breaking news, odsal stadium has been sold

nobody will believe who has bought it

Is it Gary Hetherington?


In all seriousness you have history of giving reliable info, bit of a big claim here. Can you offer more details?

The Rugby Football League

Source?

never reveal that

Well the stadium is owned by the council.

It is let on a very long lease to the Bulls.

So if the council was to have actually sold it (no-one else can) then it will have sold a piece of real estate that is yielding sod all (good business for the council tax payer...?) to...someone else for whom (as it stands) it will also yield sod all.

Unless of course it was to someone who will partner the Bulls in developing the site...? So if perchance it WAS the RFL (and where would they get the funds from?) then how could they justify it? National RL stadium, perchance...? Speculation could easily get into premature overdrive here.

If, of course, there is anything whatsoever in this...which of course has yet to be demonstrated.

wow Adey you are usually far more patient than me, so I've been biting my tongue (or slapping my typing fingers) on this one, tho RD does have a good track record.

RFL to build 'Wembley of the north' at Odsal!


Main reason for being sceptical (other than, as the OP says, it is pretty unbelievable) is that I find it hard to believe the council could keep it quiet, though as someone has posted it on here, clearly they haven't.

Might have been bought by a joint Wakey / Cas delegation to ensure a licence next time around

Wembley of the North? Jeez! If had a quid for every time that was mentioned...

Don't get your hopes up. It's probably been sold for landfill knowing our luck!

Can't see how RFL could justify helping one club with ground redevelopment and not helping others which would be stumbling block imo. would imagine wakey,cas and hull kr would all kickoff big style and salford and saints wouldnt be too chuffed having just funded their own new stadia without help from RFL. IF it is correct then suspect theres more to it thans apparent at the moment.

Loan from the RFL?

They helped Crusaders out with ££.

I'd be amazed. It'd cost a fortune to re-develop Odsal, more than a lot of other grounds simply because you'd have to fill the hole in before you could build on it. Then there's the contaminated land too.

I'm not getting my hopes up. I've been here many times before.

Agree with all that, but Odsal does have all the attributes; central UK location, transport links and a blank canvas and wouldn't (I expect) have come with a vast price tag. With sponsors involved with the building who can say? Don't forget the building regs seem to have disappeared now (I bet the old Tesco scheme would have got the green light now). What's more there's probably room to build a 'National RL Stadium' and still leave us in the old ground - that should keep the Cas and Wakey etc fans happy.

The old Tesco scheme would have got the green light in any six month political cycle other than the one under which it was submitted.

have i been wrong before?

well actually my wife would say im wrong quite a lot

Gledhill just tweeted that the RFL were at Odsal today hahaha

Rog does have a good track record so I'm sure he ain't winding, and thinks this is true. Equally, I know the Council, and if they have sold Odsal to the ROFL, not to mention having kept that quiet as in 100% quiet, then I will bare my arrse on the town hall steps.

So, maybe something for you all to look forward to, then?





PS There will turn out to be something giving rise to this rumour though, if not a sale, Rog deserves any of his info to be taken seriously

Gledhill keeping quiet on here though! come on mick spill....

Yes Mick - it could be Ferocious Avark soon

just anounced on rfl site. purely defensive, no rfl national stadium development plans

Date and time?

[urlhttp://www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/news/5586/THE%20RFL%20PURCHASES%20ODSAL%20STADIUM[/url

So this actually changes.......nothing, as far as I can tell. In the short term, at least.

The ultimate plan is to stuff it in the museum under the George Hotel.

Sort of seems a bit like something governing bodies shouldn't be getting involved in. But the article suggests that they've done it before. Given sensitivities in the Wakefield area at the moment, it might be politically unwise, and it's hard to see how it would make financial sense for the RFL, hence the sport as a whole. Who knows.

Out of curiosity, does the RFL select World Cup venues, and does owning some/one of the grounds represent a bit of a conflict of interests?