Bradford Bulls: Difference between revisions

Bradford Bulls
	File:Logo bradford bullsPNG.PNG
Full name	Bradford Bulls Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)	Bulls
Founded	1881
Region	Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Ground(s)	Grattan Stadium (Capacity: 27,000)
Chairman	Peter Hood
Coach(es)	Steve McNamara
Captain(s)	Paul Deacon
League(s)	Super League (Europe)
2007	3rd
1st kit	2nd kit
Official website
	www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

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Revision as of 23:40, 16 September 2007

Bradford Bulls is a professional Rugby League club based in the city of Bradford, England. It has been one of the major success stories of the Super League era, with the 2003 season being its best where the club successfully won all of the major Rugby League honours, (Challenge Cup, Superleague Championship, World Club Championship, and Minor Premier) The team jersey is white with red, black and amber hoops. The club plays its home games at Grattan Stadium which is located to the south of the city centre.

History

1863 - 1907: In the Beginning

The Bradford Rugby Club was formed in 1863. Park Avenue was established as their home ground in 1880. It achieved its first major success by winning the Yorkshire Cup in 1884. In 1895, along with cross-town neighbours Manningham, Bradford was among 22 clubs to secede from the Rugby Football Union after a historic meeting at The George Hotel in Huddersfield, in response to a dispute over "broken time" payments to players. These 22 clubs formed the Northern Rugby Union. In 1903-4 Bradford finished level on points with Salford at the top of the league and then won the resulting play-off 5-0. Manningham ran into financial difficulties and, despite a summer archery contest that generated enough money to ensure their survival, its members were persuaded to change to Association football. The club was invited to join the Football League in 1903, in an attempt to introduce the soccer to the rugby-dominated region, and the newly renamed Bradford City AFC was voted into full membership of the Second Division without playing a game of soccer, having a team or being able to guarantee a ground.

There was also a demand for Association Football at Park Avenue, which played host to soccer matches as well as Northern Union games. The first game of Association Football played at Park Avenue is believed to have been between Blackburn Rovers and Blackburn Olympic F.C. and in 1895 a Bradford side beat a team from Moss Side, Manchester 4 -1 in front of 3,000 spectators. In 1905-6 Bradford beat Salford 5-0 to win the Challenge Cup and were runners up in the Championship. The following season winning the Yorkshire Cup 8-5 against Hull Kingston Rovers.

With soccer already successful at Bradford City, a meeting was called of the club members on April 15th 1907 to decide the club's future. An initial vote appeared to favour continuing in the Northern Union, then opinion shifted towards rugby union but the Chairman, Mr Briggs, used his influence to swing the committee behind Association football. This act, sometimes referred to as "The Great Betrayal", led to Bradford becoming a soccer club, Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. and a new team Bradford Northern was created to take the available place in the Northern Union. Bradford Northern's first home was Greenfield Athletic Ground.

Bradford Northern

Bradford moved to Birch Lane in 1908. Bradford council offered Bradford a site for a new stadium between Rooley Lane and Mayo Avenue in 1927. However the RFL said the site was too small and the club kept on looking. On 20 June 1933 Bradford Northern signed a ten-year lease with Bradford council for a former quarry being used as a waste dump at Odsal Top. It was turned into the biggest stadium outside Wembley. The Bradford Northern team played its first match there on September 1st 1934. Before moving to Odsal Bradford had had two other homes, Greenfield Athletic Ground in Dudley Hill and Birch Lane which was part of Bowling Old Lane Cricket ground, although at times they also had to hire Valley Parade as the capacity at Birch Lane was not sufficient enough for large matches.

1940s Success came in the 1940s with a number of cup wins: the Yorkshire cup in 1940-1, 1942-3, 1944-5, 1945-6, 1948-9 and 1949-50; and the Challenge cup 1943-4, 1946-7 and 1948-9. In the championship Bradford found it difficult to win either before the war or after despite being runners up in 1942-3 and 1947-8. The 1947-8 Challenge Cup final was notable as it was the first rugby league match to be attended by the reigning monarch, King George VI, who presented the trophy. It was also the first televised rugby league match as it was broadcast to the Midlands. Unfortunately Bradford lost 8-3 to Wigan. The 1949 Challenge Cup final was sold out for first time as 95,050 spectators saw Bradford beat Halifax.

1950s

In 1951-2 Bradford were runners up in the league but beat New Zealand at Odsal in the first floodlit football match of any code in the North of England. In 1953, a crowd of 69,429 watched Bradford play Huddersfield in the Challenge Cup third round. This was Northern’s highest ever attendance. Northern also won the Yorkshire Cup final 7-2 against Hull. Bradford Northern and Leigh were the first rugby league clubs to stage matches on a Sunday in December 1954, although there was opposition from the Sunday Observance lobby.

