Bradford Bulls

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Bradford Bulls
Current season
Club information
Full name Bradford Bulls
Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s) Bulls
Ground Grattan Stadium,
Bradford
(Capacity 27,000 - 5,000 Seats)
Current
Chairman Flag of England Peter Hood
Coach Flag of England Steve McNamara
Captain Flag of England Paul Deacon
League Super League (Europe)
2007 position 3rd
History
Founded 1863
Championships 6
Challenge Cups 5
World Club
Champions
3
Kit(s)
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away colours
Website Official site

The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, England. It has been one of the major success stories of the Super League era, with the 2003 season being its best where the club successfully won all of the major rugby league honours, (Challenge Cup, Superleague Championship, World Club Championship, and Minor Premier) The team jersey is white with red, black and amber hoops. The club plays its home games at Grattan Stadium (formerly called Odsal Stadium) which is located to the south of the city centre. Bradford is also one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, making them one of the world's first rugby league teams.

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. It achieved its first major success by winning the Yorkshire Cup in 1884. In 1895, along with cross-town neighbours Manningham, Bradford was 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. Manningham ran into financial difficulties and, despite a summer archery contest that generated enough money to ensure their survival, its members were persuaded to change to Association football. The club was 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 A.F.C. was 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 F.C. 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 winning 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 the available place in the Northern Union. Bradford Northern's first home was Greenfield Athletic Ground.

[edit] Bradford Northern

Bradford moved to Birch Lane in 1908. Bradford council offered Bradford a site for a new stadium between Rooley Lane and Mayo Avenue in 1927. However the RFL said the site was too small and the club kept on looking. On 20 June 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. The Bradford Northern team played its first match there on September 1st 1934. Before moving to Odsal Bradford had had two other homes, Greenfield Athletic Ground in Dudley Hill and Birch Lane which was part of Bowling Old Lane Cricket ground, although at times they also had to hire Valley Parade as the capacity at Birch Lane was not sufficient enough for large matches.

[edit] 1940s

Success came in the 1940s with a number of cup wins: 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. In the championship Bradford found it difficult to win either before the war or after despite being runners up in 1942-3 and 1947-8.

On Saturday 3rd November 1945, Bradford Northern met Wakefield Trinity in the final of the Yorkshire Cup held at Thrum Hall, Halifax. Wakefield began the match as favourites, they had lost only one of thirteen matches thus far in the season. However, Bradford won 5-2 and lifted the Yorkshire Cup for the fourth time in six seasons.

Bradford defeated Leeds 8-4 to win the Challenge Cup at Wembley in 1947.

The 1947-8 Challenge Cup 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. It was also the first televised rugby league match as it was broadcast to the Midlands. Unfortunately Bradford lost 8-3 to Wigan. The 1949 Challenge Cup final was sold out for first time as 95,050 spectators saw Bradford beat Halifax.

[edit] 1950s

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. Northern also won the Yorkshire Cup final 7-2 against Hull. Bradford Northern and Leigh were the first rugby league clubs to stage matches on a Sunday in December 1954, although there was opposition from the Sunday Observance lobby.

[edit] 1960s

Bradford Northern's support declined rapidly in the 1963 season, attracting a record low crowd of 324 against Barrow. Northern went out of business on 10th December 1963 having played just 13 matches; winning 1 and losing 12, scoring 109 points and conceding 284.

A meeting on the 14th of April 1964 saw 1,500 people turn out to discuss the formation of a new club, and those present promised a £1000 to help get plans for the new organisation underway. Amongst those who led proceedings were former players Joe Phillips and Trevor Foster.

On 20th July 1964, Bradford Northern (1964) Ltd came into existence. The club’s new side had been built for around £15,000 and had Jack Wilkinson as coach. On 22nd August 1964, Hull Kingston Rovers provided the opposition in the reformed club’s first match and 14,500 spectators turned out to show their support, as Odsal hosted its first 10,000 plus gate for a Bradford Northern match since 1957.

The reformed club won its first cup in 1965-66 by beating Hunslet 17-8 in the final of the Yorkshire Cup.

[edit] 1970s

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 and were also Championship runners-up. In 1978-79 Bradford appeared in another Premiership final this time losing 24-2 to Leeds. A year later Bradford won the Championship and Regal Trophy, Peter Fox winning the award for Coach of the Year. In 1980-81 the club made it back to back championships.

[edit] 1980s

In 1981-82, Bradford lost the Yorkshire Cup final 10-5 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. Ron Willey coached Bradford Northern for a short stint in 1989/90 and led them to the Premiership final and success in the Yorkshire Cup final when they beat Featherstone 20-14. 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

Bradford Bulls Became very successful in the Super League, they have won the title in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005, the Challenge Cupthe in 2000 and 2003 and the World Club Challenge in 2002,2004,2006.

