Coral Windows Stadium
Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
Coral Windows Stadium, Bradford, England — opened 1886, 181 rugby league games hosted, home of None for rugby league today (defunct rugby league use; historic home of Manningham F.C., 1886-1903); currently Bradford City A.F.C. (association football).
Sourcing caveat: This venue is genuinely distinct from the already-written-up Bartercard Odsal Stadium - Bradford's rugby league ground since 1934 - not an alternate name for it. Odsal has been home to Bradford's rugby league clubs (Bradford Northern, later Bradford Bulls) since 1934; Coral Windows Stadium/Valley Parade was the code's Bradford home only earlier, 1886-1903, under the amateur/early-professional club Manningham F.C., before that club switched to association football and became Bradford City. This project's own venue directory records 181 games and a games date-range extending to 2002, but the Rugby League Project results page fetched for this write-up showed detailed match listings only for 1895-1900 (Manningham's Northern Union era); no source was found explaining any rugby league use at Valley Parade between 1903 and 2002, so that later activity (if genuine) is not described here beyond noting the discrepancy. Exact start/end years for the 'Coral Windows Stadium' sponsorship itself were not pinned down beyond 'active by 2015, ended by July 2016' - treated as approximate rather than exact.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1886 |
| Home club | None for rugby league today (defunct rugby league use; historic home of Manningham F.C., 1886-1903); currently Bradford City A.F.C. (association football) |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 181 |
| Top recorded crowd | 16,572 |
| Capacity | 24,840 (current, all-seated) |
| First rugby league match | 27 September 1886, opening as the home ground of Manningham Rugby Football Club |
| Last rugby league match | Manningham switched codes from rugby league to association football in 1903, becoming Bradford City A.F.C.; the first football match at the ground was a promotional fixture on 6 April 1903 |
| Years used | 1895–2002 |
| Location | Bradford, West Yorkshire |
Name history
- Valley Parade — 27 September 1886-present (base name, still used generically)
- The Pulse of West Yorkshire — sponsorship-era name
- Bradford & Bingley Stadium — sponsorship-era name
- Intersonic Stadium — sponsorship-era name
- Coral Windows Stadium — sponsorship-era name, ceasing by July 2016
- Northern Commercials Stadium — from July 2016
- Utilita Energy Stadium — July 2019-July 2022
- University of Bradford Stadium — July 2022-2026 (current sponsor name)
Rugby league history
Valley Parade - recorded in this project's directory under its then-current sponsored name, Coral Windows Stadium - opened in 1886 as the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club. Manningham were among the clubs that broke away to form the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, and the ground hosted Northern Union/rugby league fixtures - Yorkshire Senior Competition, Challenge Cup and county matches - against sides including Batley, Runcorn, Huddersfield, Wigan, Halifax, Leeds and Hull. Financial pressure led Manningham to switch codes in 1903, converting to association football as Bradford City A.F.C., which has played there ever since; the ground's 39,146 attendance record (set in 1911 against Burnley) remains, per Wikipedia, the longest-standing attendance record at any English league football ground. The stadium has carried a string of sponsor names since the 1990s-2000s, including Coral Windows Stadium, before becoming Northern Commercials Stadium in July 2016 and, most recently, University of Bradford Stadium.
Since 1903 the ground has been used exclusively for association football (Bradford City A.F.C.); its rugby league history predates that switch by close to two decades.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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