Bradford toasts Odsal at 90 after years of ups and downs

September 1, 1934 was an historic occasion, as Bradford Northern played their first-ever game at the famous old ground, which at the time was the biggest stadium in England aside from Wembley.

It marked a departure from Birch Lane after around a quarter-of-a-century, with Northern having simply outgrown the venue, often needing to use Bradford City’s Valley Parade ground for major matches.

Bradford lost at their vast new Odsal ground on day one, going down 31-16 to an experienced Huddersfield side, a perfectly fitting result for a stadium that has seen as many downs as ups over the years.

Open to the elements, Bradford have long suffered battles against the weather, with matches played in quagmires or postponed altogether even now.

And in the late 30s, local children used to come up to Odsal Top to help clear snow from the ground, where long serving head coach Dai Rees may even have helped himself to an impromptu scouting mission or two.

And it was under Rees’ leadership during the 1940s that Northern and Odsal really took off, as one of the club’s greatest ever sides graced the field.

Set against the gloomy backdrop of World War II, the team gave the city reason for optimism, with three Yorkshire Cups in four years, the last of those coming in the same season as their first-ever Challenge Cup triumph.

In the half-decade immediately after the Allied victory, Northern went on to win another two Challenge Cups and three more Yorkshire Cups.

As for Odsal itself, well it played a surprisingly important role in the war effort, part of the clubhouse being used as an Air Raid Precautions Centre and a dressing room acting as a map room to help keep an eye out for enemy attacks.

The stadium really could do it all back in the day, opening to speedway straight after the war.

And not only were the Odsal Boomerangs attracting average crowds of over 20,000, the England team were also piquing an interest in BD6.

A mammoth 47,050 fans turned up to watch Australia take a hiding at the ground in July 1947, losing a Test match at the ground 65-43.

Five months later, 42,685 spectators witnessed England beat New Zealand 25-9 there.

Women’s football, baseball and tennis were all played at Odsal in its first 15 years of existence, while stock cars, showjumping and even American Football all came later on.

And how about those crowds? Odsal usually welcomes around 3,000 fans in for Bulls games in 2024, yet 70 years ago, a mind-blowing 102,569 people witnessed a Challenge Cup final replay at the ground between Warrington and Halifax.

Any room for one more? Odsal welcomes over 100,000 spectators in 1954, for a game Bradford were not even playing in! (Image: Newsquest.)

That world-record attendance for a rugby league match was not bettered until 1999.

Odsal had also hosted four Challenge Cup finals during the war, helping it cement its status as, at the time, the genuine ‘Wembley of the North’.

Yet the ground has been suffering its fair share of traumas since even the early days.

While 1951 was notable at Odsal for Bradford beating New Zealand there in the first-ever floodlit rugby league match in the north, it was also the same year that council engineer Ernest Wardley revealing his plans for building a super stadium of 92,000 capacity on the site.

Fourteen long years and one liquidation later, the overly-ambitious plans were finally shelved.

Odsal was a true trailblazer in its first 20 years, even risking the wrath of a higher power by hosting rugby league matches on a Sunday in 1954.

But the end of the long honeymoon period was nigh, and as the 50s made way to the 60s, times proved rather bleak.

Odsal lost its speedway team in 1960, and just three years later, with Northern attracting crowds of under 500 people, the club went out of business.

Mercifully, a new club was quickly reformed, meaning Odsal only went nine months without Bradford Northern, and as the team improved in the 1970s and early 1980s, so did crowds and so did the feelgood factor around the ground.

It hosted Rugby League World Cup games, stock car world championship encounters and as for speedway, that returned, left, then came back with a vengeance in the mid-1980s, hosting world finals no less, as well as a new Bradford Dukes team that won eight trophies in 11 years.

Bradford Dukes icon Gary Havelock, the 1992 World Speedway Champion, soaks up the Odsal atmosphere. (Image: NQ Staff.)

There was also a returning of the favour to the Bantams that had been owed from the pre-Odsal days, as the ground hosted City games there following the horrific Valley Parade Fire Disaster in 1985.

Speedway left the building again 1997, but Odsal did enjoy a rugby league renaissance as part of the Bullmania days.

A massive crowd of over 24,000 fans watched Bulls (rebranded from Northern when Super League began in 1996) beat Leeds there in 1999, as Odsal played host to a rugby league team that, for a decade, was one of the best in the world.

The last 20 years have brought more bad than good for Odsal, with development plans constantly shelved, money worries forcing the club to leave home for over 18 months, and the prospect of a £50m refurbishment falling by the wayside.

And in this new IMG era, with promotion and relegation now decided on more than just on-field results, the stadium unsurprisingly falls short on the necessary criteria, as the tired old venue wears every one of its 90 years.

But the return of stock cars to Odsal continues to bring money in, the lease is coming back into Bulls’ hands after 12 years with the RFL and developments are being made to satisfy that all-new grading model mentioned above.

For all its faults, Odsal has taken its many hits like a champ, and has staggered its way to 90 as a multi-sports venue, with vast open spaces to host events like food and drink festivals.

Another decade, and she’ll be getting a well-deserved telegram from the King.