Grattan Stadium, Odsal
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Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a
multipurpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stre ...
in
Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of
Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
football club and Yorstox Stock Cars who host regular monthly meetings of
BriSCA F1 Stock Cars BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars is a class of single seater, single-seater Stock car racing in the United Kingdom, stock-car-racing in the UK with custom-built cars, with races conducted on walled oval tracks of either shale or Asphalt concrete, tarm ...
, and BriSCA F2 Stock Cars. The stadium, originally owned by Bradford City Council, had the lease hold purchased by the
Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...
in 2012 due to financial problems with in the council. In 2025, the stadium was bought by their long term tenants. Previously, the stadium has also been used by the
Bradford Dukes The Bradford Dukes were a British motorcycle speedway team which operated primarily from the Odsal Stadium in Odsal, Bradford until their closure in 1997.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. The Bradford speedway team p ...
speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...
team, hosting the 1997 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain and the
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...
for a temporary groundshare following the Valley Parade fire while their ground was rebuilt. Odsal Stadium has also historically hosted
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
,
women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...
,
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
, kabaddi,
show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...
,
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
, live
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
concerts, and international rugby league matches over the years. The stadium's highest attendance was 102,569 in 1954 for the
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
- Halifax
Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...
Final replay, and for a domestic, non-final, rugby league match, 69,429 at the third round Challenge Cup tie between Bradford Northern and
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
in 1953.


History


1933–1935: Construction and opening

Formed in 1907, the Bradford Northern club had played at a number of venues, including the Greenfield Athletic Ground in
Dudley Hill Dudley Hill is a village in the borough of City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England and is in Tong ward. History There are a few mentions of the name Dudley Hill prior to the Industrial Revolution. Religious history John Wesley (1703– ...
and Bowling Old Lane Cricket Club's ground in Birch Lane. By the early 1920s, however, Birch Lane's limitations were clear, and Northern began to seek another home. Precarious finances prevented the club form being able to take up an offer to develop land off Rooley Lane or to upgrade and move back to Greenfield, but in 1933,
Bradford City Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metr ...
gave them the opportunity to transform land at
Odsal Odsal is an area of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire. Odsal Stadium is currently the home of Bradford rugby league club and YorStox F1 and F2 stock cars. The Richard Dunn Sports Centre is named after the boxer who lived in Bradford at th ...
Top into their
home ground In sports, home is the place and venue identified with a sports team. Most professional teams are named for, and marketed to, particular metropolitan areas; amateur teams may be drawn from a particular region, or from institutions such as sc ...
. On 20 June 1933 the club therefore signed a ten-year deal on the site, which was to become the biggest stadium in England outside
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
. The site was a former quarry that was then being used as a landfill tip. Ernest Call M.B.E., the Director of Cleansing for
Bradford City Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metr ...
, devised a system of controlled tipping that saw 140,000 cartloads of household waste deposited to form the characteristic banking at Odsal. The club was to be responsible for boundary fencing, dressing rooms, and seated accommodation. To be able to turf the pitch and other areas, a turf fund was put into place that raised a total of £900 to cover the work. A stand was erected at the cost of £2,000, which was paid for by the
Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...
. It held 1,500 on a mixture of benches and
tip-up seat A folding seat is a seat that folds away so as to occupy less space. When installed on a transit bus, it makes room for a wheelchair or two. When installed on a passenger car, it provides extra seating. In churches, it may have a projection cal ...
s. The ground was officially opened by Sir Joseph Taylor, President of Huddersfield, on 1 September 1934. His club went on to beat the hosts 31–16,
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...
winger Ray Markham scoring four tries in front of an estimated 20,000. The clubhouse and dressing rooms were officially opened before a match against
Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the ...
on 2 February 1935. Contemporary pictures show that as late as August 1935 the banking on the Rooley Avenue side was still being created.


