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Bradford Bulls
Full name	Bradford Bulls Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)	Bulls
Founded	1881
Region	Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Ground	Grattan Stadium
Capacity	27,000
Chairman	Peter Hood
Coach	Steve McNamara
Captain	Paul Deacon
League	Super League (Europe)
2007	3rd
Home colours		Away colours
Official website
www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

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 this stadium is fantastic but shall always be called odsal

Contents 1 History 1.1 1863 - 1907: In the Beginning 1.2 Bradford Northern 1.3 1940s 1.4 1950s 1.5 1960s 1.6 1970s 1.7 1980s 2 The Super League era 2.1 Season Summaries 3 Stadium 4 2008 Squad 5 Run-on Team 2008 5.1 2008 Player Signings/Transfers 6 2008 Fixtures/Results 7 Captains 8 Coaching Register 9 Player Records 10 Former Super League Players 11 Team of the Century 12 See also 13 References 14 External links

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 A.F.C. 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 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.

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.

On Saturday 3rd November 1945, Bradford Northern met Wakefield Trinity in the final of the Yorkshire Cup held at Thrum Hall, Halifax. Wakefield began the match as favourites, they had lost only one of thirteen matches thus far in the season. However, Bradford won 5-2 and lifted the Yorkshire Cup for the fourth time in six seasons.

Bradford defeated Leeds 8-4 to win the Challenge Cup at Wembley in 1947.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In 1981-82, Bradford lost the Yorkshire Cup final 10-5 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. Ron Willey coached Bradford Northern for a short stint in 1989/90 and led them to the Premiership final and success in the Yorkshire Cup final when they beat Featherstone 20-14. 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.

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

For more details on this topic, see Bradford Bulls Super League History.

For more details on this topic, see Bradford Bulls 1997.

For more details on this topic, see 2001 Super League Grand Final.

For more details on this topic, see 2003 Super League Grand Final.

For more details on this topic, see 2005 Super League Grand Final.

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	W	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			Iestyn Harris	Bradford Bulls 2006
											Steve McNamara
Super League 12	27	16	1	9	3 / 12				X			Paul Deacon	Bradford Bulls 2007
Super League 13	27	kj				X			X				Bradford Bulls 2008

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.

For more details on this topic, see Bradford Bulls 2008.

No	Nat	Player	Position	Previous Club
1		Michael Platt	Full Back	Castleford Tigers
2		Dave Halley	Wing	Bradford Bulls Academy
3		James Evans	Center	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
4		Shontayne Hape	Centre	New Zealand Warriors
5		Tame Tupou	Winger	Brisbane Broncos
6		Iestyn Harris	Stand Off	Cardiff Blues
7		Paul Deacon (Captain)	Half Back	Oldham Roughyeds
8		Joe Vagana	Prop	New Zealand Warriors
9		Terry Newton	Hooker	Wigan Warriors
10		Andy Lynch	Prop	Castleford Tigers
11		David Solomona	Second Row	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
12		Glenn Morrison (Vice-Captain)	Second Row	Parramatta Eels
13		Jamie Langley	Loose Forward	Bradford Bulls Academy
14		Chris Feather	Prop	Leeds Rhinos
15		Matt Cook	Second Row	Bradford Bulls Academy
16		Sam Burgess	Loose Forward	Bradford Bulls Academy
17		Matt James	Second Row	Bradford Bulls Academy
18		Craig Kopczak	Prop	Bradford Bulls Academy
19		Simon Finnigan	Second Row	Salford City Reds
20		Wayne Godwin	Hooker	Hull FC
22		Ben Jeffries	Scrum Half	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
23		Chris Nero	Second Row	Huddersfield Giants
24		Paul Sykes	Centre	Harlequins RL
25		Semi Tadulala	Winger	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
26		Jason Crookes	Loose Forward	Bradford Bulls Academy

Bradford Bulls Run-on Team
8 Joe Vagana 9 Terry Newton 10 Andy Lynch 11 David Solomona 12 Glenn Morrison 13Jamie Langley 7 Paul Deacon 6 Iestyn Harris 4Shontayne Hape 3James Evans 5 Tame Tupou 2Dave Halley 1 Michael Platt

Subs

• 14 Chris Feather
• 15 Matt Cook
• 16 Sam Burgess
• 17 Matt James
• 18 Craig Kopczak
• 19 Simon Finnigan
• 20 Wayne Godwin
• 22 Ben Jeffries
• 23 Chris Nero
• 24 Paul Sykes
• 25 Semi Tadulala
• 26 Jason Crookes

2008 Gains

Player	Previous Club	Years Signed	Until the End of
Tame Tupou	Brisbane Broncos	4 Years	2011
Wayne Godwin	Hull F.C.	1 Year	2008
Ben Jeffries	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	2 Years	2009
Semi Tadulala	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	1 Year	2008
Chris Nero	Huddersfield Giants	3 Years	2010
Simon Finnigan	Salford City Reds	1 Year	2008
Paul Sykes	Harlequins RL	2 Years	2009

