the panel which will include life members of the Club including Roger Burnham, Bernard Dotchin, Monty Denton and club stalwart Ian Dickinson. I am sure it will be a very difficult task to choose just thirteen players from the last sixty odd years. It has been long overdue that we should honour the debt that we owe to the past players, committee members, coaches, and supporters of Dudley Hill ARLFC. The List was announced to a packed house at the Neil Hunt Memorial on Friday 21st December 2001.
We are a local community club who provide expert tuition in sport, specifically Rugby League Football, from ages 8 right though to open age at the highest possible amateur level.
The club became the first club in the country in 2002 to receive the RFL’s Club Mark Accreditation, which give us the title of Safe, Effective and Child friendly Club, in essence a quality club.
We have open age sides currently running all year round. Our main priority at the moment is the summer team, who are playing in the forth tier of the RFL’s National Competition. Three levels below the Engage Super League.
The LHF National League Three has now been running for three years, going into its forth this coming summer. In that time we have finished top of the tree as minor premiers on two occasions and in 2005 we also went to the LHF Grand final at Widnes Halton Stadium, where we beat Bramley Buffaloes to become Champions. We also came top off our group in the Northern Trains Cup where we progressed to playing against professional side Hull K.R the team that went on to win the cup.
Our winter open age team us currently playing in the Pennine League Division 1, and have been doing well in our local cups, becoming finalist’s in the Bradford Cup held at Odsal stadium in 03/04 season and we are hoping to go one better this time around. We also have the clubs under 18s playing in the flagship Halifax Home Insurance National Youth League which is one level below professional Academy leagues in 2007. In 2009 the senior team plays in the Fraser Eagle National Conference League Division 1 after gaining promotion in 2006/07 after returning to winter RL in 2006/07
In April 2009, Bradford Dudley Hill were awarded the Clubmark Gold accreditation by Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe at Odsal Stadium, Bradford.
On the 19th December 2009, Bradford Dudley will hold an event to celebrate the last 30 years at the Neil Hunt Memorial Ground, after leaving the De Lacy Public House in 1979, opening the new ground on the 1st September 1979.
Importance of the evening was to share with each other the great stories of coaches and characters the club has had over the last 30 years, these include the great Albert Fearnley, the certainly fearsome Tony Fisher and probably the most successful decade the club has ever had, was the 1984, 85, 86 sides, they set the bar they won the lot with, local regional and National titles, we had great internationals players like Mark Todd, Ray Priestley and Kev Whiteley and fantastic players like Albert Hannah, Bob Jowett, Barry Holden, Andy Meakin, Adrian Collett, a young Gary Brentley, and an even younger Phil Helliwell, many of whom gave great service to the club, others who chose to peruse a professional career with great success, we had Graham Hallas who went on to be our first Great Britain Professional tourist in 1992 and in the late 90s Henry Sharp and Mick Keebles, all of whom received quality coaching from the likes of Garth Budge, Mick Doyle (coach of the 84 team) and Peter Roe, who clinched the NCL title in the start of the new decade in 1990 before decimating the team, by taking most of the team and coaching staff with him when he took the job at Halifax.
Importance of the evening was to share with each other the great stories of coaches and characters the club has had over the last 30 years, these include the great Albert Fearnley, the certainly fearsome Tony Fisher and probably the most successful decade the club has ever had, was the 1984, 85, 86 sides, they set the bar they won the lot with, local regional and National titles, we had great internationals players like Mark Todd, Ray Priestley and Kev Whiteley and fantastic players like Albert Hannah, Bob Jowett, Barry Holden, Andy Meakin, Adrian Collett, a young Gary Brentley, and an even younger Phil Helliwell, many of whom gave great service to the club, others who chose to peruse a professional career with great success, we had Graham Hallas who went on to be our first Great Britain Professional tourist in 1992 and in the late 90s Henry Sharp and Mick Keebles, all of whom received quality coaching from the likes of Garth Budge, Mick Doyle (coach of the 84 team) and Peter Roe, who clinched the NCL title in the start of the new decade in 1990 before decimating the team, by taking most of the team and coaching staff with him when he took the job at Halifax.
Kelvin Locketts team rose from the ashes of the decimated side we lost in 1990, we were to made the National cup final at the end of 1992 to go down agonizingly to a dubious try, great players in this team included the long standing John Exley, (did he really play in the Pennine Cup final 1979 and played last summer in Australia for the touring Masters GB team) we had Stuart Tighe, sadly to lose his leg in a tragic accident, Richard Tiffany and Craig Hillam. There was also the great team that played and beat professional teams York and Keighley in the RL Challenge Cup, we had some really special players, but all was built on the hard core of the juniors we have developed at our club.
