JASON Hirst knows all too well the financial turmoil the Bradford Bulls have endured down the years, having been a fan since 1976.

So now the 53-year-old is CEO, he is determined to keep his business head on, to ensure the club never experience that again.

In a T&A survey at the end of 2022, nearly 75 per cent of the 201 fans that voted said a lack of financial transparency from the club was the situation that worried them the most at Bulls in 2022.

But in part one of a lengthy sit down interview with the T&A, Hirst told us: “We’re financially sound, that’s the headline statement.

“We have an historical RFL loan that we pay back in full every month but we’re no different to any other professional or semi-professional club, in that we have long-term financing agreements.

“The salient point is that under the current ownership, leadership and management team, we have been meeting, and will continue to meet, our financial obligations every month.

“Myself, as CEO and a proud Bradfordian, along with the others running the club who are proud Bradfordians, who care passionately about Bulls, we won’t put the club at financial risk unduly.”

People have questioned why Hirst performs such a key role for free, but he explained: “I see myself as a custodian of this club, but I made it clear that I didn’t want paying.

“I’m 53 now and I’ve done okay in life, working full-time in a responsible job for a large local company.

“I’ve been able to retire in the last 12 months, because I’d worked hard and earned the money I needed.

“I’m a passionate fan of the club and I wanted to give something back.

“I saw Bulls needed help and I believe the skill set and experience I have from working since the day I left school stands the club in good stead.

“It was never about the money, but it was about doing my part, alongside everyone else, to get this club back into Super League.”

But that on-field goal will not be achieved by crazy spending or risk taking, with Hirst saying: “It’s vitally important to all of us at the club, not just Nigel Wood and I, that we’re financially sound.

“We’ve had a turbulent financial history over the last 20 years, but even before that, the club had to reform in 1964.

“There’s a long history of financial hardships here, and I’m determined that as long as I’m CEO, that won’t happen again.

“The club has rugby league teams, and they’re all vitally important, but what we must remember is that it’s a business.

“It’s okay having a successful team out on the field, but if it’s built on sand it’s going to collapse.

“It’s about being financially stable, bringing in more investment and sponsors, and being successful on the field.

“But we need success on and off the field, and when we get both, we’ll be in a better position than we have been in the recent past.”

Hirst sets standards for himself too, and said: “What’s important to me is that each day I come and work for the Bulls, I add value and make a positive impact.

“What motivates me every day is getting this club back into Super League.

“It pains me that we’re not there, and I understand why we’re not, but that’s my motivation.

“If we get back there under my tenure, brilliant, there’ll be no one prouder than myself.

“But if someone else takes us on and gets us back there instead, I’ll still be as pleased, because I’m a fan.

“But I’m also the CEO, and I have to run this club as a business.

“I won’t put the financial well-being of the club at risk for the sake of success on the field.”

Running the club as a business has meant having to share Odsal with stock cars, which has led to discontent among Bulls fans over the narrow pitch and dirtied main stand.

Hirst addressed this by saying: “A few years back, we were playing in Dewsbury, not at our spiritual home of Odsal.

“Nigel came in and said he’d bring us back here, which is what the vast majority of fans wanted.

“He delivered on that, but one condition of that, to make that viable, was to work with and accommodate the stock car promoters.

“We have a good relationship with them, even if it’s challenging at times.

“They have their priorities and we have ours, but, like most things in life, if you sit down face to face and talk it through, you usually come to a resolution.

“The stock car people are no different to those running the Bulls, in that they are good people who care passionately about their sport.

“We work alongside them, and without them, we wouldn’t have been able to return to Odsal.”

Hirst added: “I’d like to pay tribute to the volunteers, staff and contracting companies who help us clean the stadium after stock car racing.

“It’s not easy and not always 100 per cent perfect but everyone works really hard doing what they can, so it would be remiss of me not to thank them.

“It’s well documented that the pitch is narrow but we’re working on that.

“We’re doing our best to make it wider, so as and when we have news on that, we’ll communicate that as a club.”

How long Odsal remains a part of Bradford's future is up in the air, after last month's news that a planned redevelopment of the stadium and the surrounding area would not be getting £50m of Levelling Up Government funding as hoped.

Hirst said: “It was a blow, not just to the Bradford Bulls but to the South Bradford community and the whole city really.

“We’re the only major city in rugby league that doesn’t have a modern, 21st century stadium, other than Wakefield, but they’re ploughing on with theirs.

“There are even clubs not in big cities, like Wigan, arguably the most famous and successful rugby league club in the country, it’s not a city, but they’ve got a modern facility, as have Leigh, which is a suburb of Wigan.

“It wasn’t our bid, it was the Bradford Metropolitan District Council’s bid, which we were very grateful for and obviously wholeheartedly supported.

“In terms of the next steps, our future is that we’ll be playing at Odsal this season and next.

“We are meeting with the RFL and Bradford Council very shortly to discuss and digest the blow of not getting the £50m.

“We’ll talk about what the next steps are and what Plan B looks like.

“I want to assure the spectators that we as a club will not give up.

“The blow isn’t terminal and we’ll fight for what the city of Bradford, and Bulls fans in particular, deserve, which is a modern 21st century stadium where they can come and watch the game.

“They can sit down if they choose, undercover if they want to not get wet, and that’s our aim.

“In many way, it’s typical Bradfordians, we work hard and bounce back from adversity.

“That’s what we plan to do, and we’ll do our utmost to deliver a stadium that’s befitting of our fans as soon as possible.

“Ideally that’d be at Odsal, but we’re open to other ideas as well.

“It’s a bit more up in the air (our Odsal future) from 2025, but I don’t want people to be alarmed by that or to read too much into that.

“It’s just that we’d hoped the Levelling Up bid would be successful. Now it’s not, we’ll sit down with Bradford Council and the RFL, to see what we can do to secure our future here beyond the next two years.

“We’re quite relaxed about the situation at Odsal though, knowing that our short-term future is definitely here.”

Asked what he would like to be saying if he was having this same conversation with the T&A in 12 months' time, Hirst said: “A key goal is for us to have a stronger leadership and management board.

“As a club we’re open to investment, so if there’s anybody out there who’s interested in joining the board or putting money into the club, please get in touch with me and I’ll sit down and talk to you.

“If someone wants to invest and work alongside the current leadership, management and ownership group, we’d be open to that.

“Equally, if someone wants to come in and form their own group, rather than working with who’s already here, as long as it’s for the greater good of the Bulls, we’re open to that too, because there’s no-one bigger than this club.

“I’d also love to be sat here in 12 months and say we’re getting a shiny new stadium that’s going to be built and delivered by a fixed date.

“That’s a wish though and certainly not a given.”