1940–1979: Speedway and Rugby League Internationals

Under the instruction of Bradford Northern RFLC director Harry Hornby and local motorsport promoter Johnnie Hoskins, a sloping oval compacted dirt track was especially designed to surround the rugby pitch to allow professional speedway racing to take place at Odsal in 1945, the initial Bradford team known as the Odsal Boomerangs. In the post-
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
years, speedway proved extremely popular with crowds of over 20,000 regularly attending meetings at Odsal, with the 1946 average for the first year of the
National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
after the war. The highest speedway attendance during this period came on 5 July 1947, when 47,050 fans saw
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
defeat
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
65–43 in a Test match. This remains the largest-ever speedway crowd for Odsal Stadium. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the lower floor of the clubhouse was also used as an
air raid precautions Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s a ...
centre, and one of the dressing rooms was the map room. On 20 December 1947, the largest-ever attendance for an international test at Odsal was set when 42,685 saw
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
defeat
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
25–9. The first
floodlit A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. It can provide functional area lighting for travel-ways, parking, entrances, work areas, and sporting venues to enable visibility adequate for safe task performance, ornamenta ...
rugby match in the
North of England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...
was held at Odsal in 1951. In September 1951, Council Engineer Ernest Wardley drew up a plan for a 92,000-capacity 'European' style stadium at a cost of £250,000. Eventually, £50,000 was spent on terracing the Rooley Avenue end in 1964, before the Wardley plan was officially dropped the following year. After a disastrous 1960 season, the Panthers (previously the Odsal Boomerangs) left Odsal and in 1961 moved across town to the Greenfield Stadium, better known for
greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...
. After the Panthers folded in 1962, Motorcycle Speedway would not return to Bradford for another 10 years. Speedway returned to Odsal when promoters Les Whaley, Mike Parker. and Bill Bridgett moved the
British League Division Two The British League Division Two was created in 1968 and was the second tier of motorcycle speedway, speedway racing in the United Kingdom until the restructuring of British speedway in 1995. It was renamed the New National League in 1975 and the Na ...
side
Nelson Admirals The Nelson Admirals were a motorcycle speedway team who operated from Seedhill Stadium in Nelson, Lancashire, England, from 1967 to 1970. History During March 1967, promoter Mike Parker applied for a speedway licence for Seedhill Stadium and ...
across the
Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...
for the final eleven league meetings of the 1970 season and went on to adopt Bradford Northern as their name and red, black, and amber as their colors. Northern would finish second in Division 2 in 1971, but from there results and attendances steadily declined, and the team folded after 1973. The second test of the 1978 Ashes series was played at Odsal, with
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
defeating
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
before a crowd of 26,761. The Lions team that day featured what was called a "Dad's Army" front row with Jim Mills, Tony Fisher and
Brian Lockwood Brian Lockwood (8 October 1946 – 10 October 2024) was an English World Cup winning former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Br ...
all being over the age of 30.


1980–1996: Bradford City and the return of Speedway

The ground's clubhouse had to be refurbished when it was condemned in the mid-1980s. The social facilities were also upgraded at the same time. Speedway returned to Odsal in 1985 after a ten-year absence when it was selected by the
FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...
to host the 1985 World Final. Following the Valley Parade fire disaster of 1985,
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...
played a handful of games at
Leeds Road Leeds Road was a association football, football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Kirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the 1994–95 in English football, 1994–95 season. It was the home ...
and
Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...
while Valley Parade was being rebuilt. On 23 September 1985 a
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
delegation visited Odsal to view the stadium to pass it fit to host City's home games. Segregation fences were erected on the old Main Stand side and 1,000 uncovered seats were bolted onto the terracing; it was planned to install 7,000 in the future. Meanwhile a further £1 million was spent to conform with new safety standards, bringing the total spent on Odsal to £3.5 million. New boundary walls, turnstiles, exit gates, a bus layby in Rooley Avenue and access road were added. Odsal played host to
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...
's Division Two home games until December 1986. Like most British stadia, Odsal had its capacity substantially reduced by the safety measures introduced in the 1990s following the
Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the tw ...
and the findings of the
Taylor Report The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...
.


1996–2019: Super League & Championship Eras

At the dawn of the
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
era in 1996, Bradford Bulls wanted to attract new sponsors but had poor and outdated hospitality suites. In 2000 they announced plans to build hospitality suites at the South End of the stadium which would mean building on the track around the pitch, effectively ending speedway's association with Bradford. Construction started in 2001 and was completed in 2002 with Bradford Bulls playing two seasons at
Valley Parade Valley Parade, currently known as University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium was built in 1886 as the home of Manningham F.C. ...
. After London won the right to host the
2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in 2008, plans were put in place for an Olympic Legacy Park at Odsal, which would mean redeveloping the stadium and the Richard Dunn Leisure Centre opposite; these plans never came to fruition and a Legacy Park was built in Sheffield instead. In 2012, the Bulls got into severe financial difficulties and the RFL stepped in and bought the lease to Odsal. Since being relegated to the
Betfred Betfred Group Holdings Limited is a bookmaker based in the United Kingdom, founded by Fred Done.Pronounced to rhyme with "bone". It was first established as a single betting shop in Ordsall, Salford, in 1967. Its turnover in 2004 was reported ...
Championship in 2014, their problems intensified. In early 2017 the Bulls were formally liquidated and a new phoenix club was formed by Andrew Chalmers, who announced plans to redevelop Odsal into a venue fit for Super League and international rugby league, however, like previous plans, they were shelved. Nearby football club
Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...
whose current location is the
Bradford Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the Local government in England, local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. ...
-owned football ground
Horsfall Stadium Horsfall Community Stadium is a sports stadium just off Halifax Road in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, south-west of the city centre. It is the home of Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. Albion Sports A.F.C. and West Bowling ARLFC Original ...
had on several occasions discussed relocating to Odsal, most recently in 2018, however they repeatedly decided against such a move, leaving Odsal as a single-rent, single-use stadium.


