So there's another Fans Forum tomorrow night in the Legends Suite at Odsal.

Members only and you need to register with your season ticket number to go. Anyone going?

It's not a fans forum is it really because poor suckers who do shift work and work weekends so it made it pointless for a season ticket can't go.

You don't have to buy a full season ticket to join 1863 though.

Yes, I'm going. Bit intrigued by the 'announcement', to be honest. Maybe they're going to tell us officially about the Jonathan Thurston signing? I know it's only until the end of the season, but he'll have to be named in the 19 anyway.

I expect it will be retention of current player/s rather than another player for 2015. Some progress regarding Odsal would also be welcome, I'm intrigued to know what Green's plans are regarding Odsal.

I can't speak for Green, but the previous regime had plans to landfill Odsal, knock down Richard Dunn's (with council involvement) and then use some of the profits to build a new 20,000 capacity stadium on the current Dunn's site.

Odsal's landfill value was around £36,000,000 in 2013.

Well I've thought for some time that the only realistic way to get a new stadium would involve moving the location so across the road would seem an excellent compromise for those not wanting to move from Odsal. Not sure how the local residents would react to Odsal becoming landfill, particularly those new builds behind the main stand. Surely there would be some fairly stiff resistance to this happening?

I know Peter Hood and Omar Khan both did extensive research into the land behind the Coral Stand and its possible building uses, but the reports came back negative as there are still deposits of various gasses, dating back to when the site was a quarry in the 1920s and early 1930s.


Gerard Sutcliffe was keen to get Bradford Park Avenue involved in the new stadium, unlocking vital funding from the Football Association.

The council's license to ensure Odsal remains a stadium for sport and recreation doesn't run out till 2018, so we are safe for the time being.

What licence is that Mick? In my innocence I thought the council's commitment was in perpetuity [or at least until they voted differently]
Wasn't 2018 when the previous lease [pre-Odsal settlement] ran out? The current lease runs way beyond 2018 [isn't it over 100 years?] so surely the length of the lease is when their commitment ends?

What would happen if Marc bought the freehold, as he has stated his intentions to do before now. Would that override any agreement regarding Odsal's use for sport etc?

Generally speaking, are there still supporters out there who are hell bent on the club never leaving Odsal? All I see it as now, and have done for years, is a lead weight around the club just preventing it from ever making any progress, both in a financial and sporting manner.

I would have absolutely no problem ground sharing with BPA, over the road from Odsal or wherever. They have plenty of money now since the recent takeover.

The problem was with the old Odsal lease, which had moved the responsibility of ground upkeep, along with around £8m [or some such figure], to the club. The cash was supposed to be up front money for the ground maintenance but was quite quickly spent on superstars for the first team. IIRC, presumably to prevent the club from cutting and running with the cash, the council put in a clause which said that the Bulls had to play the vast majority of home games at Odsal until, I think, around 2018, a year which you may remember Mick mentioned earlier.

The penalty for not doing so was to repay a lump of of the already spent £8m, which was the reason for me, and others, suggesting that moving wasn't very likely. Well, that and the only alternative location was always VP which, fine soccer stadium as it is, I certainly regard as not totally suitable for RL.

However the old lease is now gone so the payback [which applied to one of the old companies - don't ask..] is no longer a bar to moving. As for for Park Avenue and their 'billionaire' owner, I've not seen an influx of international stars to Horsfall [not even the 'ex' variety] nor does any investment seem to have been made in their facilities - not even an announcement about the future prospects of one.

I could certainly envisage a swap being done with the council; the stadium for the Richard Dunn site, along with Avenue, or not, with the stadium returning to its former use.

Alex Mellor has signed a new 2 year deal.

upto 3 new players coming in for middle eights according to ferres

Great news. Star in the making that kid

Apparently one of the new recruits could be an ex bull - source could be completely unreliable!

Hopefully a decent centre and a half back.

I'm resigned to getting a prop and 2 'utility backs'.