Announcement of the toast to the players/members, who dug the well that we all have drunk from for the last thirty years, we honoured the names of Frank Hodgson, Vinnie Heslop, Bernard Dotchin, Clifford Turnpenny, Rodger Burnham, Ronnie Dobson, Andy Harland, Fred Berry and Mark Tordoff in 2008. Ladies and Gentlemen the “The men who dug the Well” thank you
The legacy continued with a short excursion into the summer era, success in this laid the foundations of our side today, quality junior coaching from our own Kelvin Lockett, who I think has coached almost every player we have had at some time over the last 30 years, what an effort for our Chairman, our team now includes a very healthy sprinkling of former juniors like the three Dickinson brothers, the sublime Lewis Evans, Antony Huby and another try scoring freak Neil Wall, not forgetting the rich talents of former juniors, Craig Kcopzac, David Halley and Neil Cherryholme, mention of coaches in the 0's include Chris Robinson who came back and performed a great job as coach, Jason Hoyland who did a difficult job in 2008/09 but got us back on track.
As for the next decade most of it is in the hands for Kelvin, Jason Lee, Steve Pryce and Kevin Whiteley, and the terrific young junior players following in the footsteps of the giants of our clubs history, they need our support, guidance and encouragement to continue to drive the club forward, but they can not do it by themselves, it needs everybody to row in the same direction, strong leadership and a steady ship to continue this great memorial to a fantastic young player who is no longer with us.
As for the next decade most of it is in the hands for Kelvin, Jason Lee, Steve Pryce and Kevin Whiteley, and the terrific young junior players following in the footsteps of the giants of our clubs history, they need our support, guidance and encouragement to continue to drive the club forward, but they can not do it by themselves, it needs everybody to row in the same direction, strong leadership and a steady ship to continue this great memorial to a fantastic young player who is no longer with us.
A presentation of a framed picture of Neil Hunt was presented to the club from Terry and Audrey Hunt; this will be put on show for all to see in a prominent area for all to see.
Contact information is as follows:
The Neil Hunt Memorial Ground
Lower Lane
Bradford
Yorkshire
BD4 8TJ
Tel: 01274 669276
The club have a couple of events happening and there is on this Sunday. The fun starts at 10am so, why not pop along before you head up to Odsal for our game?
Everyone at Dudley Hill was very welcoming and had time for us. This is a great club with a proud tradition of rugby league. If your child would like to become involved in rugby league then do not hesitate to contact the club directly or alternatively you could give them a follow on Twitter @hill_rlfc
History of our club.
To this day still Rugby League matches are predominantly held on a Sunday afternoon, we now have Sky sports that like to mess things up a little bit for us all, but have you ever wondered why games are played on a Sunday? Back in 1967/68 season Bradford Northern were one of the first to create Rugby League history. Traditionally matches were played on a Saturday, but 2 games were scheduled for Sunday December 17th 1967 with Bradford Northern playing at home to York in the league, and Leigh entertaining Dewsbury, to see what reaction was like over the Pennines in Lancashire.
The match at Odsal kicked off at 2:30pm, whilst the Leigh game did not get under way until 3:00pm. So by the grace of 30 minutes it could be said that Northern were the first club to stage a home league fixture to be played on a Sunday.
The match was played on a cold wet and dismal afternoon and a crowd of 10,377 watched Northern beat York by 33~8. With such good crowds at Odsal and Leigh, other Sunday games were tried and throughout the next two seasons, until finally the decision was made to make playing on Sundays permanent.
Ever wondered why Bradford Northern earned its name Northern??
On September 7th 1907 Bradford played there first match at their new home Greenfield stadium against Huddersfield. The new committee of the Bradford club wondered if many people thought rugby was dead in the city due to the poor turnout of support and people did not know that the sport was still being played, over at park avenue the football team were playing under the name Bradford F.C and the park avenue tag was not added for a couple more seasons whilst the rugby club were just playing under the name Bradford.
To distinguish the 2 sports and to let the people know that the 2 clubs were entirely separate the committee informed the N.R.F.L on September the 10th 1907 that the club would now be known as Bradford Northern, and Northern Rugby Football was still being played in the city. The name Northern stayed until 1995 when as we all are aware became the re-branding and the Bulls tag was added. People often wonder why the name Northern was chosen maybe because they played in the North of England or people thought that the ground was in the Northern part of the city, but Greenfield, Birch lane, and Odsal all actually lay in the South East of the City of Bradford.
Special Mentions.
We would like to say a massive thank you to,
Ryan Sparks and Karl Pratt of the Bradford Bulls For inviting us to Odsal for a chat and then onto to Dudley Hill ARLFC.
Dudley Hill ARLFC for welcoming us to their ground and giving us some of their time to chat to us plus their images.
Louise Woodward Styles for designing our logo's and headings. Louise has a lot of talent and is doing a multitude of designs for clubs and players around the rugby league spectrum. Louise also has a retro rugby league account in which, she has memories and photo's of rugby league past. You can follow her account by searching for @rugbyleaguepast on Twitter.
To YOU our readers. As you know without our readers there wouldn't be a blog and so far we have had over 20,000 views and counting! We are nearly at 1000 followers and, have over 500 members in our Facebook group so THANK YOU ALL!
Please RT our link and share our blog far and wide to let other fans be aware what we are doing.
As mentioned Jay and Tom are in attendance on Sunday so please do come and say hi you may very well be feature in next week's edition.
Until next time, Don't stop BULLieving.
