£500,000 divided between 20 players is only £25,000 each. I'm guessing there will be players on more than that, and £25,000 will be approximately the lower end figure.

EDIT: I'm being an idiot.... that's yearly

If the cash isn't there to open the ground and it doesn't come from outside the club (whether that's us, a shareholder or anyone else) administration doesn't solve anything as the administrator doesn't have any money. If the club can't fulfill it's fixtures it ceases to exist end of.

Anyone know of a fella called "Ralph Scott" just seen on the Bradford Bulls facebook page this guy has pledged £5000

It's not that simple though a new company will still have no money. Season ticket money is not there. Players still need paying, with what??

Would old season tickets still be valid?

In administration the administrator takes control of the clubs funds if you have no funds administration isnt an option really. From what I've read this seems to be more about lack of funds not debt, Have I got the right end of the story or am I completely wrong?

For the record, Adey predicted this to me some years ago (5 or more) when we spoke on the phone for the first time after many years of keyboard battling on this and the Rhinos forum. I'm genuinely sad to read this news this morning because, at the start of Super League, Bradford Bulls showed us all how it should be done. The club developed a certain razzamatazz that other clubs tried to emulate, but failed and Bradford was, for a time, the envy of Super League both on and off the pitch.

Since then, the decline has been there for all to see and it's a shame. To now ask supporters to stump up cash (more than many of them paid for their season tickets, it seems) is a little questionable to say the least. Surely, only a fool would part with money now, given the position that Hood and his predecessors have put the club in.

It's a big shame and I sincerely hope you pull through. Odsal (albeit a sh*t hole) has created some fond memories for me and I have seen some cracking games there. For it all to end so immediately would be a pity.

I mean, think about it ... The forward pass would need to find a new home, and everything



Genuinely, best wishes to the Bulls.

I imagine it could easily be someone having a wind up. Hope not.

£500,000k / 20,000 fans is .

£25 quid each. It's not a perfect solution so how about this. Next match against leeds, season tickets are not valid. Everyone pays entry. 20k fans all paying would help somewhat.

Then maybe the RFL need to step in and move an exiles fixture to Odsal too, or maybe both.


Like I say not perfect, but gives Bradford a chance.

My initial guesses to those IMO excellent questions:

1) Would the club lose its license? A points deduction wouldnt have much impact without the threat of relegation.

[uLondon and Wakefield did not, so there must be precedents there?[/u

2) Would the club be able or allowed to fulfill its fixtures this season? Would we face the prospect of playing out the season with juniors? At what point would it make more sense to withdraw from SL and start again next season?
[i
I guess it would depend on how much of the team we could - or were allowed to - retain. A quick pre-pack might enable an incoming buyer to act before players started leaving (for whatever reason) - Wakey's resolution dragged on, and they lost a lot of players ove rthat period.[/i

3) Have we already received the Sky money for the season? What other sources of income would the club have, bearing in mind how much of our income is from season ticket holders and has been already received?

[iNot sure how the Sky money works, but suspect its available early-on. Clubs get money from the RFL too? Any sponsorship and similar contracts would probably die with any insolvency so would have to be renegotiated. I guess any provider of commercial income who had paid up front (as well as those season ticket holders who took out the extended deals) would feel especially aggrieved?[/i

4) Does SL have the equivalent of football's "football creditors" rule?

[iNot heard of one, tbh. Football gets away with it because of the clout it has.[/i

5) Have we paid the final instalment of the Harris settlement? Could that have anything to do with the timing of this announcement
[i
Hood assured us at the last forum (and in the media IIRC?) that it had been paid. And Hood is an honourable man...[/i

6) How would the lease with the RFL be affected? Would moving to VP be an option?

[iAdministration would almost certainly void the lease, and the RFL would be a - I think unsecured, if their charge has been released? - creditor. they could repossess the stadium, I assume; and we could move to VP, or Sedburgh playing fields or wherever.[/i


In saying "we", I mean the new entity that would be formed to buy the assets off the administrator. Forget Bradford Northern Rugby League Club (1964) Ltd, more recently renamed Bradford Bulls Holdings Ltd. It would be Bradford Bulls (2012) Ltd or similar.

The club already been round schools last week giving vouchers for Leeds game - £5 for parent and child. So expect a big crowd but unfortunately not a large income.

How does that help you?? Wouldn't that money go the RFL?? They own the lease so wouldn't have to pay to use the ground.

This is staggering. I had no idea this was coming.

And that seems to be the problem. If they had asked for money last year before the Odsal lease sale then the fans would have looked upon it much more favourably. I'm in agreement that shares need to be reissued, but time seems to be against.

The shareholders should be asked first before coming to the fans with begging bowls. Even an agreement that the boardmembers will match pound for pound what the fans bring in might be something.

