Seems like the deadline for the 500k has now miraculously been changed to 9th at 5pm.
Anyone else that pledged/donated last night feel conned?

They're not getting a penny out of me. I think the whole sorry tale stinks.

Well it always seemed quite convenient to me that the deadline for this first 500k just happened to coincide with the Leeds game. So it doesn't really surprise me that they've moved the goalposts now that they haven't quite hit the target.

Agreed. They got my ticket money in fairness, but they get that every year.

Ditto

While I do honestly wish the best for the bulls, they set a target to raise half of the money needed. They haven't even hit that.

The whole thing is down the financial mismanagement (waisting money on masses of fireworks and smoke at the tunnel etc..) of a now underachieving club. A huge lack of business acumen all-round (They now have no assets or collateral to encourage a buyer after giving the RFL Odslum to wipe out the debts with the RFL) and a massive risk (the season tickets) turning into a gigantic flop.

I would have been horrified to see stupid things like fireworks if my club were asking fans to donate and even local kids to hand over their pocket money. At least they didn't have the usual chav on a go kart!

A further question is raised if it comes to missing the target, does the raised money simply become part of Bradford Bulls or have they established a company to handle all the funds that have been raised to prevent donations going down with a sinking ship?

Would the Bulls be better entering into administration and then being purchased for £1 by someone who can pay off the debt and start fresh? Im sure that the recently graded 'Grade B licence' club (The RFL need to be able to pay rent for Odslum) won't be punished into the Championships anyway!

Just some thoughts. Perhaps Bradford should have been saving for a rainy day! Are they saving Bradford Bulls or are they saving the owners who put them into the mess?

It would seem that the PR skills of he Bull's board of directors are as bad as their finanacial management skills.

The whole episode has a fishy smell to it. I may have missed something but normally when a company has financial difficulties it looks to it's shareholder to stump up first. Did this happen?

If the shareholders were not prepared to inject more capital then it seems a bit of a cheek to ask the supporters to find 500K. Had some sort of shareholding been offered to those that made the full pledge then it could have raised more funds IMO.

Has money, that could have paid off the tax bills etc, been used to reduce the overdraft and so reduce the Directors personal guarantees? It is all as muddy as the Odsal pitch.

If they moved them last night, would Sinfield have got the extras??

This is probably my ignorance on the situation but, what happens if they raise the first 500k then fail to get up to the 1 million, will the people who contributed to the first half get their money returned or is it accounted for after the 9th?

I'd expect them to lose it.

I think we all know the answer to that one and I think that's why some of the more savvy Bulls fans are getting a bit twitchy about what happens now, its fairly obvious that being so close to the target, and assuming that the target of £500k was a genuine target in the first place, they are going to continue trading for a short while but where will the second tranche of £500k come from, or indeed is a second £500k required, for what, and over what time frame ?

IF the current business continues and then fails later on in the season and is reconstituted as another trading company, how much goodwill is going to be lost with the casual and floating supporters (and the last ten days suggests there are a lot of those) and how heavily will this cost the new company, its one thing to have your company fail from a cashflow problem but you always keep your eyes open for the escape route and destroying your customer trust is probably the worst thing you can do.

Indeed.

A lot more damage will be done if the board cash in the pledges next week only for the club to limp along for a few more months then go bust, than if they were to announce on Tuesday morning that they hadn't been able to come up with enough to support the pledge total and call in the administrators then.

I can only assume that the further delay to the announcement is to give them more time to try and find that extra financial support they claim is necessary.

I can understand fans desperate to save their club i honestly can but pledging 500k and then another 500k is needed later this month would you seriously TRUST this regime with that amount of money??
Far too many un-answered questions and the blame seems to be everywhere except where it should be pointed to.

Wonder how many Bulls fans will be waking tomorrow expecting the Easter Bunny to have left choccy eggs?
Most of those who pledged I presume

I heard tell that Kearsley has once again offered to take the club on again, but has once again stated that if he does he doesn't want ANY of the current board. Apparently, once again, the current board have politely refused his offer.
So have the board asked their majority shareholder for money? Yes.
Is their interest in the wellbeing of the club secondary to their own interest? Who's to say?

Don't you mean Caisley?

Yup. It's the day after the Dewsbury amateur derby. I am currently half blind, hung over and apparently stupid.

Which might not surprise some people.

As Friday was a bank holiday and banks wont take any action on the weekend and Monday is a bank holiday I dont understand why the original deadline was 5pm Friday, why not 9am Tuesday which would be the next business day. It would also give them and extra few days in which to raise the money.

It was obvious why. To stampede their 'fans' to Odsal and it worked...got their first 20,000 crowd in 7 years.

Correct, and it worked this time quite successfully but it's not a sustainable policy preying on people's emotions and bringing out the begging bowls. Goodwill can only stretch so far and mine's already been used up.

Maybe the board will take their cut before going bust.
Nice litttle earner for the out going board there.

says on twitter they have reached £500000 and a full report about it in rl express tomorrow

That`s good news.
What will happen if they don`t get the next 500k?
Do the Board get a pay out or does the inland revenue, bank or SL get it?

Todays T and A reporting that the debt is now £1.2 million...they are losing £100k a month..what a mess.

Cue the feeding frenzy to commence to raise the remaining £500k. Could it be that GH has already done a deal with Hood to take one of their young players, hence the transfer of Pitts.

If they sell Bateman, Whitehead, Kopczak and L'Estrange could clear rest of debt and their wages off the balance sheet, at least they would have a club left. Go into administration all up for grabs.