It's been pointed out on Twitter and elsewhere that Newcastle (just dropped out of League 1 for 2024) are placed significantly higher in position 18 than London Broncos (just been promoted to Super League) in position 24.

Bradford's breakdown is out:



Performance 2.17/5

Fandom 3.95/5

Finances 2.75/4.5

Stadium 0.89/3

Community 2.25/2.5

The full statement is worth a read. Very well written imo and makes the very valid (but often overlooked) point that all of the other RL stadiums around the country have needed help from local councils before they could happen. Bulls quite clearly calling out Bradford council to actually do something about the current state of Odsal and using these gradings as a clear demonstration of how the stadium is holding us back.

Is there a link to the full statement anywhere?

Here mate: [urlhttps://www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/article/2213/club-statement-on-img-indicative-grading[/url

So the frothing at the mouth thick as **** lot spouting "how have the Bulls scored so highly when Odsals a dump", "it's a conspiracy" have been shown evidence that Odsal is literally the very thing stopping us getting into SL, yet they're continuing to peddle out its a conspiracy.

Strong statement. Only 0.25 more to be gained in community- so well done to the Foundation, our volunteers and the club for that.
The rest of it is tricky. I don’t think there’s a lot more points to gain in performance, without being in SL.
Finance is steady.
Fandom is difficult as it depends in part on being in SL, also having a modern stadium. Possibly not many more points to pick up in the Championship

So, off to Valley Parade then?

I think now is certainly the time to have that conversation.

It looks from the figures and the statement released that the ground is the problem - which is hardly "new" news...

There is no way in hell the Council will pay for an Odsal upgrade.

So we either stay put in a crumbling - but oh so iconic - Odsal and slide down the rankings with zero potential to be in Supper League ever again, or we bite the bullet now and get on the phone to Valley Parade.

No pitch is too small lol.

Ha! Yeah. If only there were a means upon which the RFL could enable a team to play on a smaller pitch....

Think the main stumbling block is affording the rent for VP. I can see the VP owners wanting at least £250k a year. The club would need to be very careful to ensure that any tenancy at VP enabled the club to access takings for things like hospitality etc too. The last thing we need is to get chucked out after a couple of years when it becomes apparent that the deal was unaffordable. That would plunge the club into uncertainty. I'm sure VP's owners would see they potentially have the Bulls over a barrel. They could drive a hard bargain.

The better option would be to have a new ground entirely but that's never going to happen. IMO the council have wanted the Bulls at VP for years. Perhaps they can make that happen sustainably by unlocking the value of the Odsal site?

I just posted similar elsewhere, I think on paper the Bradford scores look really impressive, almost like they are in touching distance of SL, but I think the reality is that they are almost maxed out on what they could realistically score. Going on various posts and statements we have to assume its very likely that clubs will need at least 13 points to be in SL which is going to mean Bradford have to gain a point somwhere and I think even the staunchest Bradford fan who understands the gradings would say that is going to be very difficult to do?

After only 3 minutes thought - how about the council buy the Odsal lease and buy VP from (testing my memory here) the Gibbs pension fund? I think the last time this was discussed , which was pre covid, pre austerity and pre financial crisis, they were talking about £6m? Don't know what it would be now. Get Bulls out of Odsal & into VP - 3 shares? 1 each for council, City, Bulls? Would prevent the vague feeling of being unwelcome which I felt last time, do any upgrades/modernisation that is needed and that frees up the entire Odsal site for development which, if done well, would unlock cash, jobs, infrastructure for South Bradford specifically and the entire council area generally.
Get partners on board, University, utilise the motorway links, fasttrack the park & ride planned for the site, build towards the city of culture which should shake money loose as well.

Sounds great in theory but depends on the council having the money and support in the chamber for such a plan. It also relies on the VP owners playing ball and it relies on their being some developers that are interested in Odsal enough to unlock that value. I often wonder how valuable the site is? If it was really sought after then I'm surprised the Bulls are still there!

It also relies on there being some people capable of bringing all the above together.

I'd love it to happen but I'm sceptical as to whether the stars will all align. Bradford's failed to ever deliver a project of that size with so many moving parts since Noah was a lad.

I can't imagine it's worth a great deal to developers, it's a massive pit, it's not the easiest place to build on and they'd have to plow a load of money into it ground works just to get it to the point of building on it. Maybe the areas around it? But it's basically only any good for a stadium... Or a tip maybe? Don't think you'd get millions for a tip though.

It's one link road across a field from being smack on the motorway network and every time the RFL blocked the sale it was on the mantra of ensuring the games stays in Bradford.

On landfill alone (inert stuff like the disposal of scalpings from road renewal) the council could actually make money for once until the land's level.

Let's not forget Tesco once saw the value in it.

"One man's dump is another man's hole-in-the-ground"

If we do move (and that has to be on the cards really) won't that then leave BMDC with two deserted, wasted sites opposite each other up at Odsal?

[size=50(Not that I imagine they care)[/size

I think it would be a huge strategic mistake if BPA and the Bulls don't come together in all this. There's a far better case for investment both from the council and privately if it's demonstrably a multi-use community asset being built. I just don't think VP is viable.

Thing is the council is skint and has all on trying to maintain essential services. While I'd like to see them finally invest in some decent facilities I'm not comfortable with that while things like Children's Services are so clearly up poop creek.

I'm extremely doubtful they will bring any money to the table. What they could potentially do is help create a situation for others to do it.

I was hoping the FA could pump in some money if BPA were involved but it turns out they offer 100k every 5 years as stadium grants. That's not quite what I had in mind...

Unpopular opinion maybe, but I'd rather be a good Championship club in a stadium that feels like home than a mediocre SL club feeling like 2nd class citizens at VP.

And that doesn't necessarily have to be Odsal but VP isn't for me.

Please excuse ignorance, but why are Bradford Council so skint?

The amount of money authorities have to spend from government grants, council tax and business rates – fell by 17.5% between 2009/10 and 2019/20. Inflation has gone up a lot too.

That's why many councils are skint. Think double figures are in special measures or bankrupt in other words.

Disproportionally Bradford has the largest % of under 18’s in a metropolitan district as well - I’m not sure if England-wide but definitely in the North which has council cost implications as well. The other side of that coin is why everyone wants to attach Bradford to improved rail links as Bradford will have the biggest available workforce over the next 20 years and they need to get to Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Hull easier to work….