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Odsal: Set for revamp

BOOTS 'N' ALL
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Bradford Bulls were the latest side to come under the Boots 'n' All licensing spotlight.

With clubs being asked to put their bids in for a permit to take part in the competition from 2009, every week Angela Powers will be out and about seeing how the candidates meet the necessary criteria.

A Super League without Bradford is almost unthinkable: the Bulls have reached more Grand Finals than any other club and have carried off the trophy four times.

A point for contribution to the competition is a foregone conclusion, therefore, and with eight homegrown players in last year's squad they score on junior development, too.

But what of their Odsal home? At the moment it is not up to Premier competition standard, despite a capacity of almost 26,000 - double that required.

But there are plans to change all that, with a revamped stadium at the heart of a state-of-the-art sports complex among the Bulls' ambitious plans to match the city of Bradford's regeneration.

As chairman Peter Hood put it: "We can be a catalyst for change and for improvement. Sport can play such a constructive role. That's the vision Bradford Bulls can be a part of and which the Gratton Stadium and Odsal can also be a part of."

The Bulls fall down on the fact there are other clubs within a 20-mile radius of their home, and they have twice been guilty of breaching the salary cap in the past two years.

But their 2007 accounts have been given the thumbs-up by the powers that be, and there are no problems with their turnover.

That adds up to seven points and a possible B licence, but the final word goes to Hood.

"We deserve a licence because of what we have contributed and what we will contribute to rugby league in this country." Which is? "The real deal - everything from grass roots, redevelopment, through gameday experience, performance on and off field and - very importantly - what we contribute to the local community."