For some pre-season interest - tell me your tale - here is mine;

Its December 1963 and I sat alongside a lad called Michael Greenhough in school - he was mad keen on Bradford Northern.
Every Art lesson the teacher gave us a subject - Michael Greenhough was a brilliant artist - but to the constant ire of the teacher - he used white, read, amber and black as his colour palette all the time.
It drove the teacher up the wall


That Christmas he gave us the nativity as the art subject and Michael did his usual ace drawing - and baby jesus's swaddling was white, red, amber and black. the teacher went ape



Michael attended the "Re-Birth" meeting held at St Georges Hall with his dad and after days, weeks and months of his going on about Rugby League and Northern - I got my Aunt and her husband to take me to a game (just to shut him up).
That was Northern V York in October 1964 - Northern won.
I was hooked from that day - the smell of wintergreen, closeness to the players, the endeavour and bravery of the players, coffee laced with whiskey, grabbing autographs on the walk from pitch to changing rooms....
Much has changed but my love of the game has never faltered since that day, Michael quit going as he grew up - but I didn't. He was responsible for a lifelong legacy!

Your turn now...

Dad drifted away in the 70s. I played for Dudley Hill as a kid. There was regularly a guy there giving out free tickets. Went a few times, and then pester power took care of the rest.

That was about 1980. I wasn't completely consistent as a young teen but by about '89 or so it's been a constant.

I was born in Bramley and my mum and dad went to watch them and sometimes Northern. Apparently when Bradford won the league in 80/81 I was carried around on the players shoulders in the bar afterwards. Although I don't remember it (I was about 3 or 4), eventually I was no longer in plain sight but after a slight panic in which my dad was wondering how to explain how he lost me to my mum, I was found chatting to the players somewhere across the bar.

My personal decision (as opposed to being taken by parents) to actively go watch Bradford despite living in East Leeds was in about 91 (the year Feath went down) and my mate and I rang up to ask how much Season Tickets were. They were so astonished that anyone in Leeds wanted to watch Northern that they sent us two free ones. That act of kindness cemented the love affair.

It would have been much easier growing up in East Leeds to have not been a Northern fan, but I don't regret it for a second obviously.

Came to Bradford in 1992. A number of the contractors & consultants we employed did hospitality there. It would have been churlish not to partake.

My dad took me to Odsal form when I was about 2 in a pushchair as he walked up. When I was old enough I walked up with him and we sat on the rotting wooden bench seats at the front on the then 'New Stand'. When I was school age I started going with my mates and have been ever since. Did the same with my kids and now grandkids but never did wear the flat cap which was mandatory in my dads day.

My father took me and my brother from being around 7 or 8 I would guess. Later when I was older I cycled to Odsal from Cleckheaton . I was one of the 300 and odd who attended the last home match before we folded in 1963, and one of the 15000 plus when we reopened against Hull KR. (So I guess I have seen a few financial calamities) Been going ever since. I took my son from him being able to toddle, and he now is taking his children.

Errol Stock - how your name brings back memories. I remember him coming to Northern with Garth Budge. Errol became my hero, how I wanted to play like him! My other hero was Lionel Williamson, who played with his socks rolled down round his ankles. When I played, my socks had to be round my ankles too!! Great post and brought back many memories. Thanks for that, but you have reminded me how ancient I now am.

Got dragged along by some friends around Sept 1995 and told there were exciting things going to happen the name was changing from Northern to Bulls it was going to be the dawn of a new era for League.
I went along with a slightly jaundiced view coming from a Union background, anyway I was surprised at the space of Odsal also the fact that both sets of fans could mix and have some good banter without any fisticuffs, though the only time I saw any was when Worky Town visited and it was their own Fans fighting among themselves that happened on both visits before they dropped out of SL. Still I got hooked by the era of League and the entertainment during the first few years and was committed as a RAB before long.
Though my support has to be from a long distance these days I still support the Bulls with the same passion

Short and simple really - my dad took me from being a kid. That was around the early to middle 1950s, not that I remember much about the games and to be honest, as I believe I've admitted before, the main thing I remember is being told off by my dad for pulling old sauce [and other bottles out of the old tip on which the Coral stand [or, "our conference and banqueting facility", as it is known these days.. stands.

It was never definite I would end up at Odsal though. My Grandfather was a dead keen Avenue fan and, with both clubs playing on Saturdays in those days, I would go with him when Northern weren't playing at home. I got to sit in the stand with my grandad....and got a meat pie at half time, so I gave up a right gravy train to stick to the Northern/Bulls. That kind of dedication should have got me a free ticket, I think..

