Indeed, they have a gun to our head in essence, but we cannot let our club die.

I think the point I was making was, the ONLY thing that matters right now is saving the club.

Going to pledge now, wasn't certain at first but the last few posts have made up my mind

I've also advised my brother who was asking for guidance plus a lad at work who said his Grandad lived breathed Bradford, Northern, Bulls, Red Amber and Black, the Top house....everything

Well done to everyone who has made any efforts to help and thanks for the support from other fans, it will be remembered!




Like this as a way forward. If people can afford it, maybe pledge to the club but also support whatever supporters group is formed, whether this is Bullbuilder or a supporters group

I wonder if Steve Parkin will get involved?

There are murmurs, but albeit just murmurs at this stage, that Parkin may be sniffing.

I feel so sorry for you guys.

I appreciate that you'll obviously do anything (an quite understandably) needed to secure the future of your club.

HOWEVER, from the outside looking in somethings not right, how can Hood have 'not known' the overdraft was secured on odsal? What happens if you reach the pledge but people don't pay? What happens if people do pay and you don't have enough? Does the £100 get you any shares? or is it just begging for donations? What happends when that lump sum runs out?? it's a ludacras situation.

The only way forward I can see is administration and rebuild like London and Crusaders; granted you'll loose a few players but it seems the only way to secure the longevity of the club.


GOOD LUCK GUYS

He's an appalling businessman, thats why this club are so close to the wall.



No-no. Administration is unthinkable whilst the RL world is pulling together like this. If you believe the line the club is towing (pah!), this £1m needed will make the club debt-free.

his name comes up over and over again with many clubs

What they haven't said, however, is how long you'd be debt free for.

Hull FC were once declared 'debt free' shortly after our merger with Gateshead. A few short years later we had debts >£2M. If your outgoings exceed your income you aren't going to be debt free for very long.

Well, he was interested before, and the club are a far less attractive proposition than they are now.

And re: Kosh, yeah I understand that. Duckett was keen on hammering home last night however, that the club have a business plan to make the club work going forward.

I cannot help but feel so sorry for the situation you Bulls fans find yourselves in. Equally, I know I would be absolutely furious if this were Warrington, with the BoD for essentially coming cap in hand, with half-d explanations and no real carrot other than helping keeping the club you love afloat. Pretty big carrot some may argue, but a carrot you should not have to buy if jobs had been done competently at the appropriate levels.

A decent offer, though still nowhere near sufficient, would be for Hood to offer his resignation if/when the money target is met, or at the very least a timeframe to him leaving afterwards.

I would also want to know exactly what contribution the existing shareholders are being asked to make to get you out of this mess. You may not have a wealthy benefactor but surely these guys do not live "on the bread line" which the fans will be.
100% transparancy is required here and you are only at about 10% right now.

It's a crying shame, and frankly unbelievable to witness just how far and alarmingly quickly BBRLFC have gotten to this stage.

Good Luck, although I fear administration is iminent, regardless of whatever effort you, the fans, will make over the coming week(s). I also believe, as an outsider, that this is the only real viable option for you unless some wealthy individual steps in now and clears the mess permanently, not just short term.

There's a first time for everything I guess.



I hope he's right. The people stepping forward to save your club deserve no less.

What's in the business plan? How long ago did he write to 1000 wealthy people asking them to 'invest' in the club without any indication what they might recieve in return? By their own admission they have dwindling revenue. Therefore the business plan can only be redundancies and asset sales.

It's not a business plan, it's a suicide note!

Indeed, but that doesn't necessarily mean that "The Pledge" is the way to do it.

exactly - "debt free" could mean that once they get the £1m in, they have £30 in the bank. As soon as the money is in to clear those debts, new debts will start to mount up.

And not once has he been able to sort something out... hmm.

Apologies 'Wirefan', I posted this in the wrong subject. I do feel sorry for the general staff and hope that they find new jobs as soon as possible but:

Why not tell everyone how much you owe and to whom? I'm sick and tired of paying my PAYE on time when the Revenue & Customs are used time after time by unscrupulous companies who are in financial difficulties to fund their continued trading.

Continue by telling everyone what the existing shareholders are going to do? Will they relinquish their holdings in favour of those who make donations or simply continue in the way that they have done for years?