2019–2021: Bulls Leave Odsal Stadium

Due to the club's ongoing precarious financial situation and increasing running costs at the stadium, including the £72,000 rent payable to the Rugby Football League, the Bradford Bulls made the decision to leave Odsal for a financially prudent ground share with
Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...
to ensure the club's survival. On 1 September 2019, the club played what was believed to be their last game at Odsal, which had been the team's home ground for 85 years.


2021–Present Day: Return of Stock Cars and the Bulls to Odsal

Talks with the RFL were ongoing during their absence. Two years later in 2021, they agreed a return to the stadium as a co-tenant with stock car promoters YorStox (formerly StarTrax). In 2021, the shale motorsport racing track was restored for the return of regular professional BriSCA F1 and BriSCA F2 stock car meetings, which resulted in the reintroduction of removable pitch corners and a narrowing of the rugby pitch. Despite the resultant changes to the pitch rendering it beneath minimum standards for professional rugby league, the sport's governing body allowed the Bulls to return to their former home. The Bulls’ acting chief executive, Mark Sawyer, told Rugby League Live: “Staging motorsport events is the first piece in the jigsaw puzzle towards how we’re going to balance the books at Odsal". He also revealed that the Bulls themselves were considering entering their own participants in motorcar racing at Odsal, “We’re going to have stock car racing and a bit of banger racing where Bradford Bulls themselves might enter a team into that", he added, stressing that he believed Bulls supporters were positive about the return of motorsports, quoted as saying “The feedback we get from our Bradford supporter base is that a number of them are interested in watching motorsport.


Current Uses


Rugby League

Rugby League has featured at Odsal Stadium since it opened on 1 September 1934 when Huddersfield beat Bradford Northern 31 points to 16, Northern later to be renamed the Bradford Bulls in 1996 at the beginning of Super League. Besides club rugby, Odsal has hosted various international fixtures including test matches, tour games and Rugby League World / European Cup fixtures, some of which involved Bradford teams facing international opposition, the results of which are as follows: –