1960s

Bradford Northern's support declined rapidly in the 1963 season, attracting a record low crowd of 324 against Barrow. Northern went out of business on 10th December 1963 having played just 13 matches; winning 1 and losing 12, scoring 109 points and conceding 284. In 1964, the Bradford Northern club reformed through the efforts of such people as Trevor Foster and Joe Phillips and were accepted back into the Rugby League. The reformed club won its first cup in 1965-66 by beating Hunslet 17-8 in the final of the Yorkshire Cup.

1970s In 1972-3 Bradford lost the Challenge Cup final against Featherstone 33-14. In 1973-4 Bradford won the Second Division Championship and were promoted back to the First Division. During this season Keith Mumby made his debut, becoming the Bradford's youngest player at only 16 years of age, scoring 12 goals and a try in a match against Doncaster. He went on to make a record 576 appearances for the club. In 1974-75 Bradford won the Regal Trophy 3-2 against Widnes. Peter Fox joined Bradford as coach for the first time in 1977-78. Bradford won the Premiership final 17-8 against Widnes and were also Championship runners-up. In 1978-79 Bradford appeared in another Premiership final this time losing 24-2 to Leeds. A year later Bradford won the Championship and Regal Trophy, Peter Fox winning the award for Coach of the Year. In 1980-81 the club made it back to back championships.

1980s In 1981-82 Bradford lost the Yorkshire Cup final 18-7 against Castleford and lost again in 1982-83, this time 18-7 against Hull. Keith Mumby won the award for First Division Player of the Year while Brian Noble won the Young Player award. In 1985 Ellery Hanley left Northern to join Wigan for a then record transfer deal, worth £80,000 and a player exchange involving Steve Donlan and Phil Ford. In 1987-8 Bradford won the Yorkshire Cup final replay against Castleford 11-2 after drawing 12-12. In 1989-90 Bradford beat Featherstone 20-14 in the Yorkshire Cup final. Bradford lost the Regal Trophy against Warrington 12-2 in 1990-91. In 1993-4, the last Championship before Super League, Bradford finished as runners up behind Wigan on points difference.

The Super League era

Bradford Bulls Became very successful in the Super League, they have won the title in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005

Season Summaries

P=Premiers, R=Runner-Ups, M=Minor Premierships, F=Finals Appearance, W=Wooden Spoons
(Brackets Represent Finals Games)
Competition Playing In	Games Played	Games Won	Games Drawn	Games Lost	Ladder Position	P	R	M	F	Coach	Captain	Main Article
Super League 1	22	17	0	5	3/12					Brian Smith	Robbie Paul	Bradford Bulls 1996
Super League 2	22	20	0	2	1/12	X				Matthew Elliott		Bradford Bulls 1997
Super League 3	23	12	0	11	5/12				X			Bradford Bulls 1998
Super League 4	30	25	1	4	1\12		X	X	X			Bradford Bulls 1999
Super League 5	28	20	3	5	3/12				X			Bradford Bulls 2000
Super League 6	28	22	1	5	1/12	X		X	X	Brian Noble		Bradford Bulls 2001
Super League 7	30	24	0	6	3/12		X		X			Bradford Bulls 2002
Super League 8	30	24	0	6	1/12	X		X	X			Bradford Bulls 2003
Super League 9	28	20	1	7	2/12		X		X			Bradford Bulls 2004
Super League 10	28	18	1	9	3/12	X			X		Jamie Peacock	Bradford Bulls 2005
Super League 11	28	16	2	10	4/12				X	Brian Noble / Steve McNamara	Iestyn Harris	Bradford Bulls 2006
Super League 12	27	16	1	9	3 / 12				X	Steve McNamara	Paul Deacon	Bradford Bulls 2007

Stadium

Odsal Stadium is a stadium situated in Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The venue is used for rugby league and has been the home ground of Bradford Bulls since 1934. The official name of the stadium is currently "Grattan Stadium" due to corporate sponsorship. Odsal has also hosted many other sports, including association football, speedway, stock car racing, basketball featuring the Harlem Globetrotters, wrestling, show jumping and kabaddi. The stadium boasts one of the largest attendances of all time for rugby league (102,569) when Halifax played Warrington on the 5th of May, 1954.

