Bradford Bulls History
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bradford Bulls History | |
 |
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 1863 - 1907: In the Beginning
The Bradford Rugby Club was formed in 1863. Park Avenue was established as their home ground in 1880. They achieved their first major success by winning the Yorkshire Cup in 1884.
In 1895, along with crosstown neighbours Manningham, Bradford were among 22 clubs to secede from the Rugby Football Union after a historic meeting at The George Hotel in Huddersfield, in response to a dispute over "broken time" payments to players. These 22 clubs formed the Northern Rugby Union. In 1903-4 Bradford finished level on points with Salford at the top of the league and then won the resulting play-off 5-0.
Mannington ran into financial difficulties and despite a summer archery contest that generated enough money to ensure their survival, their members were persuaded to change to Association football. They were invited to join the Football League in 1903, in an attempt to introduce the soccer to the rugby-dominated region, and the newly renamed Bradford City AFC were voted into full membership of the Second Division without playing a game of soccer, having a team or being able to guarantee a ground.
There was also a demand for Association Football at Park Avenue, which played host to soccer matches as well as Northern Union games. The first game of Association Football played at Park Avenue is believed to have been between Blackburn Rovers and Blackburn Olympic and in 1895 a Bradford side beat a team from Moss Side, Manchester 4 -1 in front of 3,000 spectators.
In 1905-6 Bradford beat Salford 5-0 to win the Challenge Cup and were runners up in the Championship. The following season they win the Yorkshire Cup 8-5 against Hull Kingston Rovers.
With soccer already successful at Bradford City, a meeting was called of the club members on April 15th 1907 to decide the club's future. An initial vote appeared to favour continuing in the Northern Union, then opinion shifted towards rugby union but the Chairman, Mr Briggs, used his influence to swing the committee behind Association football. This act, sometimes referred to as "The Great Betrayal", led to Bradford becoming a soccer club, Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. and a new team Bradford Northern was created to take their place in the Northern Union.
[edit] Bradford Northern
In 1933 Bradford Northern signed a ten year lease with Bradford council for a former quarry being used as a waste dump at Odsal Top. It was turned into the biggest stadium outside Wembley. Bradford Northern played their first match there on September 1st 1934.
Success came in the 1940s with a number of cup wins. They won the Yorkshire cup in 1940-1, 1942-3, 1944-5, 1945-6, 1948-9 and 1949-50 and the Challenge cup 1943-4, 1946-7 and 1948-9. There was no championship played between 1939-45 due to World War II, yet they were unable to win either before the war or after despite being runners up in 1942-3 and 1947-8.
The 1947-8 final was notable as it was the first rugby league match to be attended by the reigning monarch, King George VI, who presented the trophy. Unfortunately for Bradford, they lost 8-3 to Wigan.
In 1951-2 Bradford were runners up in the league but beat New Zealand at Odsal in the first floodlit football match of any code in the North of England. In 1953, a crowd of 69,429 watched Bradford play Huddersfield in the Challenge Cup third round. This was Northern’s highest ever attendance. They also won the Yorkshire Cup final 7-2 against Hull.
After attracting a record low crowd of 324 against Barrow, Northern went out of business on 10th December 1963. In 1964, the Bradford Northern club reformed through the efforts of such people as Trevor Foster and Joe Phillips. They were accepted back into the Rugby League. They won their first cup after reformation in 1965-66 by beating Hunslet 17-8 in the final of the Yorkshire Cup.
In 1972-3 Bradford lost the Challenge Cup final against Featherstone 33-14. In 1973-4 Bradford won the Second Division Championship and were promoted back to the First Division. During this season Keith Mumby made his debut, becoming the Bradford's youngest player at only 16 years of age, scoring 12 goals and a try in a match against Doncaster. He went on to make a record 576 appearances for the club. In 1974-75 Bradford won the Regal Trophy 3-2 against Widnes.
Peter Fox joined Bradford as coach for the first time in 1977-78. Bradford won the Premiership final 17-8 against Widnes. They were also Championship runners-up.
In 1978-79 Bradford appeared in another Premiership final but this time lost 24-2 to Leeds. A year later Bradford won the Championship and Regal Trophy. Peter Fox won the award for Coach of the Year. They won the Championship again in 1980-81.
In 1981-82 Bradford lost the Yorkshire Cup final 18-7 against Castleford and lost again in 1982-83, this time 18-7 against Hull. Keith Mumby won the award for First Division Player of the Year while Brian Noble won the Young Player award.
In 1985 Ellery Hanley left Northern to join Wigan for a then record transfer deal, worth £80,000 and a player exchange involving Steve Donlan and Phil Ford.
In 1987-8 Bradford won the Yorkshire Cup final replay against Castleford 11-2 after drawing 12-12. In 1989-90 Bradford beat Featherstone 20-14 in the Yorkshire Cup final.
Bradford lost the Regal Trophy against Warrington 12-2 in 1990-91. In 1993-4, the last Championship before Super League, Bradford finished as runners up behind Wigan on points difference.
[edit] The Super League era
In April 1995, the Rugby League announced the formation of the European Super League. The Super League consisted of 10 clubs from the existing First Division (including Bradford Bulls) plus London Broncos from the Second Division, and new club Paris St Germain.