Test matches


Tour matches


Stock Car Racing

Odsal Stadium has hosted professional
stock cars Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...
events since the sport arrived in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The sport originated in the early 1950s at the Buffalo Stadium in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, cars based upon the design of early American
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
vehicles, the first British meeting taking place on
Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...
16 April 1954 at
New Cross New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the London_postal_district#List_of_London_postal_districts, SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, London, St Jo ...
in South East
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. After two further meetings at New Cross, Odsal hosted the UK's fourth stock car event featuring
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...
cars on Wednesday 26 May 1954 with a crowd of 38,000 spectators. As worded in the
Telegraph & Argus The ''Telegraph & Argus'' is the daily newspaper for Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is published six times each week, from Monday to Saturday inclusive. The newspaper has offices in Newhall Way, Bradford, from where its journalists work ...
newspaper, "The survival of the home of
Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...
was dependent on attracting other sports to share the stadium with
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
", a situation similar to 2021 when the
Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...
(Northern later becoming known as the Bulls) relocated back to Odsal following the return of BriSCA stock car events. In the Seventies, stock car meetings happened on Saturdays, sometimes taking place 24 hours before a rugby league match on the following Sunday, which meant ground conversions had to be carried out expediently. Concerned about the survival of stock cars at Odsal, co-promoter Barry Gomersall introduced BriSCA Formula Two stock cars which were popular at Southern tracks. In June 1976, to further boost attendance, Gomersall, a former wrestler, added open-air
wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
to the bill, featuring himself and professional wrestler
Jackie Pallo Jackie "Mr TV" Pallo (born Jack Ernest Gutteridge; 12 January 1926 – 11 February 2006) was an English professional wrestler, a star of British televised wrestling in its 1960s and 1970s heyday, when the sport had a regular 40-minute slot ...
. Originally
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
, the Odsal motorsport track was tarmacked over in 1977 by Stuart Bamforth, although shale was to return in 1985 to accommodate the Speedway World Final. The temporary relocation of
Bradford City A.F.C. Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...
following the
Bradford City stadium fire The Bradford City stadium fire occurred during a Football League Third Division match on Saturday 11 May 1985 at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265. The stadium was k ...
resulted in a pause of stock car racing at Odsal in 1986, however the sport returned the following year. Odsal, along with Belle Vue in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
,
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
,
Long Eaton Long Eaton is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It has been part ...
and
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
were at the time the main national BriSCA tracks. Promoter Steve Rees took over the management of the sport at the stadium in 1996, aiming to boost its status, however a year later in 1997, the RFL chose to cancel the venue's multi-use at the start of
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
, a decision which meant the abandonment of both
stock cars Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...
and speedway at Odsal, the speedway pits area becoming an executive box block, until the shale track's eventual return in 2021 when Steve Rees successfully renegotiated the return of regular motorsports with the RFL and
Bradford Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the Local government in England, local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. ...
. Steve Rees's
Lytham St Annes Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population of the built-up area at the 2021 United Kingdom census, ...
-based Startrax handed over the reins of management to
Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...
-based promotions company Yorstox run by
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
-based businessmen Russell Andrew and Graeme Robson who also manage stock car racing facilities at
Owlerton Stadium Owlerton Stadium, also known as Sheffield Stadium, is a purpose-built speedway stadium built in 1929, which hosts greyhound racing five-times a week. The track is in Owlerton near Hillsborough in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Greyhound ...
in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
. Motorsports successfully returned to Odsal Stadium on 22 May 2021 for the first time in 23 years, the stadium hosting the national banger Stan Woods Memorial for pre 1975 cars, an event witnessed by 4000 fans. Since September 2021, the stadium has hosted both BriSCA F1 and BriSCA F2 stock car meetings, including the BriSCA F1 World Championships with drivers participating from across Europe, and currently hosts regular monthly stock car meetings and
banger racing Banger racing is a type of motorsport event in which Car, automobiles, traditionally derelict or totalled classic cars from scrapyards, are Auto racing, raced on Oval track racing, oval, tri-oval, or Figure 8 racing, figure-eight race tracks o ...
on its restored flattened shale track.


BriSCA F1 World Championship Results at Odsal Stadium


Non-Sporting Activities

Odsal hosts occasional and regular activities outside of the sporting realm, which include live music events and festivals. In 2022, the Bradford Dance Festival featured the DJ and rapper
Tom Zanetti Thomas Byron Courtney (born 2 July 1989), known professionally as Tom Zanetti, is a British DJ, music producer, rapper, singer and boxer. He is best known for his songs "Darlin’" (2015) and " You Want Me" (2016), both of which received silver ...
. Other events which take place at Odsal include talks, lectures, business conferences, monthly fundraising car boot sales, religious and community events, and annual bonfire / monster truck events, the function suites available for hire. In 2023, Bradford Bulls hosted their first ever Iftar event.