2007 Squad

For current season: Bradford Bulls 2007

As of Rd 27, 14th September, 2007:

Appearances and Points include all matches

No	Player	Position	Weight & Height	Age	Previous Club	Contracted Until	App	Tries	Goals	Points
1	Marcus St Hilaire	Full Back	95 kg & 5 ft 10	30	Halifax RLFC	2007	24	7	0	28
2	Nathan McAvoy	Winger	104 kg,6 ft 4”	30	Wigan Warriors	2007	29	1	0	4
3	Ben Harris	Centre	97 kg, 5 ft 10	23	Canterbury Bulldogs	2007	29	7	0	28
4	Shontayne Hape	Centre	104 kg, 6 ft 2	25	New Zealand Warriors	2008	8	5	0	20
6	Iestyn Harris	Stand Off	92 kg, 6 ft	31	Cardiff Blues	2008	25	3	19	54
7	Paul Deacon (c)	Scrum Half	80 kg, 5 ft 9	28	Oldham Bears	2008	25	5	114	248
8	Joe Vagana	Prop	120 kg, 6 ft 3	32	New Zealand Warriors	2008	28	7	0	28
9	Terry Newton	Hooker	98 kg, 5 ft 10 in	28	Wigan Warriors	2008	25	10	0	40
10	Andy Lynch	Prop	108 kg, 6 ft 2 in	27	Castleford Tigers	2008	29	6	0	24
11	Chris McKenna	Second Rower	97 kg, 6 ft 3 in	32	Leeds Rhinos	2007	26	4	0	16
12	Glenn Morrison (vc)	Second Rower	97 kg, 6 ft	31	Parramatta Eels	2008	27	11	0	46
13	Jamie Langley	Loose Forward	108 kg, 6 ft 2 in	23	Bradford Bulls Academy	2010	18	4	0	16
14	Chris Feather	Prop	114 kg, 6 ft 4 in	25	Leeds Rhinos	2009	17	0	0	0
15	Matt Cook	Second Rower	95 kg, 6 ft	20	Bradford Bulls Academy	2009	16	1	0	4'
16	Ian Henderson	Hooker	91 kg, 5 ft 9 in	24	Parramatta Eels	2007	31	7	0	28
17	James Evans	Centre	89 kg, 6 ft	28	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	2008	24	11	0	44
18	Sam Burgess	Prop	111 kg, 6 ft 3 in	18	Bradford Bulls Academy	2009	29	3	5	22
19	Michael Platt	Full Back	93 kg, 6 ft 2 in	23	Castleford Tigers	2008	27	14	0	56
20	Tame Tupou	Winger	110 kg, 195 cm	24	Brisbane Broncos	2011	11	9	0	36
22	Craig Kopczak	Prop	98 kg, 6 ft 4 in	20	Bradford Bulls Academy	2007	4	0	0	0
23	Matt James	Prop	100 kg, 6 ft 2 in	20	Bradford Bulls Academy	2009	12	0	0	0
24	Dave Halley	Winger	78 kg, 5 ft 9 in	21	Bradford Bulls Academy	2009	8	3	0	12
25	Jason Crookes	Loose Forward	83 kg, 5 ft 10	17	Bradford Bulls Academy	2008	0	0	0	0
26	David Solomona	Second Rower	108 kg, 6 ft	29	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	2009	31	11	0	46
27	Richard Hawkyard	Scrum half		21	Bradford Bulls Academy		3	1	0	4

Possible Run-on team

Bradford Bulls Possible Run-on team

8Joe Vagana		9Terry Newton		10Andy Lynch
	11Chris McKenna		26David Solomona
		12Glenn Morrison

		16Ian Henderson
			6Iestyn Harris
				4Shontayne Hape
					17James Evans
20Tame Tupou						1Marcus St Hilaire
			19 Michael Platt

Subs

Injuries

7 Paul Deacon - back in the play -offs
13 Jamie Langley

Head Coach

C Steve McNamara

2008 Player Signings/Transfers

|- bgcolor=#FFFFFF |align=center| |align=center|Joe Vagana |align=center|N/A |align=center|Re-signed for 1 year |align=center|June 2007 |}

2008 Transfer Losses

Name	Sold to	Fee	Date
Lesley Vainikolo	Gloucester RFC	N/A	June 2007
Ian Henderson	New Zealand Warriors	N/A	November 2007
Ben Harris	North Queensland	N/A	November 2007
Chris McKenna	Doncaster RLFC	N/A	November 2007
Nathan McAvoy	Released	N/A	November 2007
Marcus St Hilaire	Released	N/A	November 2007