Amazing BeechwoodBull! I have used Errol Stock as a sign on for the Totalrl.com/forums since 1995 and only one person on there ever knew of him (he asked if I was really him).
I also use it on Twitter - but on there it will never be picked up on.

So you are the first and only person who shares my memory to a tee (at least online). Errol Stock was my first ever true life hero, an excellent fullback who made an immediate impact on his arrival. When games were played with a smattering of snow on the pitch, both he and Garth Budge stood out a mile (sun tanned legs you see!). I think Garth Budge still watches most games - or at least when I saw him last at the back of the "new stand" a couple of years ago.

Some may class us as ancient - but as far as I am concerned - completely on the ball

I started to follow SL when it was first formed and shown on Sky as i was in the RAF Regiment at the time. i then decided to follow a team so i started with the first letter of the alphabet and Bradford was top of the list.
I now live in Silsden and have been a season ticket holder for the past 8 years COYB

My Dad took me as a kid to the odd game my first being GB vs the Kiwis in 1980. I really got into it properly in the mid 80s and have been hooked since.

Having grown up in Pudsey I got some stick for being a Bradford fan so I can empathise with pumpetypump. It just served to make me more vociferous.

On the Errol Stock/Garth Budge connection Garth coached me when I was at Uni. A nice bloke.

In 1993 Keighley Cougars ran a trip to Wembley for GB v NZ, came home from school asking if I could go, my dad said I could but we would go watch a Bradford match before I went to see if I liked it, he hadn't been much for the past few years, but had been going in the 60/70/80s. Went to the first match against Sheffield and we won 36-26 and loved it, went to most of the home games and a few away games that year, then got a season ticket the following season and had one ever since.

The tigress worked with his wife. I am sure she mentioned he wasn't in that good health.

He'll be getting on a bit now I suppose.

My late father came home one day in early 1972 (when I was 10) and told me he was becoming a Director of Bradford Northern. Oh yeah I thought, but a week or two later we were in the Director's Box at McLaren Field to watch a side containing a few legends (Barry Seabourne, David Redfearn, Eddie Tees etc) get turned over by Bramley 8-5. That was a major upset as Northern eventually finished second in the table and only just lost to St Helens in the Championship semi final.

I have plenty of memories from the 4 years the old feller was on the board but many more from after he'd quit. We did live next door to Carole and Garth Budge at Wyke in the seventies and I know Garth isn't in great health now. A nice bloke though and he also coached me at Dudley Hill for a time in the early 1980's.

I started going because my Grandparents and Auntie were season ticket holders. I think I got one free so my Dad started taking me 1990/91 season.

The first season I can really remember was 93 when we signed Paul Newlove. Used to stand at that time on the 3rd corner at Rooley Lane end of the ground. We stood with my Aunties friends which was great as they kept me warm with hot Bovril at half time!!!

Used to also go watch speedway on a Saturday night and would go down Sunday morning to help put the corners down for the afternoon Northern game. As an 8year old I loved it as I was the only kid and it meant I could walk pitchside. Don't think it would be allowed now with H&S laws.

Some long love affairs going on here, mines quite a lot shorter.

Lancashire born and raised, no Yorkshire blood in me but Bradford has always been my team, first match was the Grand final in 2002 when I was 13 (I think) when a Sean Long DG earned a win for Saints, then quite sporadic after that for a few years with games here and there, then the GF in 2005 was the next game I remember.

Since about 2008 I have been ever present, could be my bad luck we started to go down hill since then, best memory is the 22-20 win over wigan in 2010, missed some games here and there but ive always tried to make it.

Quite right Errol was a hero of his day, as was Garth Budge. As an aside we read today in the Brighouse echo that Connie Womersley, Harry's wife and Garth's mother in law has died aged 88. A nice lady and a nice family!

So my first game was in the 50s and it came about due to me and my mates being speedway fans also, we were part of a team of youngsters who moved the corners after the Rugby and as a payment we had free admission to both the Rugby and the speedway. My father took me to see Northern before then. He was a friend of Alan Edwards and a great Northern Supporter. You might say Northern and the Bulls are my passion and over the years I have had the privilege of knowing many of our past and present players, and backroom staff, the icon that often drove me to go the extra mile was of course Trevor Foster, who never took a backward step, and maintained that giving in was never an option. So isn't it great that we supporters didn't give in and we still have a good team to follow.