Past Uses


Speedway

Speedway first took place at Odsal Stadium on 23 June 1945. Prior to that, in 1936, two years after the venue opened, the first foundations of motorsport were laid in Bradford when the Bradford and District Motor Club ran a mountain grass track event using the embankment at the north end of the stadium, the turf reported to have been badly cut up afterwards. The director of the rugby league Club, Harry Hornby collaborated with local event promoter Johnnie Hoskins to bring speedway to the venue, the resultant oval circuit designed and built around the rugby pitch utilised for both
Motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...
and
stock cars Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...
racing. In 1948, a pioneering three feet in width concrete starting gate platform was also constructed at Odsal which was believed to have been the first of its kind used in United Kingdom speedway events. The original Bradford team competing at Odsal were known as the Bradford Boomerangs. After finishing at the bottom of the National League in 1948 and 1949, the Boomerangs folded and were replaced in 1950 by the Odsal Tudors. Despite the name change, fortunes remained the same with the Tudors finishing on the bottom of the NL ladder in 1951. In 1959 the Tudors dropped the Odsal name and were renamed the Bradford Tudors. In 1960, the Bradford Tudors renamed themselves the Bradford Panthers. After a disastrous 1960 season, the Panthers left Odsal and in 1961 moved across town to the Greenfield Stadium, better known for
greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...
. After the Panthers folded in 1962, Motorcycle Speedway would not return to Bradford for another 10 years. Speedway returned to Odsal when promoters Les Whaley, Mike Parker and Bill Bridgett moved the
British League Division Two The British League Division Two was created in 1968 and was the second tier of motorcycle speedway, speedway racing in the United Kingdom until the restructuring of British speedway in 1995. It was renamed the New National League in 1975 and the Na ...
side
Nelson Admirals The Nelson Admirals were a motorcycle speedway team who operated from Seedhill Stadium in Nelson, Lancashire, England, from 1967 to 1970. History During March 1967, promoter Mike Parker applied for a speedway licence for Seedhill Stadium and ...
across the
Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...
for the final eleven league meetings of the 1970 season. The Admirals adopted the Bradford Northern name and colours, though the move was met with opposition from the nearby
Halifax Dukes The Halifax Dukes were a speedway team which operated from 1949–1951 and again from 1965 until their closure in 1985 at The Shay Stadium in Halifax. The team were nicknamed the "Dukes" after the local Duke of Wellington's Regiment, whos ...
. Northern would finish second in Division Two in 1971, but from there results and attendances steadily declined and the team folded in 1973. The following year,
Bradford Barons The Bradford Dukes were a British motorcycle speedway team which operated primarily from the Odsal Stadium in Odsal, Bradford until their closure in 1997.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. The Bradford speedway team p ...
were formed, but they were also short lived and only lasted the years 1974 and 1975. Speedway would once again not return to Bradford for another 10 years. Speedway returned to Odsal in 1985 when it was selected by the
FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...
to host the 1985 World Final, the first time the Final in England would not be held at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
. In the three years after the 1981 World Final at Wembley, international speedway's home in Great Britain had been the
White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, England, was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics. It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 FIFA W ...
in London. However, with the closure of White City in 1985 a new home would be needed and the 30,000 capacity Odsal was chosen. A capacity crowd at the 1985 World Final saw a titanic fight between
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
's defending
World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
Erik Gundersen Erik Gundersen (born 8 October 1959 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. Gundersen is one of the most successful speedway riders of all time, having won the Speedway World Champi ...
, his fellow countryman Hans Nielsen, and American rider
Sam Ermolenko Guy Allen Ermolenko (born November 23, 1960 Maywood, California) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. During his career he was known as Sam Ermolenko. In 1993, he won the Speedway World Championship. Career Early career After originally ...
. The trio all finished the meeting on 13 points each which saw a three-way runoff for the top 3 placings with Gundersen winning from Nielsen and Ermolenko. Just a month prior to the World Final, Odsal also hosted the Overseas Final as part of the World Final qualifications. That meeting saw two riders finish at the top on 14 points, American
Shawn Moran Shawn Moran (born November 19, 1961, in Lakewood, California) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway rider who was one of the most popular and talented riders ever to race for Sheffield Tigers. He earned 74 caps for the United ...
and English favourite, Halifax Dukes rider Kenny Carter. Moran would defeat Carter in the runoff for the Overseas title. In March 1986, Odsal opened its doors to
British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a British League Division Two, second division starting i ...
action for the first time since the 1950s after the Halifax Dukes were offered a new home track. The new 'Bradford Dukes' team would in later years include World Champions
Gary Havelock Robert Gary Havelock (born 4 November 1968) is a British former speedway rider who was World Champion in 1992. Career Havelock's father was speedway rider Brian Havelock. Gary Havelock first competed in grasstrack racing, winning the British ...
and
Mark Loram Mark Roysten Gregory Loram (born 12 January 1971) is a British former motorcycle speedway rider, who won the World Speedway Championship in 2000 and won the British Championship in 1997, 1999, and 2001. He earned 36 international caps for t ...
, multiple British and Long Track World Champions
Simon Wigg Simon Antony Wigg (15 October 1960 – 15 November 2000) was an English speedway, grasstrack and longtrack rider. He won five World Long Track Championships and finished runner-up in the Speedway World Championship in 1989.Rogers, G.(2005 ...
and
Kelvin Tatum Kelvin Martin Tatum Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 8 February 1964) is a former British international motorcycle speedway and grasstrack rider. He earned 65 international caps for the England national speedway team. Career Tatum atte ...
, and dual Australian Champion
Glenn Doyle Glenn Doyle (born 3 March 1965 in Sydney, New South Wales) is a retired Australian Motorcycle speedway rider. Doyle is a twice Australian Champion and won the Western Australian Championship in his adopted state on six occasions. He earned 20 ...
. However, the club suffered the tragic loss of Kenny Carter who died in murder/suicide after shooting his wife and then himself at their home in May 1986. Odsal Stadium hosted its second World Final in
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
.
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
rider
Per Jonsson Per Christer Jonsson (born 21 March 1966 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a former speedway rider who won the Speedway World Championship in 1990, and finished runner-up in 1992. He earned 65 international caps for the Sweden national speedway team a ...
won his only World Championship when he defeated Shawn Moran in a runoff after both had finished the meeting on 13 points. Moran was later stripped of his silver medal by the FIM after he had tested positive to a drug test taken three months earlier at the Overseas Final in
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
. Moran claimed that the drug he took was a pain killer prescribed by a doctor in Sweden, but the FIM stood firm. They also did not upgrade the standings and the official records show no second place rider. Young Australian rider
Todd Wiltshire Todd Wiltshire (born 26 September 1968 in Bankstown, New South Wales) is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider, who competed at the highest level of the sport, finishing a career best third in the 1990 Individual Speedway World Champi ...
riding in his first World Final surprised many by finishing in third place with 12 points. From 1987, Bradford speedway then enjoyed its greatest period of success, winning eight trophies until the club's closure in 1997 when despite winning the Elite League, the club folded for the third time. Odsal Stadium hosted the
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain The Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain is a motorcycle speedway event that is a part of the Speedway Grand Prix (world championship) series. The Millennium Stadium hosted the British GP for the first time in 2001 until 2025. The National Sp ...
. Danish rider
Brian Andersen Brian Askel Andersen (born 13 March 1971) is a Danish former international motorcycle speedway rider. He earned 12 caps for the Denmark national speedway team. Career Andersen reached the final of the Under-21 World Championship in 1990. ...
won the Grand Prix from America's reigning World Champion
Billy Hamill William Gordon Hamill (born 23 May 1970) is an American international motorcycle speedway rider. He is a former Speedway World Champion, winning the title in 1996 and earned 29 caps for the United States national speedway team. Career Earl ...
, with Swede
Jimmy Nilsen Jimmy Oyvind Nilsen (born 16 November 1966) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden. He earned 53 international caps for the Sweden national speedway team. Career Nilsen came to prominence in 1984, when he won the Swe ...
finishing third in the Final. Bradford Dukes rider Mark Loram finished 4th in the Final. Loram would later go on to be the 2000 World Champion after winning the
Speedway Grand Prix Speedway Grand Prix are a series of stand-alone motorcycle speedway events over the course of a season used to determine the Speedway World Champion. The series started in 1995 replacing the previous format of a single event final. The first ...
series that year.


