Last Home Game Programme Notes

The programme notes for the Rotherham game are now available in our Programme Notes section. David Pendleton concludes his account of the long and eventful Odsal modernisation saga.

Lincoln City Programme Notes

Apologies for the delay. There are now available in our Programme Notes section. We continue our Odsal odyssey with the National Superdome and the Tesco developments. As ever the ‘Wembley of the North’ was to prove elusive.

The Odsal Debate Continues

A packed bantamspast museum enjoyed a lively debate on the proposed Odsal Sporting Village and City’s involvement. The top table was comprised of: Dave Baldwin (Bradford City’s chief executive), Peter Hood (Bradford Bulls chairman), Cllr Adrian Naylor (executive member regeneration and economy, Conservative), Cllr David Warburton (sports and leisure spokesman, Labour) and Cllr David Ward (deputy leader, Liberal Democrats).

Dave Baldwin opened by stating that City’s position was to remain at Valley Parade and correspondence had been opened with the ground’s owner Gordon Gibb. However, with overheads of £1.2m per year at Valley Parade unless the ground could be bought, or the rent reduced, then quite clearly the club would have to seriously consider Odsal if the Sports Village went ahead. David Baldwin revealed that the club had already talked to the Council and had raised issues such as rent, revenues from advertising, corporate revenues, access to Odsal Stadium on non-match days, besides much else. He reiterated that those talks were very much letting the Council know the club’s issues, but Valley Parade remained the number one choice for the club’s future.

Peter Hood explained the concept of the Odsal Sports Village (OSV) as a venue for a host of sports and said repeatedly that it was not just about getting a new stadium for the Bradford Bulls. For example he wanted fans to envisage a Richard Dunn’s three times its current size. He said that City would be welcome as partners at the OSV and had no doubt that ground sharing could be made to work. Answering questions about what would happen if the OSV failed to materialise, he said that the Bulls would try and make a go of Odsal themselves, but would also have to consider Valley Parade. The Super League was moving forward rapidly with new facilities. Hull, Huddersfield, Warrington and Wigan had built new grounds. Leeds were improving Headingley, St Helens are building a new ground and Castleford are at the planning stage. Clearly, the Bulls would be left behind if Odsal remained in its current state.

Adrian Naylor defended the Council’s pledge of £15m to the OSV saying that it would host a huge number of sports and that 5,000 student athletes would live at the village. It would offer ordinary Bradfordians the chance to train alongside some of the best athletes in the country. He also said that the £15m would attract match funding from many other sources. However, he revealed that they were very much at the planning stage and that no concrete plans had yet been laid.

David Ward, whilst fully supporting the OSV concept, wondered whether it was wise for the Council to fund a project that might potentially take City away from their traditional Manningham home. City play a huge part in bringing thousands of people into the city centre every other Saturday and are a central plank of the Manningham Masterplan – in which incidentally City now play an official role. What would it say about social cohesion if City left Manningham? He ended by saying he had huge concerns about what would happen to Valley Parade itself if City went to the OSV? The thought of it lying derelict and vandalised was inconceivable.

