Bradford Bulls bosses have revealed pop star Jessie J had been lined up to play one of the first major concerts at the Provident Stadium, but was forced to pull out over a clause in her contract for a summer festival.

The Super League side had originally planned to hold three outdoor concerts on the pitch over the May Bank Holiday weekend, but say that has now been reduced to one after negotiations with a number of acts, including the chart-topping singer, hit obstacles because of other commitments.

The club has already announced an 80s Strike Back gig on Saturday, May 25, featuring pop icons including Rick Astley and Belinda Carlisle, which it says will still go ahead and expects to attract between 12,000-15,000 revellers.

And Ryan Whitcut, general manager of the club, said it would continue to work to secure a big name act for a concert later this year or the May Bank Holiday, 2014.

He said: “We had a number of stadium headline acts who wanted to play and we had agreements with their managements, but they had clauses in their contracts with summer festivals and we couldn’t get them released from those contracts.

“One act lined up was Jessie J, but she had a contact with V Festival.

“We wanted to bring big name acts to Bradford. We had been in talks with Olly Murrs and Bryan Adams.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t pull it off this year, but we are working on something for either later in the year or next May.”

Mr Whitcut said tickets were selling ‘well’ for its 80s concert and hoped sales would pick up pace as the date got closer – bringing in more revenue for the club.

“It’s the first time anything like this has come to Bradford and it’s very exciting.

“We’re expecting 12,000 to 15,000 people at that one and everyone’s going to have a great time.

“It is going to be the first concert of this size at Odsal and a lot of hard work has gone into getting this right. We’re really excited.”

The club now plans to hold family fun days in place of the extra two concerts over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Mr Whitcut said: “We will already have the stage in place and will hold family fun days with local acts.

“We’re building a community club and that will be part of that.

“The 80s concert will be a family event, and we’re all about family values.”