For more details on this topic, see Bradford Bulls Super League History.

[edit] Season Summaries

P=Premiers, R=Runner-Ups, M=Minor Premierships, F=Finals Appearance, W=Wooden Spoons
(Brackets Represent Finals Games)
Competition
Playing In
Games
Played
Games
Won
Games
Drawn
Games
Lost
Ladder
Position
P R M F W Coach Captain Main Article
Super League 1 22 17 0 5 3/12 Brian Smith Robbie Paul Bradford Bulls 1996
Super League 2 22 20 0 2 1/12
X
Matthew Elliott Bradford Bulls 1997
Super League 3 23 12 0 11 5/12
X
Bradford Bulls 1998
Super League 4 30 25 1 4 1\12
X
X
X
Bradford Bulls 1999
Super League 5 28 20 3 5 3/12
X
Bradford Bulls 2000
Super League 6 28 22 1 5 1/12
X
X
X
Brian Noble Bradford Bulls 2001
Super League 7 30 24 0 6 3/12
X
X
Bradford Bulls 2002
Super League 8 30 24 0 6 1/12
X
X
X
Bradford Bulls 2003
Super League 9 28 20 1 7 2/12
X
X
Bradford Bulls 2004
Super League 10 28 18 1 9 3/12
X
X
Jamie Peacock Bradford Bulls 2005
Super League 11 28 16 2 10 4/12
X
Iestyn Harris Bradford Bulls 2006
Steve McNamara
Super League 12 27 16 1 9 3 / 12
X
Paul Deacon Bradford Bulls 2007
Super League 13 27 - - - - - - - - - Bradford Bulls 2008
Super League 14 27 - - - - - - - - - Bradford Bulls 2009
Super League 15 27 - - - - - - - - - Bradford Bulls 2010

[edit] Statistics and records

[edit] Stadium

For more details on this topic, see Odsal Stadium.

Odsal Stadium is a stadium situated in Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The venue is used for rugby league and has been the home ground of Bradford Bulls since 1934. The official name of the stadium is currently "Grattan Stadium" due to corporate sponsorship. Odsal has also hosted many other sports, including association football, speedway, stock car racing, basketball featuring the Harlem Globetrotters, wrestling, show jumping and kabaddi. The stadium boasts one of the largest attendances of all time for rugby league (102,569) when Halifax played Warrington on the 5th of May, 1954.

[edit] 2008 Squad Stats

For more details on this topic, see Bradford Bulls 2008.
  • Appearances and Points include all matches (As of Rd 15, June 8th 2008)
No Nat Player Position Weight & Height Age Previous Club Contracted Until Apps Tries Goals DG Points
1 Flag of Ireland Michael Platt Full Back 93 kg, 6 ft 2 in 24 Castleford Tigers 2011 11 2 0 0 8
2 Flag of Wales Dave Halley Left Wing 78 kg, 5 ft 9 in 21 Bradford Bulls 2009 14 7 0 0 28
3 Flag of Wales James Evans Left Centre 89 kg, 6 ft 0 in 29 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 2008 18 6 0 0 24
4 Flag of New Zealand Shontayne Hape Left Centre 104 kg, 6 ft 2 in 26 New Zealand Warriors 2008 17 5 0 0 20
5 Flag of New Zealand Tame Tupou Left Wing 110 kg, 6 ft 4 in 25 Brisbane Broncos 2010 10 3 0 0 12
6 Flag of Wales Iestyn Harris Stand Off 92 kg, 6 ft 31 Cardiff Blues Rugby Union 2008 16 0 26/30 0 52
7 Flag of England Paul Deacon (c) Scrum Half 80 kg, 5 ft 9 in 29 Oldham Bears 2010 14 1 67/79 1 133
8 Flag of New Zealand Joe Vagana Prop 120 kg, 6 ft 3 in 33 New Zealand Warriors 2008 7 0 0 0 0
9 Flag of England Terry Newton Hooker 98 kg, 5 ft 10 in 29 Wigan Warriors 2009 16 4 0 0 16
10 Flag of England Andy Lynch Prop 108 kg, 6 ft 2 in 29 Castleford Tigers 2008 18 0 0 0 0
11 Flag of New Zealand David Solomona Second Row 108 kg, 6 ft 0 in 30 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 2009 13 3 0 0 12
12 Flag of Australia Glenn Morrison Second Row 97 kg, 6 ft 3 in 32 Parramatta Eels 2009 12 6 0 0 24
13 Flag of England Jamie Langley Loose Forward 108 kg, 6 ft 2 in 24 Bradford Bulls 2010 16 2 0 0 8
14 Flag of England Chris Feather Prop 114 kg, 6 ft 4 in 26 Leeds Rhinos 2009 8 1 0 0 4
15 Flag of England Matt Cook Second Row 95 kg, 6 ft 0 in 21 Bradford Bulls 2009 6 1 0 0 4
16 Flag of England Sam Burgess Loose Forward 111 kg, 6 ft 3 in 19 Bradford Bulls 2009 19 8 0 0 32
17 Flag of Wales Matt James Prop 100 kg, 6 ft 2 in 21 Bradford Bulls 2009 10 0 0 0 0
18 Flag of Wales Craig Kopczak Prop 98 kg, 6 ft 4 in 21 Bradford Bulls 2008 6 0 0 0 0
19 Flag of Ireland Simon Finnigan Loose Forward 95 kg, 6 ft 4 in 26 Salford City Reds 2008 18 6 0 0 24
20 Flag of England Wayne Godwin Hooker 13 st, 5 ft 6 in 26 Hull FC 2011 14 2 0 0 8
22 Flag of Australia Ben Jeffries Stand Off 14 st, 5 ft 9 in 27 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 2009 15 7 0 0 28
23 Flag of Italy Chris Nero Second Row 15 st, 6 ft 1 in 27 Huddersfield Giants 2010 15 3 0 0 12
24 Flag of England Paul Sykes Right Centre 92 kg, 5 ft 10 in 26 Harlequins RL 2010 18 10 1/3 0 42
25 Flag of Fiji Semi Tadulala Right Wing 14 st 10 lb, 6 ft 30 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 2008 13 14 0 0 52
26 Flag of England Jason Crookes Right Centre 83 kg, 5 ft 10 in 17 Bradford Bulls 2008 0 0 0 0 0
27 Flag of England Richard Johnson Centre 80kg, 5 ft 10 in 17 Bradford Bulls 2008 0 0 0 0 0
28 Flag of England Keale Carlile Hooker Bradford Bulls 0 0 0 0 0
Apps Tries Goals DG Points
88 92/110 1 541


