I think membership of the BCST is barely into three figures.

They are obsessed with the whole trust thing and getting the club to be supporter run with close ties to the local authority, which is the agenda they have pushed from the start.

Obviously I can't speak for the majority, but just the people I sit near at VP and my City supporting friends and just about all of them are of the opinion I offered, we all go for the sport you see and spend pre-match and half-time discussing things, rather than gawping at cheerleaders or men walking round the pitch on stilts



The over-riding view from the meeting that was held in the Bantams Past museum last week was that City fans would only accept a move from VP if it was the club's only option to ensure survival, and after all the whining last time it is hardly a surprise that the Bulls would not be welcomed back at VP with open arms by the majority of the supporters though obviously the directors feel differently on that one.

Additionally, I don't think you can really blame anyone for not wanting to have anything to do with Bradford Council unless they really have to!

Same applies to Bulls fans I reckon. As such I think any joint venture is unlikely while OSV remains on the table.

If OSV doesn't happen the Bulls could well have to go to VP cap in hand or face extinction. Unless I'm much mistaken Odsal is pretty unsustainable for the club in the current financial climate.

Latest info I've received on the OSV

£15 million has been set aside for the Odsal Village Project. They won’t even know the start date until September this year!

Looking more positive if this is correct and its from a sound source

Quote ="Blotto"Latest info I've received on the OSV £15 million has been set aside for the Odsal Village Project. They won’t even know the start date until September this year! Looking more positive if this is correct and its from a sound source'" www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... s_by___31/

Quote ="Blotto"Latest info I've received on the OSV £15 million has been set aside for the Odsal Village Project. They won’t even know the start date until September this year! Looking more positive if this is correct and its from a sound source'" www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... s_by___31/

[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/mar/17/steve-mcnamara-bradford-bulls-hull-catalans-dragonsMcNamara looks to take bull by the horns in Perpignan encore[/url

www.totalrl.com/index.php?showtopic=168294&st=20 Quote As for there being no real news with regard to the Sporting Village project, the consultants will present their feasibility study to stakeholders on [size=200March 31[/size along with a business model and discussion about capital funding needed for the project. The stakeholders who are all on board and committing themselves to the project include: Bradford Council Bradford Bulls Yorkshire Forward Sport England Bradford & Airedale PCT Bradford College Bradford University Indeed the College and the University see the development as being part of their accommodation strategies for 2011, which constitutes a £200m capital investment. I am more confident about the OSV happening in the next couple of years than i probably ever have been, which is not the same as saying it definitely will happen but with the host of people they have on board, particularly the College and the University, they have a good chance of delivering.'"

www.totalrl.com/index.php?showtopic=168294&st=20 Quote As for there being no real news with regard to the Sporting Village project, the consultants will present their feasibility study to stakeholders on [size=200March 31[/size along with a business model and discussion about capital funding needed for the project. The stakeholders who are all on board and committing themselves to the project include: Bradford Council Bradford Bulls Yorkshire Forward Sport England Bradford & Airedale PCT Bradford College Bradford University Indeed the College and the University see the development as being part of their accommodation strategies for 2011, which constitutes a £200m capital investment. I am more confident about the OSV happening in the next couple of years than i probably ever have been, which is not the same as saying it definitely will happen but with the host of people they have on board, particularly the College and the University, they have a good chance of delivering.'"

www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10786

www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10786

I was at Leigh Sports Village this morning, it was a hive of activity with all the facilities being used by various organisations. And Leigh, as much as I'd wish otherwise, is hardly a centre of international business! The sooner Odsal gets such facilities, the better!

"the consultants will present their feasibility study to stakeholders on March 31 along with a business model and discussion about capital funding needed for the project"

So todays when it gets presented , so how long before we hear anything ?

have to admit that while the last couple of weeks have been pretty disasterous on the pitch the ominous silence following this presentation is making me morenervous as this has a much longer term effect on the future of the club. You'd have thought we'd have heard something by now. 2 scenarios spring to mind

1. its gone badly and OSV has been blown out of water. Club could have been waiting until after a cup win to announce the news and lessen the pain slightly.

2. The results of meeting were in our favour and club are saving the announcement until just before leeds game to give us a much needed boost.

However the longer the silence continues the less I expect a positive outcome for us

It'll happen, I would put money on it.

We love yummy Keighley money chomp chomp chomp.

cant post a link that will work. I could only get pages to display in firefox.

had a dig round on council minuts web site. Cant find any minutes for any relevent meetings on march 31st. However this if you look at advance notices for forthcoming meeting it states a decision will be made on april 21st. Not sure whether that means feasibility study has been presented already and they just need to make final decision or they're presenting study on april 21st and deciding same day.

It hasn't gone unnoticed.

Scratters

Does my Bingley Rural money count as Keighley Money? Or Bradford money? Or Bingley money? I never can tell.

I can't see Keighley or Bradford (or for that matter Bingley) from my house, but I can see the masts up on Ilkley Moor. Maybe it should count as Ilkley money?

Although since we are only talking coppers its hardly material anyway...

Was there supposed to be some news of the odsal village in late March? Am I mistaken on this?

Apparently meeting behind by a couple of issues i would say late April or beginning of may is more likely now

Hood Says some stuff in Friday nights program, i dont have it to hand to write it out verbatium but the gist was that the viablity report ran 2 weeks over and is ready to be published , and the cousil have pushed it to 2nd priority of all its projects behind only the school rebuilding. no further info on wether or not city would be joining us.

think that was about it , but if anyone has it to hand and doesnt mind typing it out , it might put right anything iv got wrong

I caught an interesting interview with the chairman of City's supporters trust on the radio who is still keen to see us at VP sharing with City. They are for the OSV just minus the stadium with us sharing VP as the home of "professional" sport in the city.