Growing up in the East Midlands, rugby meant Union and more pertinently it meant it was too muddy to play football.
I never took any interest in either code until I met some friends through going camping who were Bulls fanatics. This was in 2004. One afternoon in 2005 we were visiting them and they asked if we'd like to tag along to a match (Fev away in the cup). After about 15 minutes I was hooked. I went to pretty much every game that season including Old Trafford.

Season ticket holder for a few seasons until life got in the way but I still get to as many games as I can despite the 160 mile round trip. I'm looking forward to seeing a few new venues this year as well as hopefully seeing us get back to winning ways

I must say that watching your first game somewhere like Post Office Road must be truly mind-blowing, as you stand so close to the play, you can almost feel the hits, the players look huge, and you can hear the impacts and get a far better impression of the speed and especially the sheer physicality of the game.

I converted to the Bulls when Bradford Park Avenue were kicked out of the football league. Switching to the enemy was totally out of the question, so with a couple of mates we switched to full-time Northern fans, though I had been to plenty of games at odsal before, but that season we started going to away games and I think it was mainly the breathtaking impression that the game made on me at close quarters at places like Fev or Thrum Hall that got me hooked.

Always enjoyed the game on the BBC as a kid, but coming from a Southern football family, I never got around to choosing a team. Usually, my innate sense of supporting underdogs meant cheering for whoever was playing Wigan.

Moved to Bradford for university in 1993 and went to see my first game (Wigan in the fog) that year. Got to quite a few games during that time, moved to France, and then back and got to more.

I'm long gone from the area now and get to the odd match. Love and admire the whole sport (I never played, but did play union), but it's always been my second love, behind football.

I'm often jealous of all of your histories with the club and your immersion from early ages. I wish I had that affinity (it's so much more admirable than football), but I suppose the flip side is that the last few years haven't cut me as deep as most of you.

Its always just been kinda what my family does, my great grandad went pre war, took my grandad. My grandad (who helped in a small way when the club reformed in the 60's and was in the world record Odsal crowd after walking in over a fence that had fallen down along with hundreds of others!) took my dad. My dad took me, apparently my first games were around 1986ish when I was 10, but I dont remember much of that other than spending the match days messing around on the grass banks (pretty sure I must have only got to go when the weather was good at that early age as I only remember sunny Odsal and dry grass from those early days!!)

I started going to actually watch the rugby (including rain/fog and snow) around 1990/1991, with 1992/1993 probably being my first full home season with the leeds and Halifax away games. Ironically it was when I went away to Uni in York in 94 that I realised what I missed and started going home and away with a season ticket from then on, travelling from Uni each week either home or away.

Now I dont live near Bradford and have a young family so getting to games is a lot harder, I still go with my dad and still get a season ticket each year (although not bought one yet this season) but generally lose money on it as I cant get to every home game. But my biggest regret of recent years is not getting to as many away games, I used to prefer the away trips, but now I have to pick and choose well in advance and last year only got to 2 away matches. Hoping to do more this year as there are some grounds I've not been to before.

Last season I took my two girls (7 and 9) to their first matches (at their request), they loved it, but not being in the area Im not sure how long they'll want to carry on going - but they did want to go to last weeks friendly game at Cas and are coming to the first home game of the season so we'll see, my family line of support from pre war might yet continue a little longer!

Exactly as you describe. I remember Stu Fielden having a great game and were behind the sticks for a lot of tries (we put 80+ past them IIRC). It was a great introduction to the Greatest Game

My dad started taking me when I was a young kid in the early 70s and been going ever since. I remember I was deemed too young to go to Wembley in 73, so my dad and brother went and I watched it on Grandstand. Keith Mumby and Dave Redfearn were always my heroes growing up in the 70s

I did exactly the same with my lad,started taking him when he was about 2, he obviously didn't know much what was going on but I felt the need to repeat what my dad did with me. My lad was born in 96, just as Bullmania took off so he had all the baby wear they sold in the shop, I can remember a baby grow he had " Born to be a Bull" on it,got that one wrong ha

Northern/Bulls has been the biggest love of my life (1st wife included)

1967 Australia v Northern lost 7 3, sat with a group of mates at the top of the banking at the far end of the ground and thought wow. Enjoyed the independence of going age 10 or 11, including a weekday CC match with Trinity at Headingley (Odsal was snow bound) where a friend and I went from the city centre on a special bus with no parents. Could that happen now, probably not! Followed them through thick & thin, hope the good times of SL can return for youngest son who was just too late for trophy wins and grandsons now on the scene. Apart from family biggest passion, shared my love of Northern/Bulls all over Europe & North America on travels!