Ever Present

Players used = 24

Average age = 25.8

Injured

On Season Loan

[edit] 2008 Out of Contract Players

[edit] 2008 Fixtures/Results

2008 Engage Super League

Date Competition Round Opponent Result Score Home/Away Venue Tries Goals Attendance TV Report
10/02/2008 League 1 Wakefield L 24-26 Away Belle Vue Newton (2), Platt, Sykes Deacon (4/5) 9,851 Highlights Report
16/02/2008 League 2 Huddersfield W 38-12 Home Grattan Stadium Newton, Finnigan (2),Evans,Sykes, Morrison Deacon (7/7) 10,124 Highlights Report
22/02/2008 League 3 St Helens L 16-22 Home Grattan Stadium Evans,Sykes (2) Deacon (2/3) 10,756 Highlights Report
01/03/2008 League 4 Wigan L 14-28 Away JJB Stadium Godwin, Feather Deacon (3/3) 15,444 Highlights Report
08/03/2008 League 5 Catalans W 20-18 Away Stade Gilbert Morrison , Hape, Finnigan Deacon (4/4) 7,485 Highlights Report
16/03/2008 League 6 Warrington W 23-10 Home Grattan Stadium Sykes , Burgess, Jeffries Deacon (5/6) (1dg) 11,838 Highlights Report
20/03/2008 League 7 Leeds L 2-44 Away Headingley - Deacon (1/1) 19,296 Highlights Report
24/03/2008 League 8 Harlequins W 32-24 Home Grattan Stadium Burgess ,Halley,Solomona, Evans,Deacon Deacon (6/6) 8,428 Highlights Report
30/03/2008 League 9 Castleford W 50-4 Home Grattan Stadium Godwin, Evans,Tadulala(3) Sykes , Jeffries , Hape, Nero Deacon (6/8)
Harris (1/1)
10,119 Highlights Report
06/04/2008 League 10 Hull FC W 24-8 Away KC Stadium Nero, Cook, Burgess, Tadulala Deacon (4/6) 13,617 Highlights Report
13/04/2008 League 11 Hull KR L 18-20 Away New Craven Park Tadulala, Sykes , Solomona Harris (3/3) 8,377 Highlights Report
19/4/2008 Cup 4 Toulouse W 98-6 Home Grattan Stadium Burgess, Jeffries (2), Tadulala (3), Morrison (3), Evans, Halley (4), Finnigan (2), Tupou Harris (15/17) 3,569 Report
27/04/2008 League 12 Wigan W 26-12 Home Grattan Stadium Tadulala , Hape , Jeffries , Evans Deacon (5/7) 11,896 Highlights Report
3/05/2008 League 13 Leeds L 26-40 Home Millennium Stadium Tadulala (2), Hape, Burgess Deacon (5/7) 30,628 Highlights Report
11/5/2008 Cup 5 Catalans W 46-16 Home Grattan Stadium Tadulala (3), Burgess, Halley, Langley, Nero, Hape Deacon (7/7), Harris 0/1 5,057 Report
18/05/2008 League 14 Castleford W 46-24 Away The Jungle Sykes ,Newton, Burgess, Morrison,Langley, Platt, Jeffries ,Finnigan Deacon (7/8) 7,855 Highlights Report
23/05/2008 League 15 Leeds L 14-30 Home Grattan Stadium Solomona, Halley, Tupou Sykes (1/3) 14,013 Highlights Report
1/6/2008 Cup QF Hull FC L 16-22 Home Grattan Stadium Tupou, Sykes Harris 4/5 5,597 Highlights Report
08/06/2008 League 16 Catalans L 16-24 Home Grattan Stadium Burgess,Jeffries, Sykes , Harris 3/3 8,400 Highlights Report
13/06/2008 League 17 St Helens Away GPW R Stadium Highlights Report
22/06/2008 League 18 Hull FC Home Grattan Stadium Highlights Report
29/06/2008 League 19 Hull KR Home Grattan Stadium Highlights Report
06/07/2008 League 20 Huddersfield Away Galpharm St Highlights Report
13/07/2008 League 21 Warrington Away Halliwell Jones Highlights Report
20/07/2008 League 22 Wakefield Home Grattan Stadium Highlights Report
03/08/2008 League 23 Harlequins Away The Stoop Highlights Report
08/08/2008 League 24 Leeds Away Headingley Highlights Report
17/08/2008 League 25 Hull FC Home Grattan Stadium Highlights Report
24/08/2008 League 26 Hull KR Home Grattan Stadium Highlights Report
07/09/2008 League 27 Castleford Away The Jungle Highlights Report
12/09/2008 Playoffs PO1 Highlights Report
13/09/2008 Playoffs PO2 Highlights Report
19/09/2008 Playoffs PO3 Highlights Report
20/09/2008 Playoffs PO4 Highlights Report
26/09/2008 Playoffs PO5 Highlights Report
04/10/2008 Playoffs SLGF Old Trafford Highlights Report