As things stand at present it's simply 'Give us your money because we know best'!

I wouldn't even consider giving them a penny! Look what Caisley did to us (Keighley Cougars) in 1995.



or words to that effect from the 'Good Book'.

No, no ill feelings from me, just feel sorry for the real workers at Northern.

1 - at best a quarter of the shares in the club are held by the board (mostly Hood).

2 - 26% of the shares are held by Caisley. He is not on the board, and he is not involved in any way in club management.

3 - in 1995, Hood was just one of the junior directors, Bennett was a fan and Duckett was a player. Those three are now the current board.

The net result of doing what you urge would probably be allow back into running the club the very man that you seem to be harbouring a 17-year old mega-grudge against.

Whether or not that would be good for the Bulls, I'd love to see your face should what urge come to pass.

Be careful what you wish for.

Have just got back from Odsal (£150 poorer!) and its heartening to see Stuart Fielden in there answering phones. I know some are still considering the pledge, but please do it. So many people are supporting this in so many ways.
The time to save the club is NOW, the time to sack the board is later.
Come on you Bulls.

Something seriously does not add up here.



If the club is insolvent then the sale of the lease to the RFL may be challenged, unless it was at market value.

If the RFL paid market value (presumably a reasonably substantial amount given that RBS were apparently relying on it for security) then what happened to the cash paid by the RFL?

If the proceeds went to into the club's current account then it would have reduced the overdraft and RBS could hardly have complained (if they did they'd be admitting they overvalued the lease for security purposes).

I suspect there is more going on here than we yet know about.

Not good.

I feel very sorry for Bradford fans and very angry that one of the biggest and most historic clubs in the league has been allowed to get in this situation. The management and the RFL have a lot to answer for. The lack of proper financial controls in the professional game is outrageous.

I was told, by an employee of the club, that a few businessmen sounded out the Board last year about acquiring the club. But all of those deals involved the Bulls moving to VP and a deal being done involving the Council and development of the land. I was of the opinion that the land at Odsal was contaminated and the site had limited development potential, but apparently not. The deal with the RFL was, supposedly, partly intended to prevent this.

It may well be that there wasnt a shred of truth in this. But I absolutely believe that the person who told me this was telling me what he genuinely believed to be the truth. It was what the club was telling him.

Whether any of those businessmen will still be interested in buying the club obviously remains to be seen.

Adey, Duckett was more than a player!!!! Ryan and I studied at the same University College! He first came to the BUlls in 1995/6 on placemnet as part of his degree in media and marketing. he worked closely with Peter Deakin and has worked his way up through the organisation.

He was a decent RU player who doubled up for our college RL team, and was our best player! he played for the bulls second team in the late 90s ealry 2000s as a hobby, not a career! he effectively made up the numbers!

I remember Ryan Duckett was working within the marketing department up at odsal in 1997 as i was on work experience, Ryan along with Stuart Duffy.

The board should agree to step down in the event of the money being raised and a new one elected.
When we went pop prior the beginning of last season, the hand out attempt had failed, but the previous owner had stated he would stand down in the event of the total being reached.
His track record on sticking to his promises was probably the reason few took him up on the deal but should the begging bowl have been filled, i wonder if he would have kept this promise.
My view on what's going on at the Bulls, is that whichever path you go down, there will be problems and bitter pills to swallow, but only one path will guarantee that the people who have run the club so badly for so long will be parted with and this will give you the fresh blood you need to move on.
I personally don't consider administration to be too terrible, your players cannot be forced to leave, Aaron Murphy stayed and money was offered for him from Hudds (watch out for them, by the way!!) and the youngsters worth to the administrators is pretty low, so they are likely to be retained.
I'm sure a deal is out there, and you will emerge a better club for it.
I personally wouldn't entrust a penny of my money to people who have such a poor grasp of the value of it, i didn't when it was us, and i wouldn't if i were a bulls fan.
Good Luck.

We have had one of their business plans before and look how well thats worked.

Er...yes, I know he was. I was making the point none of them held any senior executive role at the club at the time Caisley and Mo did for Keighley and Widnes. Yet 666 was bearing a grudge against them and the club for what Caisley's actions.

In the same was Bennett was not just a fan, he was off down south making a lot of money.