2008 Losses

Player	Signed for	When left
Lesley Vainikolo	Gloucester RFC	June 2007
Ian Henderson	New Zealand Warriors	Sept 2007
Ben Harris	North Queensland Cowboys	Sept 2007
Chris McKenna	Doncaster RLFC	Sept 2007
Richard Hawkyard	Swinton Lions	Sept 2007
Nathan McAvoy	Leigh Centurions	Sept 2007
Marcus St Hilaire	Oldham Roughyeds	Sept 2007

Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result (W/D/L)	Attendance
1		Wakefield Trinity Wildcats		Bradford Bulls
2		Bradford Bulls		Huddersfield Giants
3		Bradford Bulls		St Helens
4		Wigan Warriors		Bradford Bulls
5		Catalans Dragons		Bradford Bulls
6		Bradford Bulls		Warrington Wolves
7		Leeds Rhinos		Bradford Bulls
CCC4
8		Bradford Bulls		Harlequins RL
9
10
11
12
*13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
ESL PO1
ESL PO2
ESL PO3	Loser of 1st vs 2nd		Winner of ESL PO2
ESL GF	Winner of 1st vs 2nd		Winner of SLPO3

*Round 13 played at Millennium Stadium,Cardiff.

***engage Super League Grand Final to be played at Old Trafford, Manchester.

	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

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

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

Paul Anderson Ryan Atkins Michael Banks Marcus Bai Chris Birchall Graeme Bradley Chris Bridge Justin Brooker David Boyle Matt Calland Gary Christie Richard Colley Paul Cook Kevin Crouthers Jason Donahue Brandon Costin Jeremy Donougher Bernard Dwyer Shaun Edwards Abi Ekoku Karl Fairbank Brett Ferres Stuart Fielden Mike Forshaw Daniel Gartner Stanley Gene Lee Gilmour Nathan Graham Jon Hamer

Gareth Handford Neil Harmon Ben Harris Carlos Hassan Richard Hawkyard Ian Henderson Tommy Hodgkinson Andy Hodgson Harvey Howard Phil Howlett Paul Johnson Warren Jowett Simon Knox Toa Kohe-Love Davide Longo Paul Loughlin James Lowes Brad Mackay Greame Mackay Nathan McAvoy Brian McDermott Craig McDowell Chris McKenna Steve McNamara Paul Medley Richard Moore Adrian Morley Brad Meyers Scott Naylor

Sonny Nickle Rob Parker Henry Paul Robbie Paul Danny Peacock Jamie Peacock Karl Pratt Leon Pryce Karl Pryce Lee Radford Stuart Reardon Tahi Reihana Shane Rigon Jon Scales Roger Simpson Aaron Smith Andy Smith Hudson Smith Stuart Spruce Gareth Stanley Marcus St Hilaire Logan Swann Glen Tomlinson Lesley Vainikolo Tevita Vaikona Alex Wilkinson Michael Withers Jeff Wittenberg Nick Zisti

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

Head Coach

• 00 Brian Noble

Kit man

• 00 Fred Robinson

• Bradford Bulls statistics
• Bradford Bulls Academy
• Former Bradford Bulls Players
• Bradford Bulls Officials
• Bradford Bulls 2007

• Bradford Bulls Website
• Bradford Bulls in T&A
• Bradford Bulls on Sky Sports
• Bradford on Super League Site
• Red,Black And Amber
• BBC Sport-Rugby League

Bradford Bulls
The Club Representatives • History • Statistics • Honours • Players
Seasons 1996 • 1997 •1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002• 2003 2004• 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 •2011
Stadiums Greenfield Athletic Ground • Birth Lane • Grattan Stadium • Valley Parade
Captains Robbie Paul (1996-2004) • Jamie Peacock (2005) Iestyn Harris (2006) • Paul Deacon (2007 -present)
Coaches David Hobbs (1990 - 1993) • Peter Fox (1993-1995) Brian Smith (1995-1996) • Matthew Elliott (1996-2000) Brian Noble (2001-2006) • Steve McNamara (2006 - present)

v • d • e Super League (Europe)
Bradford Bulls | Catalans Dragons | Castleford Tigers Harlequins Rugby League | Huddersfield Giants | Hull FC | Hull Kingston Rovers | Leeds Rhinos | St Helens RFC | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | Warrington Wolves | Wigan Warriors

v • d • e Rugby league in Britain and Ireland
Competitions	Super League · National League · Challenge Cup · National League Cup · National Conference League · CMS Yorkshire league · North West Counties · Pennine League · Cumberland League · Hull & District League · Barrow & District League · Rugby League Conference · Midlands Merit League · London League
National teams	Great Britain · England · Ireland · Scotland · Wales
Federations	RFL · BARLA · Rugby League Ireland · Wales Rugby League · Scotland Rugby League
Former competitions	Championship · Premiership · Lancs/Yorks Cups · Lancs/Yorks League Regal Trophy · Charity Shield · BBC2 Floodlit Trophy