Bradford College students restore famous Bradford Bulls Mascot

After years of not featuring inside Odsal Stadium, Bullboy made his triumphant return in the match against Leigh Centurions after Bradford College students carefully refurbished the well-known mascot.

The popular Bradford Bulls figure normally performs on matchdays with Bullman to gee up the crowd pre, during and post-games. However, latterly, the mascot remained in a state of disrepair until the fashion and textile students worked their magic.

Becky Walsh, Industry Placement Officer at Bradford College, said:

“I am building capacity for students to go out to large companies within Bradford, and as part of my role I went for a meeting with the Bradford Bulls to see how our placement students could potentially support their business.

“Whilst we were talking, the question was asked if we had a textile department that could maybe help with the refurb of their mascots. I took the costume to lecturers Angela Loftus and Katie Davis in the fashion room who said they would love to get students involved.”

Bradford School of Art at Bradford College offer a range of textile-related programmes from short courses up to Foundation and BA (Hons) degrees in subjects like fashion design and textile practice. Becky continued:

“[The students] gave the Bullyboy Mascot a new lease of life […] the Bulls staff are so happy with the new costume and can’t believe the high standard of work that students have achieved.”

Bradford Bulls General Manager Tracy Erby commented on the partnership, which has given Bullboy a new lease of life:

“It’s been really beneficial for both us and Bradford College, working together on this project that has allowed students the experience to renew a famous mascot in the Rugby League world.

“We will be looking to work with Bradford College in the future on similar projects, with the standard of work produced with Bullboy has been completed to a really high standard. We thank Bradford College for their cooperation on this project.”