Sport
Bradford has a long sporting tradition, and Bradford Bulls, formerly Bradford Northern, is one of the most successful rugby league clubs in the world, winning the World Club Championship three times since 2002 and seven times winners of the Rugby Football League Championship. Bradford Bulls play at the Grattan Stadium, Odsal, formerly Odsal Stadium. The city is also home to a number of rugby union clubs — Bradford Salem are based in the Heaton area and Wibsey RFC can be found to the south of the city centre. The Richard Dunn Sports Centre is located close to the Odsal and the sports facilities at the university are also open to the public at certain times.
Bradford City football club was formed in 1903. James Whyte, a sub-editor of the Bradford Observer met with Football Association representative, John Brunt, in January to discuss plans, and in May, Manningham RFC, a rugby league team decided to change codes to association football. The Football League subsequently elected Bradford City to the league, with a total of 30 votes to replace Doncaster Rovers, because it saw the invitation as a chance to introduce football to the rugby-dominated county. Eight years after the club was elected to the league, City won the FA Cup and recorded the highest league position in its history. The club now plays in Football League Two after two periods of administration. The ground suffered one of the worst all-time sporting disasters after 56 people died at Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. A second club from the city, Bradford Park Avenue played in the Football League until it dropped out in 1970, then went into liquidation in 1974. The club now plays in the Northern Premier League, which means the Bradford derby has not been played in years. Bradford Park Avenue hosted county cricket for Yorkshire as well as football.
The defunct Bradford Dukes speedway team raced at Odsal. Speedway was staged at Greenfields Stadium in the pioneer days, when it was known as the Autodrome in the early 1960s. Odsal opened its doors in 1945 and continued in the late 1950s. It entered a team in the 1960 Provincial League then fell dormant until the 1970s when it re-opened. The track staged a Speedway World Final. The speedway team rode under a number of names - probably the longest running was Bradford Northern - in common with the Rugby League team. This was changed to Bradford Barons - emulating the more successful Halifax Dukes. Eventually the Halifax team was brought to Bradford under the name Bradford Dukes.
The Bradford Dragons basketball team who currently play in the EBL2 plays home games at Bradford Sports college in the Trinity Green campus on Saturday nights. The team is coached by former England under 23 player Chris Mellor.
Joe Johnson was a professional snooker player from Bradford who won the 1986 World Snooker Championship.
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Famous quotes containing the word sport:
“What sport shall we devise here in this garden
To drive away the heavy thought of care?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can’t go at dawn and not many places he can’t go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking—one sport you shouldn’t have to reserve a time and a court for.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
““Justice” was done, and the President of the Immortals, in Æschylean phrase, had ended his sport with Tess. And the d’Urberville knights and dames slept on in their tombs unknowing. The two speechless gazers bent themselves down to the earth, as if in prayer, and remained thus a long time, absolutely motionless: the flag continued to wave silently. As soon as they had strength they arose, joined hands again, and went on.
The End”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)