Individual World Championship


World Pairs Championship


World Team Cup

''* Odsal hosted the third of 3 rounds in the Final.''


Speedway Grand Prix


American Football

Several
American Football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
games were played at Odsal in 1988 when the Leeds Cougars home ground,
McLaren Field McLaren Field was a rugby league stadium in Bramley, Leeds, England. It was the home of Bramley R.L.F.C. from 1965 to 1995. The ground was also used as a home base for several years by the Leeds-based American football team Leeds Cougars of t ...
in Bramley was being reseeded. Against the Glasgow Lions, the Cougars won 15–12 after a last minute field-goal by Linebacker Glenn Stowe with just twenty seconds to go. In the other Odsal fixture against the Fylde Falcons, the Cougars were narrowly defeated by 17 points to 8. Following the popularity of these two games, good turnouts reported at the natural bowl of Odsal, the Leeds Cougars made Odsal their home-base for the entire 1989 season. Victories included a 56 – 22 win against the Leicester Panthers, 26–12 against the Nottingham Hoods, a comfortable 63 – 30 win against the
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
Stormbringers, and a nail-biting 20–14 victory against the conference leaders the Birmingham Bulls. A complete copy of the
Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...
National Division matchday programme vs Birmingham, along with other programmes, has been archived online at the Leeds Cougars History website. YouTube features an archived video recording of the Leeds Cougars versus Birmingham Bulls American Football fixture at Odsal:


Women's Football

In August 1939, despite an FA ban on women's football, an international women's match took place at Odsal featuring Preston Ladies versus an all-star Belgian women's team. The match was attended by the Lord Mayor and local football dignitaries including the directors of Bradford City and Bradford Park Avenue. David Steele, manager of Bradford Park Avenue was the referee and two Avenue players, Bob Danskin and Chick Farr were linesmen.