[edit] Results summary

As of Rd 14, 18th May 2008

Overall Home Away
Pld Pts W D L PF PA PD W D L PF PA PD W D L PF PA PD
15 16 8 0 7 373 322 +51 4 0 3 225 154 71 3 0 4 148 168 -20

[edit] Results by round

  • As of Rd 14, 18th May 2008
Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Ground A H H A A H A H H A A H H A H H A H H A A H A A H H A
Result L W L L W W L W W W L W L W L 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

[edit] 2009 Transfers In/Out

In

Name Signed from Fee Date
Flag of ?
Flag of ?

Out

Name Signed for Fee Date
Flag of New Zealand Shontayne Hape Bath Rugby May 2008
Flag of ?


Re Signing

Name Contract until Years Signed Date
Flag of England Paul Deacon 2010 2 years April 2008
Flag of Australia Glenn Morrison 2009 1 year May 2008
Flag of Ireland Michael Platt 2011 3 Years May 2008
Flag of England Wayne Godwin 2011 3 Years May 2008
Flag of Wales Dave Halley 2009 1 Year May 2008
Flag of ?

[edit] Captains

From 1996 -

[edit] Coaching Register

From 1930 -

[edit] Player Records

All-time Top 5 Bradford Bulls Tryscorers

All-time Top 5 Bradford Bulls Point Scorers


All-time Top 5 Bradford Bulls Appearances

[edit] Former Super League Players

[edit] Retired numbers

[edit] Team of the Century

As announced in Bradford's T&A Paper on 31 August 2007 :Bradford's Team of the Century

Bradford Bulls Team Of The Century

Head Coach

Kit man

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Bradford Bulls
The Club
RepresentativesHistoryStatisticsHonoursPlayers
Seasons
19961997199819992000200120022003
200420052006200720082009 • 2010 •2011
Stadiums
Greenfield Athletic GroundBirth LaneGrattan StadiumValley Parade
Captains
Robbie Paul (1996-2004) • Jamie Peacock (2005)

Iestyn Harris (2006) • Paul Deacon (2007 -present)

Coaches
David Hobbs (1990 - 1993) • Peter Fox (1993-1995)
Brian Smith (1995-1996) • Matthew Elliott (1996-2000)
Brian Noble (2001-2006) • Steve McNamara (2006 - present)
Languages