Bradford's Plight Is No Joke

For many years, Bradford Bulls were synonymous with Super League. The club, under the guidance of visionaries such as Peter Deakin and Brian Smith, were the leading lights at the beginning of the summer era as they transformed the image of the club, embraced the razzmatazz of Super League and perhaps most importantly began hoovering up the honours, winning the title four times between 1997 and 2005 in addition to the Challenge Cup in 2000 and 2003 as well as sitting atop the Rugby League world as World Club Challenge winners on three occasions. 

The glory days such as their 2005 Grand Final win over fierce rivals Leeds seem another world from the current state of affairs for Bradford. 

The club's unfortunate plight is well documented within Rugby League circles as years of mismanagement have resulted in the club being relegated from Super League in 2014 and even further into the abyss three years later when they were relegated to League 1. For all the expansions and moves abroad (and I'm in no way against any of them), Rugby League needs clubs like Bradford to preserve the heritage and history of the game in this country. 

A lot of the blame for Bradford's current state must lie at the feet of chairman Nigel Wood (formerly Chief Executive of the RFL and chair of the game's international committee) for displaying a shocking lack of transparency between the club's senior management and the supporters (who let's be frank are the lifeblood of any sporting club at any level) amid rumours of confrontations at the Bulls' recent defeat at the hands of Newcastle Thunder and a less than friendly fan's forum. It even goes down to levels usually unheard of as the club regularly negate to report attendances of first team games in the League Express. This in itself is doing a disservice to fans, while it may not be the most important information to those higher up, stats like this matter to supporters. 

To see Odsal, the Bulls' home, in the state it is currently in would make even the most ardent anti-Bradford Leeds supporter wince. The famous old ground is nothing short of in a disgraceful state currently, a shadow of it's former self as one of Rugby League's great cathedrals. After the fiasco of the club having to leave their home and ply their trade (albeit temporality) in Dewsbury, their return has been less than harmonious. For context, the club now share the ground with a stock car racing events company but staging matches in the aftermath of stock car races is proving fraught with reports of Bulls fans having to clean their seats some 48 hours after race nights due to a build up of dirt left over. The pitch also suffers due to the stock cars and is a danger to players who are risking serious injury. To make matters worse, the teams now have to cross an unsafe looking plank to make their way from the tunnel to the playing surface. 

Once a proud home of Rugby League, Odsal has fallen into decline over recent years, despite the ground's lease being owned by the RFL. 

The question is, what is next for Bradford? Nobody really knows, including I suspect those in senior management positions. I'm fully aware a cash rich new prospective owner won't just appear out of nowhere to rescue the Bulls but surely there's someone out there who can help the club in it's hour of need. Is there scope for a community based phoenix club to give the supporters something resembling their club back? I'd throw a few quid into a crowdfunder if there was (and I don't even support Bradford!). 

As refreshing as it is to see the likes of Toulouse in Super League, surely it's time we saw a competitive Bradford Bulls side back in the top flight?