Strange how all the talk from city fans of wanting us at VP only comes out in month or two prior to decision re OSV and has never been mentioned in preceding six years. ( and soundbites apart if you look on their forums there pretty universally against it).

What with Wakefield plans for a new community stadium in got me thinking in regards to current grounds that teams play at. With relation to the licensing system this may become more and more relevant and with some NL teams apparenlty having better facilities than some Super League teams it may be something that becomes relevant and we could face a current SL team losing a license. As I see it teams with current and modern facilities at the moment and therefore seem to have a certain future regarding their stadiums are:

Huddersfield Giants-
Harlequins RL
Hull FC
Wigan Warriors
Warrington Wolves

Now there are a group of teams which have recognised there need for a totally new ground and have proposed and set about accordingly. These Teams are in the process of Building/Planning Brand-New and state of the art Stadiums:

Salford City Reds
Castleford Tigers
Wakefield Wildcats
Saint Helens

This leaves a few teams left:

Leeds Rhinos
Hull KR
Bradford Bulls
Catalan Dragons
Celtic Crusaders

Now. Celtic and Catalans have reasonable grounds and if they plan accordingly and regenerate as they proposed when getting their licenses then they will have no issues in obtaining future licenses due to the state of their grounds in my opinion. The games wanting to be promoted in francce and Wales and I cannot see the RFL letting these teams licenses be lost due to the state of their grounds. my opinion of course.

Hull KR are similar to Bradford in the sense that their ground was used for speedway but Hull KR dont have the luxury of the natural slope (or bowl) that Odsal has. They have however (I think 2006) refurbed Craven park and are planning more extensions and a whole new stand (I think some time this year?)

Leeds's ground is an example of an old ground that has had significant improvements and has more plans of refurbishment. Although many clubs are moving to newer venues I think redevelopment of Headingley will only serve to make it a better stadium with a feel of history around it. For me the Carnegie Stand is pretty much one of the best in SL.

That leaves us with the Bulls and Odsal/Grattan Stadium. Bradfords "plans" for this are for it to link up with the surrounding land and the Richard Dunns leisure Centre and re-develop the whole area into a "Sporting Village." This sporting village concept has been thrown around for a long time now, as have groudshares with Bradford City etc etc. I'm hoping it does happen not just for the Club but for the whole of Rugby league. The last major developments to Odsal was the Coral Stand and whilst it is a brilliant addition to the stadium, in doesn't bring anything to your average fan. Im just wondering what people think will happen if a) Odsal Sporting Village doesnt happen and b) What other possible plans for improvements the Bulls do/Should have.

I appreciate this post is highly subjective and circumstancial, who knows what will happen. I also recognise that licenses aint handed out on grounds alone. But its an interesting topic in my opinion......Especially with the likes of Widnes Leigh et al wanting licenses come 2011. There Stadiums are top notch.

At present OSV looks more likely to go ahead than previous schemes but as we all know, plans for Odsal have a funny way of falling by the wayside.

If the OSV doesn't happen the club will have to decide whether it has a future at Odsal. Given the running costs I'd say not as the club has no wealthy backer and non have ever come forward. That will mean a new home is necessary. That would need to be in the Bradford area so leaves VP as the only real option.

On the issue of getting a SL license I don't think any club would lose their license based on ground facilities alone. We got a grade B at the last assessment, which suggests we're not in any danger. If the club were still at Odsal in 3 years but still pulling in 10k fans and maintaining the work to develop itself in the community and relatively successful on the field there's no way the Bulls would not remain in SL.

Stadium-related issues account for four of the ten licensing criteria points:

1. Capacity of 12k+
2. Average crowd 10k+
3. Ground over 40% full
4. Premier standard ground.

Bulls obviously lose a point for 4, but pass the rest. And will continue to do so provided fans continue to turn up (we need about 10.5k-11k average to be safe under point 3).

I raise this because a lot of fekkwits across the MBS talk a load of garbage about how licensing seems to be all about the grounds, under the present criteria. You clearly appreciate otherwise, and are referring more to what might happen in the future if the criteria become more stadium-weighted.

To be honest, regardless of licensing - if we don't get the OSV, or something very similar, then I cannot see the Bulls still being around - at least at SL level. Nothing to do with licensing; everything to do with money.

We have been prevented from developing the ground with a commercial partner (don't even go there...trust me!) and lack the resources to do more than basic care and maintenance on the ground as it is. We cannot move anyway without having to pay a 7-figure penalty to the Council that is far beyond our means. Unless a Whelan or Lenaghan or Moran or Caddick or Davy or McManus or Wilkinson or whatever comes knocking, we'll not be able to compete. IMO its the OSV or a very uncertain future, unless the Council (in a re-run of 2002) forces us down to Valley Parade and waives the penalty to engineer it.

The problem here is that I suspect it is all or nothing. If we struggle to make it at SL level, with Sky money and (relatively) high crowds I can't see any way that we could survive at Odsal at all in any lower league.


See above. Though it may not go down well in Keighley, it seems to me (under those circumstances) that there would be a strong possibility that the Council wouldn't be able to enforce the penalty (i.e. if the club were to be bankrupt). Indeed, if caught between the Scylla of unsustainable costs at Odsal and the Charybdis of the penalty clause, it might be politically and even financially preferable for the Council to waive some or all of the penalty to allow us to continue in existence - at VP.

Though, of course, we are talking about Bradford Council...

Quite. If we're still at an undeveloped Odsal then the club wouldn't survive in the NLs.



If the OSV fails to come off I expect this outcome.




Good point, anything could happen!



Great word! Never heard that before.