The Provident Stadium, Odsal

Today we had a drive over to Bradford to see the Wigan Warriors in action. They were woefully dire and seemed to temporarily have forgotten how to play the game, losing 16 -8 to Bradford, who have been so poor this season that they are already condemned to relegation!

The Odsal Stadium (the "Provident" bit is for sponsorship purposes!) was opened in 1934, and is one of the oldest in Super League, Bradford being one of only a few clubs who do not have a modern seated stadium. It is still the stadium with the largest capacity in Super League - 26,019 - which means another 20,000 people could have got in there today! 102, 569 people squeezed into the stadium in 1954 for a Challenge Cup Final replay between Warrington and Halifax - still the record crowd for a UK Rugby League match! Wouldn't be allowed these days with all the Health and Safety regulations! The pitch is surrounded by a track, which was formerly used by the Bradford Dukes Speedway team. This also causes the corners of the in-goal areas to turn up! After the Bradford City Fire disaster Odsal was also home to the football club for a while!