Captains

Name	Started	Ended	Notes
Robbie Paul	1996	2004	Peacock took captaincy
Jamie Peacock	2005	2005	Moved to Leeds Rhinos
Iestyn Harris	2006	2006	Deacon took captaincy
Paul Deacon	2007	Present	N/A

Coaching Register

From 1930 -

Name	Contract Started	Contract Ended	Notes
Dai Rees	1936	1960	Sacked
Trevor Foster	1960	1961	Sacked
Doug Greenall	1961	1961	Sacked
Jimmy Ledgard	1961	1962	Sacked
Harry Beverley	1962	1963	Sacked
Jack Wilkinson	1963	1963	Sacked
Gus Risman	1964	1971	Sacked
Harry Street	1971	1972	Sacked
Ian Brooke	1973	1975	Sacked
Roy Francis	1975	1977	Resigned due to ill health
Peter Fox	1977	1985	end contract
Barry Seaborne	1985	1989	Resigned
\|David Hobbs	1989	1989	Caretaker Role
Ron Willey	1989	1990	Sacked
David Hobbs	1990	1993	Sacked
Peter Fox	1993	1995	Sacked
Brian Smith	1995	1996	Moved to Parramatta Eels
Matthew Elliott	1996	2000	Moved to Canberra Raiders
Brian Noble	2001	2006	Moved to Wigan Warriors
Steve McNamara	2006	N/A

Player Records

All-time Top 5 Bradford Bulls Tryscorers

	Name	Tries
	Jack McLean	261
	David Redfearn	240
	Tommy Winnard	167
	Eric Batten	156
	Robbie Paul	156

All-time Top 5 Bradford Bulls Point Scorers

	Name	Points
	Paul Deacon*	2,000
	Keith Mumby	1985

All-time Top 5 Bradford Bulls Appearances

	Name	Appearances
	Keith Mumby	588
	George Carmichael	473
	David Redfearn	470
	Trevor Foster	433
	Ernest Ward	391

Former Super League Players

No.		Position	Player Paul Anderson – PR Ryan Atkins – CE Michael Banks – PR Marcus Bai – WG Chris Birchall – PR Graeme Bradley – HB Chris Bridge – HB Justin Brooker – FB David Boyle – SR Matt Calland – CE Gary Christie – WG Richard Colley – HK Paul Cook – WG Brandon Costin – CE Kevin Crouthers – SR Jason Donahue – HK Jeremy Donougher – SR Bernard Dwyer – SR Shaun Edwards – HB Abi Ekoku – WG Karl Fairbank – PR Brett Ferres – SR Stuart Fielden – PR Mike Forshaw – LK

No.		Position	Player Daniel Gartner – SR Stanley Gene – HB Lee Gilmour – SR Nathan Graham – FB Jon Hamer – PR Gareth Handford – PR Neil Harmon – PR Carlos Hassan – WG Tommy Hodgkinson – HK Andy Hodgson – WG Harvey Howard – PR Phil Howlett – WG Paul Johnson – CE Warren Jowett – SR Simon Knox – PR Toa Kohe-Love – CE Davide Longo – HB Paul Loughlin – CE James Lowes – HK Brad Mackay – LK Greame Mackay – WG Nathan McAvoy – CE Brian McDermott – PR

No.		Position	Player Craig McDowell – PR Steve McNamara – LK Paul Medley – SR Richard Moore – PR Adrian Morley – PR Brad Meyers – PR Scott Naylor – CE Sonny Nickle – PR Rob Parker – PR Henry Paul – HB Robbie Paul – HB Danny Peacock – PR Jamie Peacock – PR Karl Pratt – HB Leon Pryce – HB Karl Pryce – WG Lee Radford – PR Stuart Reardon – FB Tahi Reihana – PR Shane Rigon – CE Jon Scales – WG Roger Simpson – FB Aaron Smith – HK

No.		Position	Player Andy Smith – HK Hudson Smith – SR Stuart Spruce – HB Gareth Stanley – PR Logan Swann – SR Joe Tamani – WG Glen Tomlinson – HB Lesley Vainikolo – WG Tevita Vaikona – WG Alex Wilkinson – WG Michael Withers – FB Jeff Wittenberg – PR Nick Zisti – WG

Team of the Century

As announced in Bradford's T&A Paper on 31 August, 2007 :Bradford's Team of the Century

Bradford Bulls Team Of The Century

8 Stuart Fielden		9 James Lowes		10 Joe Vagana
	11 Trevor Foster		12 Karl Fairbank
		13Ken Traill

		7 Paul Deacon
			6 Robbie Paul
				4Shontayne Hape
					3Ernest Ward
5 Lesley Vainikolo						2Jack McLean
			1 Keith Mumby