The club's name was changed from Bradford Northern to Bradford Bulls and a new logo was adopted (Old Bradford Northern logo to the right).Australian Brian Smith was appointed coach and later Chief Executive.
Bradford lost the 1996 Challenge Cup final 40-32 to St Helens. Robbie Paul won the Lance Todd Trophy and Super League Player of the Year. In September 1996, Brian Smith decided to return to Australia as coach of Parramatta Eelsand assistant coach Matthew Elliot took over. Bradford Bulls finished the season as the best supported team in Super League with an average attendance in excess of 10,000.
Bradford won the 1997 Super League title with a record run of 20 successive victories from the start of the season. They were also Challenge Cup runners-up for a second season, losing 32-22 to St Helens. James Lowes was the Super League Player of the Season while Matthew Elliot was chosen as Super League Coach of the Season. Bradford were once again the best supported club, with an average of over 15,000.
1998 was a disappointing season for Bradford, finmishing fifth in Super League. They remained the best supported club, however, with an average attendance in excess of 13,000. Leon Pryce beat Keith Mumby's record in becoming the youngest player ever to appear for the club.
In 1999 Bradford signed New Zealand international Henry Paul from Wigan Warriors who linked up with brother Robbie Paul for the first time at professional club level. The club achieved record season ticket sales, and set a new scoring record as the Bulls thrashed Workington Town 92-0 in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup at Odsal. Bulls won a Minor Premiership in Super League IV; staying undefeated at Odsal. The final home game saw the Bulls smash the Super League attendance record with 24,020 fans watching the 19-18 defeat of Leeds Rhinos. A rugby league record 50,717 fans at Old Trafford saw the Bulls lose the Grand Final 8-6 to St Helens. Henry Paul won the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man of the match.
[edit] The Millennium
The Bulls won the 2000 Challenge Cup with a 24-18 against local rivals Leeds Rhinos. Henry Paul wins the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match. The match took place at the Scottish Rugby Union's Murrayfield Stadium, the first time that the final had been held in Scotland.
In 2001, the Bulls took up residence at Valley Parade, the home of Bradford City AFC, to allow for the redevelopment of Odsal Stadium. They reached the Challenge Cup final held at Twickenham, but suffered a 13-6 defeat to St Helens. On 3rd May in a home match against Warrington, Henry Paul set a new World Record for consecutive goal kicks (35). The Bulls finished the regular season as Minor Premiers and on 13th October at Old Trafford, a new Super League Grand Final record attendance of 60,164 turned up and the Bulls crushed Wigan Warriors 37-6 to claim the title. Michael Withers scored a hat-trick of tries and was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as Man of the Match.
The Bulls were crowned World Club Champions on 1st February 2002 after defeating Australian Premiers Newcastle Knights 41-26 in front of a crowd of 21,113 at Huddersfield's McAlpine Stadium. James Lowes was named as Man of the Match and Paul Deacon kicked eight goals from nine attempts plus one drop goal for a total of 17 points in the match, an individual scoring record for this competition.
The first match played following their return to Odsal was against Yorkshire rivals Wakefield Trinity Wildcats on Sunday 9th March 2003 and attracted an attendance of 20,283. Bradford Bulls won the game 22-10.
Bradford Bulls had their most successful season in the history of the club, winning all three titles. They travelled to Cardiff to beat the Leeds Rhinos at the Millennium Stadium 22-20, then went on to lift the League Leaders Shield for finishing top of the Super League after 28 rounds, before defeating Leeds Rhinos again, for the fifth time in the season, in the Qualifying Semi Final play-off to reach the Tetley's Rugby Super League Grand Final. The Bulls claimed the Super League title with victory over Wigan Warriors.
Bradford Bulls regained the World Club Challenge in 2004 by beating the NRL champions Penrith Panthers 22–4 at the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield. They also beat Leeds Rhinos in the play-offs to reach the Grand Final, only to meet their arch-rivals two weeks later at Old Trafford in front of a record grand final crowd of 67,000. This time Bradford were beaten by Leeds 15–6. 2004 was also a superb year for the ‘The Volcano’ Lesley Vainikolo as he smashed the Super League try scoring record with a total of 37 tries from 26 appearances. This achievement started in the first round of the regular Super League season as he crossed the try line on five separate occasions against Wigan Warriors to equal the record for the total number of tries in a Super League game.
After a difficult start to the 2005 season, they managed to win the Super League title from third place by beating Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.
The Bulls started the 2006 season by beating West Tigers 30-10 in the World Club Challenge Match at the Galpharm Stadium. This was their third such win in four years. Coach Brian Noble left Bradford to coach relegation threatened Wigan Warriors on 20th April 2006, Steve McNamara took over as head coach. Stuart Fielden followed Noble in moving to Wigan for a record fee of £450,000.
Bradford Bulls didn't reach the Grand Final for the 1st time in 6 years, they went out to Hull FC in the Final Eliminator.
In 2007, Bradford Northern/Bulls will celebrate 100 years of Rugby League in the City.
| Bradford Bulls |
|---|
 |
| The Club|Coaching Staff|Players|Academy |
| Former Players | Representative Players |
| Honours|History|All Time Records |
| Grattan Stadium|Mascots |
| Super League Honours | Super League Table 1996-2005|Super League Records |