Show Jumping

Equestrian events took place at Odsal Stadium in 1957 and again in 1958. The top prize of £1,000 was available to the winner, plus trophies for the winner and runner up. Thirty tonnes of river sand was spread across the pitch to give the horses a softer landing when jumping the fences.
Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...
was the winner of the Airedale Stakes showjumping competition. An expected 20,000 spectators on the second and final day never materialised, just 6,000 people attending, which resulted in the event making a loss of £1,700. Despite this, showjumping returned the following year, before being permanently cancelled by Bradford Northern's directors as unprofitable, the event replaced by a series of miniature car races in 1959.


Baseball

Baseball became popular in the 1930s, played in stadiums throughout Northern England until the outbreak of Second World War, after which it faded. Gambling was permitted on the games, and pools magnate
Sir John Moores Sir John Moores (25 January 1896 – 25 September 1993) was an English businessman, telegraphist, football club owner, politician and philanthropist, most famous for the founding of the now defunct Littlewoods retail and football pools company ...
from
Littlewoods Littlewoods was a retail and football betting company founded in Liverpool, England, by John Moores in 1923. By the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe but subsequently declined in the face of increased compe ...
sponsored and provided kit to the newly-launched North of England League, baseball providing rugby league and football clubs with off-season summer income. In the inaugural competition hosted in 1935, two years after Odsal Stadium opened, Bradford Northern RLFC entered a baseball team also called Bradford Northern who came second in the league to the champions Oldham Greyhounds with ten wins out of fourteen. Other nearby baseball clubs in Bradford included the City Sox and the Greenfield Giants who were based two miles away at the Greenfield Stadium, Bradford at
Dudley Hill Dudley Hill is a village in the borough of City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England and is in Tong ward. History There are a few mentions of the name Dudley Hill prior to the Industrial Revolution. Religious history John Wesley (1703– ...
. Bradford's baseball history is noted in the book 'British Baseball and the West Ham Club' by Josh Chetwynd and Brian A. Belton, which was published in 2007. A readable excerpt is featured on Google Books which mentions Odsal and the Bradford clubs.


Tennis

In 1939, Odsal Stadium played host to the British Isles and Western Europe tour of the leading men's
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
players of the day: Donald Budge, Big Bill Tilden, H. Ellsworth Vines, and Lester Stoefen. A film capturing this event was created by local filmmaker, C. H. Wood which additionally features a rugby league cup semi final which took place at the time at Odsal, and is available to watch online at the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive.


Other Sporting Events

Other sports which have been played at Odsal since opening, include
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
and
kabbadi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...
. In 2017, an exhibition
hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
match took place for the filming of Gold, the 2018
film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
featuring actor
Akshay Kumar Akshay Hari Om Bhatia (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia; 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian actor and film producer working in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as "Khiladi Kumar", through his career span ...
portraying the story of India’s men’s hockey team which won its first gold after partition, defeating England Great Britain 4–0 at Wembley at the 1948 Olympics.


Layout

The stadium is unusual for UK stadia – a sunken bowl featuring a grass pitch surrounded by an oval shale motorsports track.


Rooley Avenue End

Capacity- 7,290 (standing)
The Rooley Avenue End is at the northern end of the stadium. It is open terracing and is where the big screen is erected for televised games. The stand has turnstiles that back onto Rooley Avenue.


East Stand

Capacity- 4,890 (seating)
The East Stand is the only part of the ground that is covered and has seating. The stand runs parallel to the pitch and has "BULLS" spelt out on the seats. The stand houses home supporters and most season ticket holders as well as the press and some executive seats. There are also bars and toilets at the top of the stand.


South Bank

Capacity- 620 (seating)
The South Bank is the stadium's commercial hospitality stand and the most recently built structure, having been completed in 2002. It has two levels, each containing a banqueting suite and seats looking out onto the pitch. Speedway was forced to end its association with Odsal after the hospitality building was built.


West Stand

Capacity- 9,309 (standing)
The West Stand is uncovered terracing and houses the players changing rooms and tunnel as well as TV gantry at the top of the stand. The supporters' bar is in the north-west corner of the stand which also houses a manual scoreboard and clock. At the top of the stand, on ground level with Rooley Avenue, is the car park and club shop and ticket office. There are a few hospitality boxes at the top of the stand, but these have not been used since the construction of the South Bank.


