London went out of business and I think I am right in saying it was Uncle Mo who opposed what happened with them in that they just wrote the debts off and carried on under a different name without any real interruption. He got slagged off at the time as it was seen as a lack of support for a team viewed as vital to the league but he was viewing it on purely business terms and felt it unacceptable clubs could just do this. It would give clubs no incentive to be well run if they could just wrack up debts, close and reopen a week later.

This is the same. That being so and given the precedent London set Bradford would no doubt feel hard done by if they were not allowed to do the same.

If London had been allowed to go bust completely then maybe that might have focused peoples attention that there was no easy way out.

I didn't/don't want to lose either club but Rugby League can't be seen a some sort of cowboy operation that just wrack's up debt and walks away from it.

If a club in Bradford survives then it should be like the Crusaders. Outside of SL. It is not really on to do this pre-packaged administration thing and carry on. Not when there may well be better run clubs after a place in SL.

This may seem harsh but if you look at the Rangers thing several clubs are opposing them retaining their league status as Mo did with London.

Yes, but it's a fair bet that the other realistic playoff contenders would effectively lose 4 points (potential points, if you like)...though yeah I'd forgotten Leeds play them three times.

normally everyone gets 0 as if they were never there if they go into liquidation

The only way to do it would be to award 2 points to every team for every fixture against Bradford (whether game was won, lost or still to play) and wipe out the points difference. As Leeds beat them in Manchester every one is held whole apart from leeds giving up +6 or something on the points difference.

I think if they get to liquidation point then start up as a new club and swap them with Halifax or Leigh whichever has the better rating under franchise rules if they were to apply right now. They would obviously only come in next year but pointless now seeing as we are past halfway but it's the only fair thing to do unless they can beat administration if they're saved then just carry on with the points deduction and of they stay above water until the next licence period then fair enough.

May increase the travelling Bulls support on Friday what with it potentially being their final game.

A sad day for the sport if this happens, but it's a real possibility with the current financial climate.

Let's give the Bulls a great reception on Friday night, the players and staff have given their all in dire circumstances and their supporters don't deserve this at all.

Good luck Bulls, hope you can pull something out of the bag before the deadline.

It is absolutely awful news and it is awful for the game. The whole episode has been a complete shambles from start to finish and I cant believe the lack of action from those in charge to do something about it long before they got to this. The figures the club are losing each month are astounding and I cant believe that attempts have not been made to cut costs and as for the whole pledge saga and fans being mislead and not told about the true situation

If you believe what is written here:

[urlhttp://viewtopic.php?f=19&t=531157&tsmp=1340736430[/url

then both sides have been fiddling while the Bull's burn and would seemingly rather argue with each other than sort it out.

It all looks rather fishy to me!

Could always reform as Bradford Northern mark 3 ?

All too predictable. The RFL and many clubs are ineptly managed. We should look to the state of the game in France as the future facing British RL.

The failure to raise the SC says it all - most clubs can't afford to pay players 70% of the real terms wages they were being paid 15 years ago.

I'm afraid we are heading back to semi-professionalism, in fact the players are likely to be more poorly paid than in the late 80s before Leeds and Wigan led the full-time revolution. The game is in the long term likely to shrink down to the level of French RL due to shrinking real term revenues, clubs going to the wall, ever lower media exposure for the sport and competition for playing talent from RU and the NRL (though only 3 or 4 clubs produce quality players in any volume anyway).

If the RFL spent as much time auditing the financials of SL clubs before they granted licences based on THEIR criteria, instead of dreaming up ways to peg back a Wigan revival, Bradford wouldn't be in the mess that they are currently in.

I await with baited breath the posts from pro CC supporters, who can, no doubt, explain to us how a club in the financial position that Bradford find themselves can pay over £2m a year to their players*




*based on a quoted wage bill of £200k for one month

Something under handed is going on at the Bulls. This has a feel of someone trying to kill off the Bulls and start a new Bradford team with no debts. As you point out they are losing huge amounts of money each month and no attempts has been made to cut costs. The lack of action from the Bulls owner and RFL is noting short of disgrace. The Bulls situation is long standing and apart from now the £500k now i feel stolen from fans who cares about the Bulls and rugby league as a whole nothing has been done to cut the wage bill.

Seems the Muppet in charge of the Bulls atm seems more than happy for them to go into liquidation in 10 days. Its a real disgrace that a club of the stature of Bradford Bulls who less then 10 years ago were dominating the game is going out with a whimper at the behest of the crooks that are running them now and the previous bandits who was in charge. At least Dave Whelan reacted when we got close to going down and did everything he could to keep us up even the breaking of the spirit of the cap. That seems more in keeping in the spirit of Rugby League than an owner who does nothing but lets a once great club go bust.

The last 2 people running the Bulls should be banned from having anything to do with any Rugby side ever again. But i have a feeling that the guy who runs them now will let them go into liquidation and then start up a new Bradford side with no debts and put them in the championship next season and push for a franchise asap. How can a SL club fall short of £200k a month on a wage bill that for me makes no sense. I thought that the cap was live pity they did not check the balances of clubs accounts as well. RFL should be ashamed in expanding the game to places like South Wales, Wrexham, France etc and let one of the biggest clubs be run out of existstance in this way. I am all for expanding the game but not at the cost of traditional clubs.

I here Rangers are interested in buying the club so thry can be in europe next season - has anyone told them its a 13 man game !

Maybe because clubs employ people other than players perhaps? In any case the actual monthly salary figure is closer to £300k per month according to the administrator.

£300k per month.

If the bulls liquidate then surely they would lose all their players, how would they reform as a new club.

Depends how the administration finishes and if a Newco is formed that buys the good stuff - assets (not many), contract, brand etc. See many football clubs e..g Leeds and London Broncos on how to do it.

It confuses me.

So no one buys the bulls in admin.

So they liquidate, surely even if they don't own the ground the new company will have to offer the scrap value of the coral stand etc (which I beleive the bulls still own) or the HMRC, would be well within their rights to say that the money to buy is not enough and sell the stand to generate more income.

It does seam a bit of a con that they can just turn their backs on the money owed and then set up again the next day with the same staff, same owners, just no debt.

If somebody was to buy Bradford pre-administration then they would still have to settle their debts. If they buy them now.....they don't. (according to the administrator on Sky Sports News) but they would still need to find around £300k per month.

If the Bulls liquidate then a buyer can come in and set up a newco 'Bradford Northern Bulls' for example with no debts whatsoever and write all new contracts that would lower the wage bill. They can let admin staff leave without paying them etc etc. It's basically the same club under a new name and with costs that they can afford.

Isn't the HMRC clamping down on clubs that go into administration because of not getting the real term tax? As they had enough of mainly football clubs not being run as a business properly. Also wasn't one of the reasons why Widnes didn't get into the SL in the first franchise was because they went into administration in a previous regime and Lewis said although they had a new owner it is still the Widnes identity. From that last sentence wakefield shouldn't be in SL, I've confused myself now.

Congratulations. You have now passed the test to work for the RFL.

For somebody who has such strong views about the inept manner in which the RFL and its member clubs are apparently run I am always amazed that you have such little understanding of what is actually involved.

How much do you think Wigan pay in total per month on salaries?

£3.50 and a pie

Do pies count towards the cap? We may get accused of breaking "the crust of the cap".