BRADFORD Dudley Hill have been left "really disappointed" by Bulls' decision to move their non first-team games to Horsfall for the start of the 2020 season.

They say their understanding was that an agreement was in place to still host games at Dudley Hill's Parry Lane ground, but the Championship side announced on Monday night that Bradford (Park Avenue)'s stadium would be their new venue with immediate effect.

The first game following the switch is due to take place this evening with Bulls reserves taking on Castleford at Horsfall (8pm).

Bulls part-owner Mark Sawyer has explained their stance, saying that pressure from other clubs over the Parry Lane surface, and the all-round better facility at Avenue was the reason behind the decision, and nothing to do with finances.

National Conference League club Hill - who had provided a base for Bulls reserve and academy matches - say they were asked to drop their proposed £3 entrance fee for Bulls season ticket-holders.

A spokesperson for Dudley Hill said: "Bulls wanted us to charge £1 entry to their season ticket holders, but we've got to pay for all the staff, the electrics, the food after the games etc. But they're okay with Horsfall charging £2 per game.

"We thought, between our chairman and Mark Sawyer, that there was an agreement in place that we'd host women's, reserves and academy games at Dudley Hill still this season.

"So we're just really disappointed. We feel like it could have been handled more professionally, with more notice and at least the chance to hold, say another month of games."

The spokesperson added: "We can't knock our relations with (previous chairman) Andrew Chalmers. We probably had our best times with him.

"He always use to come along with John Kear to watch, and he'd always pay to come in. He made a big point about the importance of community clubs like ours to Bulls.

"It was fantastic having them down here. A lot of people at Dudley Hill love the Bulls. The majority that would come to games were Bulls season ticket holders and then depending on who they were playing, we'd have away fans too."

Sawyer was happy to address Dudley Hill's concerns, saying: "We had actually tried to agree with them to make it £2 entry, but the issue was not financial reasons.

"We were suggesting that we could have all (non-first team) matches, not just the reserves and academy ones, up at Dudley Hill, but that was subject to the RFL's approval.

"There were two or three others though, Super League clubs, who asked whether it (Parry Lane) is an appropriate place for their young lads to play.

"Other clubs were saying that their players coming through the academy need the best surface to play on and there were question marks over Dudley Hill's.

"Some Super League clubs may have turned round and said they were not playing these top young players because of the ground.

"Other teams asked us to look at other options of where to play and Bradford (Park Avenue) put their hat into the ring.

"The RFL had a look at both pitches and they recommended changes to Dudley Hill's but also acknowledged that the surface was better at Park Avenue.

"Dudley Hill were made aware of when the RFL came to inspect there and Horsfall. We kept them informed and they got given as much notice (about the inspections and change in ground) as we did.

"Other teams wanted the best option and unfortunately that's at Avenue. I understand that it's disappointing for Dudley Hill, as I know how hard they work there, but we've got to make the best decisions for our club.

"We're quite happy at looking to do other things for Dudley Hill. We let them have 200 chairs recently for example and there may be some matches that come along that could still be played there.

"But it was not about wanting takings from the club or anything, it's just a better surface and all round facility at Park Avenue."

Avenue, who bought the lease on Horsfall Stadium last year, plan to install a 3G pitch there in May as part of other developments in the creation of a sporting hub.

If the pitch project gets the green light next month, it is unclear at this stage where Bulls’ non-first team matches will take place when work on the artificial pitch is due to start.

Dudley Hill's National Conference League rivals West Bowling look set to make the move to Horsfall themselves to use the proposed new facility, with their former player Mark Leadbeater now stadium operations manager at the football ground.

Hill's spokesperson admitted he could see the logic in that, saying: "It would be more understandable that Bulls want their academy games in tow with West Bowling.

"They've got the highest number of junior teams in the area and a good set-up there. It would be a superb move for West Bowling.

"We were the only rugby league facility that could really hold Bulls' games. They've (Bowling) never really had the facility and they probably need a move (from their Emsley's Rec ground) and a platform if they want to progress.

"I know Gareth Roberts (Avenue's owner) wants rugby league there, and a team to maybe play in League One. He'd talked about creating his own but maybe Bowling could be that team.

"They showed they could compete against Workington with that great effort in the Challenge Cup (a 28-22 defeat)."

Bowling and Dudley Hill could do with help from others, with the latter's club spokesperson admitting that money is a real problem in rugby league.

Speaking about Bulls' games down at Parry Lane, he said: "We'd have volunteers giving up their time, but it was costly. We paid £40-£50 an hour to run the floodlights for example.

"The RFL thought our pitch was too wide to host one game, so our chairman had to take half a day unpaid to go and meet them to prepare for what we could do.

"Bulls were supposed to maintain the pitch but it was only done twice last season so we had to get someone in too. Some of the games ended up being a bit of a mudbath and we had to factor in games being dropped on us suddenly by them.

"There was one time last season where a team wanted to rearrange a game against us in midweek but we had to arrange our games around Bulls' fixtures so we couldn't.

"It just leaves a bad taste for others. (Money-wise too) there are some ridiculous examples of what clubs have to do. Last year, the Barrow Island players had to all come down in cars to one (National Conference League) game because they couldn't afford a coach."