""Some of the 1981 Championship winning side""
In part one of the History of the Bradford Bulls, we explored the foundations of the club and its first golden age, but as we move into the 1960s in part two, we find out that serious trouble was ahead.Audiences at Odsal Stadium had steadily declined during the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in an all-time low attendance in 1963 when just 324 turned up to watch the side face off against Barrow. The season was a poor one for the club, with the team winning just one of their first 13 matches, and the club officially went out of business on December 10th 1963.
Immediately, fans, locals, club members and current and former players including Joe Phillips and Trevor Foster began rallying round and a meeting was held on April 14th 1964 which saw 1,500 people pledge to pay a total of £1000 to help form a new club.
The result was the formation of Bradford Northern (1964) Ltd on July 20th 1964 with Jack Wilkinson as coach, and 14,500 people turned up on August 22nd 1964 to see the Odsal outfit face Hull KR in the first 10,000-plus gate since 1957.
The new side won its first trophy in the 1965-66 season by beating Hunslet 17-8 in the final of the Yorkshire Cup, before reaching the Challenge Cup final in 1973 but ultimately losing against Featherstone Rovers 33-14.
In 1973-74, Northern won the Second Division Championship and were promoted back to the First Division, a season in which Keith Mumby became the club's youngest ever player at only 16 years of age when scoring 12 goals and a try against Doncaster.
He went on to make a record 576 appearances for the club and helped them to win the 1974-75 Regal Trophy in a narrow 3-2 win over Widnes.
In 1977-78, Peter Fox joined Bradford as coach for the first time and had immediate success, steering Bradford to the Premiership final and a 17-8 win against Widnes, as well as being Championship runners-up.
The 17-year-old Ellery Hanley, who would go on to become one of the all-time greats of the game, also debuted in 1978 and would go on to score 89 tries in 126 appearances for the club.
The following season Bradford won the Championship for the first time ever and
made the Premiership final, losing 24-2 to Leeds. The team also scooped the Regal Trophy, with Peter Fox picking up the award for Coach of the Year.
A year later Bradford made it back-to-back Championships and the path looked set for Northern to dominate the game for the next decade, but it was not to be.
This was compounded in 1985 when the influential Hanley left Bradford to join Wigan for a then world record fee of £80,000 which also included a player exchange.
There was to be success for Northern in the form of Yorkshire Cup victories in 1988 and 1990, and Peter Fox returned for a second stint at the club in 1991. He led Bradford to a runners up spot in the Championship behind the legendary Wigan side in the 1993-94 season, but ultimately failed to scoop the prize.
For Bradford Northern, however, great things were just around the corner, including a name change and the dawn of summer rugby. Next month, the Bradford Bulls enter the Super League.
Finally, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the readers of the Bull Pen, and a special thanks to Stuart Duffy from the Bradford Bulls who kindly provides each of the images we use, including the archive pictures accompanying this history of the club.