In this week's edition we bring you,
Weekly Recap.
History of Odsal Stadium.
Tweet of the week.
Mentions.
Weekly Recap
This week we saw the Leeds Rhino's crowned Tetley's Challenge cup winners on Saturday, who played Castleford Tigers. Its been a long time coming but well done and congratulations to Castleford for getting to Wembley.
Last week we told you about Karl Pratt taking part in a charity head shave for Hayden Harrison. Hayden was raising funds for Macmillan nurses who helped his family as his granddad was passing away. Well, we are pleased to announce that Karl and various members of Dudley Hill ARLFC have completed the head shave and have so far raised in excess of £1500 and donations are still coming in. Well done and congratulations to every single person who has taken part and donated to such a worthy cause.
Don't forget that you can still join the Big One lottery from the bulls and more information can be found HERE
The Bulls have announced another edition to James Lowes' squad this week which is shaping up very well, for our forthcoming 2015 season. Our latest signing is 20 year old Vila Halafihi who becomes the Bull's sixth new signing. Vila has signed a one year deal and has been playing in the Penrith Panthers junior team, and has previously played for the Leeds Rhinos academy. Vila admits he cant wait to get back to the UK, and play for the Bulls and feels very privileged to have signed and wants to help return the club to its former glory. Welcome to the club MR V you will learn a lot and we are not just a great club and squad but, we have a great fan base too.
Today it has been revealed that Luke Gale is to leave at the end of the season. Gale has signed a 2 year deal with the Castleford Tigers. Thank you for your service Luke it has not gone unnoticed and we wish you all the best for the future.
Tomorrow the Bulls are to announce 4! yes 4!!! signings to James lowes' squad for 2015 so keep an eye on the Bulls website to find out who the signings are.
Have you done the ice bucket challenge or know somebody who has? This week the Bulls took part in their own ice bucket challenge. You can see the video by CLICKING HERE All in the name of charity and for good causes. Well done lads BULLieve ain't done ours yet.........
Next up for the Bulls are the Tetleys challenge cup runners up - Castleford Tigers on Sunday. This upcoming super league round is dedicated to State Of Mind. SOM helps all our rugby league players and fans with their mental health. Set up in 2011 following the death of Terry Newton SOM is designed to help people with mental health issues and also the stigma surrounding it. Our very own Chev Walker is an ambassador for State Of Mind and says "Don't be afraid to talk". You can find out more by CLICKING HERE
Return coach travel for Castleford is available from the club at priced just £10 with coaches leaving from 1pm. Please call the club to book your tickets and travel on 08448 711 490.
History of Odsal Stadium
Bradford Northern took charge of Odsal on January 1st 1934 with very little work done on the site, in fact the work left to do was vast, all the site contained on that day was a huge bowl shaped arena, with high sloping sides of earth and rubbish that had been strategically dumped by the Bradford cleansing dept. At this point it was very hard to imagine that it could ever become a Rugby League ground.
Throughout the coming months of 1934 work slowly transformed the arena into something that resembled a sports ground, but not without its difficulties as the club had to turn to the public in an aid to have a playing surface to play on, the public could buy a piece of turf at 6d (2p) and donate it to the club. It was calculated around 49,500 pieces were required to cover the entire surface at a total cost of £1,237 10 s 0d (£1237.50) the idea was, that everyone who had bought a piece of turf a grid would be put together showing which piece they had bought and hung in the club house when built, but this idea never came to any fruition.
With time running out it became apparent that before the start of the season money was becoming very short and there was a lot of work to be done including a stand to erect and a perimeter fence, however the Rugby League to came there aid on June 7th and granted a loan of £2000, the stand was small and situated where the players underground dressing rooms are today.
The first match to be held at Odsal was Northern's 2nd game of the 34/35 season against Huddersfield. Sadly though the result at Bradford's new home was not meant to be that day, going down 31-16, it must also be noted too that at this time the playing surface was as flat as a billiard table. Despite the new home and surroundings it took Northern some time to break the Odsal duck it was on November 17th with a 15-2 victory against Featherstone Rovers it finally came.
Odsal has hosted quite a few events over the decades not just Rugby league including Baseball, Tennis, Show Jumping, Basketball, Speedway, Trotting, Cricket, Football, and the odd boxing match and most recently held a concert.
Odsal remains iconic in Rugby League mainly as it still holds the record attendance for a Rugby League match, 102,569 in 1954 for the Warrington-Halifax Challenge cup final. It also holds the record for a non final Rugby League match attendance 69,429 which was Northern V Huddersfield in 1953, and in recent times held the Super league Attendance record 24,020 for a match against the Leeds Rhinos but lost this to Wigan in 2005. It must also be noted that speedway was hugely successful at Odsal founded in 1945, but sadly disbanded in 1997. There have been talks of speedway returning but this seems a distance hope at the moment.
Whilst in todays electrical era its common to see Odsal on T.V either on Sky Sports or the BBC, ITV, Bradford Northern's first televised match from Odsal came in 1953 on January 10th against arch rivals Leeds which the result went in the favour of Northern 34-5. Over the years many plans have been put forward to make it the Wembley of the North and have a sporting village at Odsal but these ideas have always fallen through or been blocked for whatever reason, lets hope one day that the dream will become reality, and Odsal will truly be the icon it deserves to be in Rugby League.
Tweet Of The Week.
We asked you to send us some pictures and tweets and here we have chosen the tweet of the week.
Jayne Louise Averill Tweeted us to say she was reading BULLieve on the west coast of Scotland and sent us this wonderful looking picture
Thank you Jayne we hope you have enjoyed Scotland and what it has to offer.
Mentions
This week we have been contacted by a local community club, Odsal Sedbergh who on Saturday 30th August 2014 have their own charity event in memory of Eddie MCGuinness who sadly passed away in March 2009. Eddie made great contributions to both Odsal Sedbergh and Wyke amateur set ups and was previously a conditioning coach at the Bulls and Salford.
Once again we would like to thank Louise Woodward Styles for her contribution to not only BULLieve but to all things rugby league. Louise has been fantastic in doing us a few designs and now, she is part of a brilliant team designing bespoke canvas career pics for rugby league players. Louise is now doing some work with Snapshot art and is now wanting players to contact her if they are interested in these fantastic pics. You can contact Louise on Twitter by following @MsCityRedG or by phoning 07456 444336. You can check out some work already done by looking at the @SnapshotArt Twitter account.
We have added a picture gallery to our blog and you can view the gallery by CLICKING HERE
We would love to hear your feedback on our new layout and also our gallery so please let us know!
Until next time, Don't stop BULLieving!!
