Odsal Stadium

Odsal Stadium
Map
Full nameBartercard Odsal Stadium
LocationRooley Lane, Odsal, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
Coordinates53°45′54″N 1°45′25″W / 53.76500°N 1.75694°W / 53.76500; -1.75694
Public transitNational Rail Low Moor
OwnerBradford City Council
OperatorRugby Football League
Capacity26,019[1]
Record attendanceAll Time
102,569 (Warrington vs Halifax, 5 May 1954)
Super League
24,020 (Bradford Bulls vs Leeds, 3 September 1999)
Stock Cars
38,000 Wednesday 26 May 1954
Field size67.79 m × 111.74 m (222.4 ft × 366.6 ft)
SurfaceGrass, Shale Racing Track
ScoreboardManual
Construction
Opened1933
Renovated1964, 1985, 2001–02
Tenants
Rugby League
Bradford Bulls (1934–2000; 2003–2019; 30 May 2021 – present)
Stock Cars
YorStox F1 & F2 Stock Cars (2021 to present)
Football
Bradford City (1985–1986)
Speedway
Bradford Dukes (1945–1997)

Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is a multi-purpose stadium currently the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team and Yorstox Stock Cars who host regular monthly meetings of BriSCA F1 Stock Cars and BriSCA F2 Stock Cars.[2] It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, hosting the 1997 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain. The football team Bradford City used Odsal as a temporary groundshare following the Valley Parade fire while their ground was rebuilt. Odsal Stadium has also historically hosted baseball, women's football, American football, basketball, kabbadi, show jumping, tennis, live music concerts, and international Rugby League matches over the years.

The stadium's highest attendance was 102,569 in 1954 for the Warrington-Halifax Challenge Cup Final replay,[3][4] and for a domestic, non-final, Rugby League match, 69,429 at the third round Challenge Cup tie between Bradford Northern and Huddersfield in 1953.[5] The stadium is owned by Bradford City Council, but due to financial problems the Rugby Football League purchased the leasehold in 2012.[6]

The Bulls left Odsal in 2019 because of ongoing financial concerns and rising administration costs in a single-use stadium, playing at Crown Flatt in Dewsbury[7] for two seasons, however due to the return of professional stock car racing as a joint tenancy in a multi-use stadium, they were able to return to Odsal in 2021 initially on a provisional eighteen months lease.[8]

  1. ^ "Odsal Stadium". Worldstadia. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Yorstox Odsal". 2021.
  3. ^ Delaney 1991, p. 48.
  4. ^ Gate, Robert (1994). There were a lot more than that: Odsal 1954. R.E. Gate. ISBN 9780951119044.
  5. ^ "The Provident Stadium". 2016.
  6. ^ "Odsal Future Secured After the RFL Step In To Buy The World Famous Ground". 2012.
  7. ^ "Bradford Bulls Leave Odsal". 2019.
  8. ^ "Bradford Bulls Motorsport". 2021.