Grass Pitch

The pitch at Odsal has a distinctive concave contour, with the corners behind the try-line noticeably sloping up towards the stands, due to the stadium hosting F1 and F2
stock cars Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...
, and previously
speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...
, the corners of the pitch removed to allow full use of the track. When stock cars and speedway departed Odsal, the corners became semi-permanent and were not as pronounced as they once were, however since the successful return of stock cars and banger racing in 2021 and the associated re-addition of a sloping
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
track, significant removable sloping corner pieces have returned. The pitch has also been narrowed by several meters to accommodate the
motorsports Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the po ...
racing track.


Motorsports Track

There has been a specialist oval racing track at Odsal in-place for
motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...
and later,
stock cars Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...
, since 1945. Implemented by Bradford Northern rugby director Harry Hornby and motorsports promoter Johnnie Hoskins, the original surface surrounding the rugby pitch was an especially designed sloping compacted dirt track. Over the decades, the shape of the track has remained the same, although the surface has alternated between dirt, shale and tarmac, dependent upon the stadium's usage at the time. When speedway ceased in 1977, the
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
track was tarmacked over by Stuart Bamforth, stock cars continuing to race on the tarmac surface, shale later returning for the 1985 Speedway World Final. The track remained
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
until motorsports were forced to leave in Odsal in 1997, during which time the Bradford Dukes were crowned Elite Speedway Champions, ending the stadium's long association with car and motorbike racing. Assuming motorsport wouldn't return, in 1990, the shale was relocated to create a new racing track in
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
. The remaining track underlay was reduced in width and tarmacked over, expanding the width of the pitch while leaving the track in a state of cracked disrepair until stock car promoter Steve Rees negotiated a change of heart from the RFL who permitted competitive
motorsports Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the po ...
to return. Although speedway failed to make a comeback as the media suggested may happen, under the management of Rees's Startrax, stock cars and banger racing successfully made a comeback the following year, enabling the Bradford Bulls to return home from exile. 7000 fans attended the F1 World Final in August 2021, however a rain-drenched end of term ‘firework spectacular’ later that year exposed critical drainage problems which required urgent attention. Taking over the reigns from Startrax, the new promotions company assuming management of motorsports at Odsal, YorStox, discovered the drains were not properly connected. Addressing the issue so the problem wouldn't return, they also re-laid a modified surface. “We are putting down a different type of shale, but the main problem was the drainage,” YorStox promoter Russell Andrew told the Telegraph and Argus Newspaper.


Legacy Park

In the run up to the
2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, Bradford City Council bid for an Olympic Legacy Park to be built at Odsal and the Richard Dunn Sport Centre. Bradford's bid was turned down in favour of Sheffield, making the prospect of improvements to Odsal in the near future unlikely.


Sponsorship

For two periods between 2006 and 2017 the ground officially carried the name of the Bradford Bulls' principle sponsor. From 2006 until 2010 it was referred to as the Grattan Stadium, Odsal due to sponsorship from retail company Grattan. From 2013 until 2017 it was referred to as the Provident Stadium, the sponsors being
Provident Financial Vanquis Banking Group, formerly Provident Financial plc, is a British bank headquartered in Bradford, England which specialises in credit cards, loans and consumer vehicle finance. It primarily services customers with a sub-prime credit his ...
. In March 2024, the Bulls confirmed trading exchange company Bartercard would assume the naming rights to Odsal, with the stadium known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium.


Attendance records

*All time record: ::102,569 – 1954 Challenge Cup Final replayHalifax vs.
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
, 5 May 1954. ** ''(World record
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
attendance, stood until 6 March 1999)''
*Super League record: ::24,020 –
Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
vs.
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, 3 September 1999. *International record: ::42,685 –
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
vs.
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, 20 December 1947 *World Cup record: ::32,773 –
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
vs.
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, 8 October 1960 *Speedway record: ::47,050 –
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
vs.
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, 5 July 1947 *Stock Cars record: ::38,000 Wednesday 26 May 1954


See also

*
Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...
*
BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars is a class of single-seater stock-car-racing in the UK with custom-built cars, with races conducted on walled oval tracks of either shale or tarmac of approximately a quarter-mile in length. The cars follow open wh ...
*
Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain The Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain is a motorcycle speedway event that is a part of the Speedway Grand Prix (world championship) series. The Millennium Stadium hosted the British GP for the first time in 2001 until 2025. The National Sp ...


References


Bibliography

*


External links


Odsal Stadium Official Website
{{Authority control Multi-purpose stadiums in the United Kingdom Rugby league stadiums in England Stock car racing venues Stock car racing in the United Kingdom Motorsport venues in England Defunct football venues in England Defunct speedway venues in England Defunct American football venues in the United Kingdom Sports venues in Bradford Sports venues completed in 1934 1934 establishments in England