I like the idea about the Rhinos game.

The RFL are now responsible for maintenance of Odsal so that is off our necks although we have traded it for a "commercial rate lease"

We also are (apart from players and fans) asset - light as the long term lease sale seems to be the last of the "family silver".

Why do we need £500k? It must be the bank. From what I have understood we no longer owe the RFL or other clubs anything. We are not exposed to the HMRC action very much either.

We are very cash-poor as we seem to have been planning on using the overdraft to get us through the rest of the season - and the RBS withdrew that at short notice. Were we already using the overdraft?? Have the bank withdrawn the facility completely?? Why?

The idea that we have significantly reduced our outgoings [ifor next season[/i seems reasonable

We just need to get to next season....

Well given current circumstances they will have to recind the offer. No point asking fans for £100 to save a business, if the business are taking measures at the same time to reduce their income.

£5 for parent and child will do nothing. I paid £25 to get into Saints and if Saints were in a similar position and I had a season ticket. I would pay for a none season ticket match, like the Wigan derby as a special one off to save the club.

In the end one match taken off the season ticket is nothing, when the alternative is the season ticket becoming worthless for the rest of the year or years?

To me it sounds like there are some creditors (HMRC?)

Somebody could pick them up pretty cheap and put a bit of working capital in there, if not the current owners (whoever they are?) - think Leeds United and Ken Bates. Season ticket money will pretty much already be gone anyway part from any that pay by DD over the season, unlikely given the price of most season tickets. Sell a couple of the good youngsters (Bateman) and some pledge money to keep going to the end of the season. Any New Co. could honour season tickets.

Hope you get it sorted, guys, though I'm not optimistic.

Totally flabbergasted by this. So Hood has been lying about the clubs finances all along!! quote after quote of lies over the last 6 months..

For the record i'd happily give the Bulls £100 if this would secure our future but after being fed all this rubbish can we ever trust the board again??

Where's Ken Morrison when you need him!!!

But the RFL own the lease on odsal so that wont benefit Bradford I would imagine.

Won't help me at all (I'm a Saints fan). The RFL could just wave the rights to take the money. I'm trying to be creative.

No one wants to put £100 in a black hole , but they may put money to a black hole if they get a match out of it.

Well, I for one feel that we have been hoodwinked.

If shares were on offer then depending on the deal I might be interested but paying any more of my money to this lot is not going to happen, because they have destroyed any feeling I may have had that I could rely on anything they say.

It smacks of straw-clutching desperation to me anyway; a blithe PR-style spin on what is a critical, near-terminal crisis doesn't seem to me the way to go. And we have little explanation. Has the bank called the overdraft in? Is that it? Why not just say so? "Send us £100 within a fortnight or we'll go bust. But if you do, we'll be right as a bobbin". Each to his own, but doesn't cut it with me.

If things are really as bad as they seem, with the doctor's finger already brushing the off-switch on the life support machine, what is to be lost by coming clean as to exactly what, where and why?

I thought the salary cap was designed to stop this happening????
Its not worth thepaper its written on. IN fact, instead of helping us in our current situation, it could hinder us. If Wigan, Warrington, leeds etc... didnt have to comply with the cap, wed already have had money coming in as the likes of Bateman, Whitehead, even CRookes, might have been subject to a cheeky bid!

However, Part of me is now thinking that we'd be better off starting again now anyway. It might pull people together if we can get a decent chairperson, and the players on inflated deals would have to either be removed, or take a cut in pay. maybe, just maybe, there is light at the end of the tunnel and that light is ths chance to start at "0" and build again?

Well I've been told I am wrong about this , but my impression was that the cap was to level out the playing roster across all clubs.

You would need a break even rule to stop clubs being daft with finances, as the cap only limits a club to £1.6 on the players wages.

This is the tale I was told about the ground sale / lease deal, :-

`I was told the financial reasons why the RFL had to buy Odsal at the time of the deal going through. It now makes even more sense and it could be argued that the RFL have recovered from a poor situation. Bradford apparently approached the RFL after Christmas in early 2011 prior to the new season starting. The RFL loaned Bradford £ 700,000.00 in order for the club to continue trading, Bradford did not meet any of the repayments and the RFL realised that they were not going to get this money back and what ever assets the loan was secured against could only be realised if Bradford was liquidated. Move forward a year and Bradford are still in problems, low crowds , huge debt, creditors chasing etc etc. They again approach the RFL who see an opportunity to get their original £ 700,000loan back. A deal is agreed Bradford sell the ground to the RFL for £ 1,200,000. The RFL contra the £ 700,000.00 and hand over the £ 500,000 balance and get the deeds to the ground. Good deal by the RFL. `

Well if Jamie Peacock has pledged, i expect our players to

Sounds about right now. Pity they lied to us about it all.

What you mean?