David Warburton hoped that both clubs could find a way of remaining at their traditional homes. However, he fully supported the OSV and revealed that he had even once played at the ground and later had manned the old scoreboard for Northern matches.
When the debate was thrown open to the floor, unsurprisingly a lot of fans wanted to ask David Baldwin about purely City related matters. David reassured fans that the club was committed to Valley Parade, but he had to explore all avenues and if an option became available that could reduce the club’s overheads, then he would be duty bound not to ignore it. He said that he was pleased that the club, Bulls and the Council were involved in an open and honest debate. He wanted the Council to fully understand City’s position. He wanted to build a better relationship with them and get away from the two bodies only speaking to one another when the club was facing a financial crisis.
Peter Hood was asked about where the Bulls would play during the OSV build stages he said he had already spoken to Julian Rhodes and expected that the Bulls could be playing at Valley Parade for two years whilst the OSV was being built.
David Baldwin suggested that the OSV be built as a multi-sport and training venue and that the option of building a new ground be deferred. The Bulls could share Valley Parade and once the OSV was up and running then a proper evaluation of whether a new ground was needed at the OSV could be taken. His preferred option was for a top class multi-sport and training venue at Odsal, but with Valley Parade as the focus for professional sport in Bradford. It would save a huge amount of money at the OSV and would allow even more to be spent on the new Richard Dunn’s and other athlete training facilities. After all, a virtually brand new stadium already existed at Valley Parade.
In the end though it was all about economics, the better the balance sheet the more money the club could give to the manager. In a stark message he said that currently 6,000 season tickets had been sold for next season, if the remaining 4,000 people who currently have season tickets for this campaign don’t renew then the playing budget for next season would be cut by £600,000. He wanted everyone in the room to go out and convince those who had not renewed to do so. He accepted that it was tough given the current run of results – and he had suffered with the fans at Rochdale, Exeter and Bournemouth – but it was vital for the long term success of the club. If the fans walk away now, the job of returning the club to a higher level would be all the more difficult.

Gentle Reminder - the Great Odsal Debate, Part Two

On Saturday the museum will be hosting the second of its Odsal debates, this time with a panel made up of the great and good. Confirmed to attend thus far are:

• Dave Baldwin (Bradford City's Chief Executive)
• Peter Hood (Chairman, Bradford Bulls)
• Cllr David Warburton (Labour Sport and Leisure spokesman)
• Cllr Adrian Naylor (Conservative, Executive Member for Regeneration and the Economy)
  
• Cllr David Ward (Deputy Leader, Liberal Democrat)

The debate will begin at 1.30pm. Supporters are advised to arrive early to get a seat as last time it was standing room only.

Movers and Shakers form Odsal Panel

Prior to the Port Vale game another Odsal debate will take place in the bantamspast museum. This time the movers and shakers of Bradford will form the panel. Thus far Bradford City's chief executive David Baldwin and the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats Councillor David Ward have confirmed their attendance.
We are awaiting replies from the other two main political parties on Bradford Council as well as the Bradford Bulls - though the latter are playing a Super League fixture in France on the same day.
As usual the debate will commence at 1.30pm and admission is free.

Fans' Forum - The Odsal Debate

On Saturday a packed bantamspast museum saw City fans debating whether the club should move to the projected Odsal Sporting Village. One interested observer was City's David Baldwin, who as we shall see, ended up making a valuable contribution.
Nick Kitchen talked of how he had first engaged the council with his petition to increase the council's involvement with the club. The Supporters Trust chairman Alan Carling gave an interesting talk on how they had tried - in vain thus far - to involve the council in a buy out of Valley Parade. He also talked of the possibility of Valley Parade becoming a community owned venue.
Of course, Valley Parade is currently owned by our former chairman Gordon Gibb. The museum's David Pendleton outlined the costs incurred by City and outlined the options understood to be open to the club. At this point City's David Baldwin took the floor and explained that everyone on the board wanted the club to remain at Valley Parade.
Their first option was to buy back the ground, indeed he had written to Gordon Gibb requesting a valuation and was awaiting a reply. If that failed, then they would seek to renegotiate the rent. The current overheads run to £1.2m per year, which is obviously unsustainable for a League Two club. If all that failed, and the Odsal development went ahead, then for the long term viability of the club they would reluctantly consider a move to Odsal.
David Pendleton outlined the heavy public investment that has been made into Odsal since the 1930s. He stressed that the debate should not descend into a City v Bulls bun fight, but that the council should be asked why they were continuing to place such huge amounts of public money into Odsal when a modern large capacity stadium already exists at Valley Parade. Why spend £15m of money from the sale of the airport when probably something in the order of £2.5m would secure Valley Parade? That would leave £12.5m to spend on improving community sporting facilities right across the district
In a final plea, fans were asked to highlight the issues via letters to councillors and newspapers. This is a debate that can be won. The fight for Valley Parade is on.