Remembering that CC is a fairly astute bloke, you have to wonder just why he would set the wheels of administration into motion if he didn't have some kind of view on how it was all going to pan out. Let's be honest, if the club is wound up, the debts are likely to be higher than the assets and as the major shareholder he would be, in financial terms, the major loser. His best interests would seem to have been better served by letting the previous board soldier on and hoping for the best.

That, in a nutshell, is what I find most difficult to understand; without a 'plan': why?

Nope, [ithe administrator[/i has 4 bids on the table, but his problem is that any buyer of an SL club has to be approved by the RFL, as to directors/owners etc.
Each offer won't "include" an offer to pay off any part of the debts, each offer will simply be a one-item offer - "I will buy the club from you for £X". That will translate into a certain % in the £ to each unsecured creditor, from whatever's left in the pot after the administrator's fees etc.

If £X is less than 100% of the debts then the creditors have to agree.


This is the most ridiculous aspect. I wonder whether any of the bidders will still be around "in a few weeks time" when the ship may not have actually sunk but pretty much everyone will be in the lifeboats or the water.

This is the most ridiculous aspect. I wonder whether any of the bidders will still be around "in a few weeks time" when the ship may not have actually sunk but pretty much everyone will be in the lifeboats or the water.'"

Fair enough, its just so frustrating that the powers that be still seem to be dragging their feet to resolve this whole mess. The longer this goes on the more suspicion grows....Has the fate of the Bulls already been decided whether a new owner is secured or not? time will tell but if this is the case its a disgrace.

FA has it spot on.

For some reason, all the RFL and SL clubs can focus on at the moment is getting Bradford Bulls to complete this season's fixtures.

If no financial backer comes along with plenty of money, Bulls will be excluded from Super League next season. It will then be open to anybody to re-form Bradford and start again in Championship 1.

If that happens, I hope the RFL immediately puts the following in place:

1. For all clubs, somehow require at least 13 of the 17 players named for each match to be EU born or raised players

2. Automatic promotion and relegation between the leagues (even if only some form of one-up, one-down)

3. Limit payments to players in a year to no more than 50% of the club's annual income in the most recent audited accounts.

Leave that in place for 10 years and the game will be booming again plus there will be a clear, transparent and fair route back to Super League for Bradford within 2 seasons.

From Bulls facebook page

RFL Statement: Bradford Bulls

The RFL remain positive about the future of Bradford Bulls following a productive meeting with the club’s administrator, Brendan Guilfoyle on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the four bids currently on the table for the Stobart Super League club.

RFL Chief Operating Officer, Ralph Rimmer said: “We had constructive meetings with all the consortia that have submitted
proposals to the administrator and we’re optimistic about the future of Bradford Bulls.

“There are now four confirmed bids for the Bulls and each consortium has been asked to submit business plans to us by Tuesday August 21. Due to the sensitive nature of the current discussions we are unable to confirm who the bids are from at present.

“However, it does appear that this renewed interest has come as a direct consequence of the offer from Super League Europe Ltd, which remains on the table.

“We understand the frustration regarding the on-going process but it is vital that due diligence is carried out on all the bids and that ultimately the right owners are found for the good of the club and the sport as a whole.

The RFL remains in open dialogue with the administrator and the club and will continue to provide what practical support it can.

Brendan Guilfoyle, joint administrator at Bradford Bulls and a partner at The P&A Partnership, says: “We are pleased to be working collaboratively with the RFL to agree on a purchaser and sell the club. We now have all the ingredients that the RFL has requested and funds proven from three bidders plus the Super League Europe Ltd offer.

“The RFL will consider the bidders’ business plans which are to be received by the Tuesday deadline, and all concerned do understand the need to bring this to a swift conclusion.”

I seem to remember the first 2 being in place in the 70s & 80s. The game wasn't booming, it was dire in comparison to the levels it is now. The only thing that will make the game boom is marketing & publicity on par with cricket, yawnion etc, so that young kids want to play the game more than other sports because it is cool to do so.

IMO the RFL could not reasonably have done more to secure a future for Bradford.

they may be looking at the bigger picture......HMRC is a government department and so is the body that overseas Sport England who gave the RFL £27m+ funding for 2010-2013. No doubt the RFL will be seeking a similar sum for 2014 onwards.....don't bite the hand that feeds you

Excellent post and should be mandatory in SLE.

I'd like to see unlimited tackles, the ball being fed into the tunnel [iproperly[/i, and that little old lady running onto the pitch with her brolly when some big brute attacks her lad.

Oh, and bring back those boots with the hard end in the toe for the kickers.....and the Yorks and Lancs leagues.....maybe even wooden stands...

don't forget the stench of the toilets at The Willows and KR, not to mention the pig farm.....

Can't really remember the Willows toilets being [ithat[/i bad to be honest..but the riverside caverns at Central Park scarred me for life even though I was brought up very close to a number of pig farms..

haven't been to KR for years but didn't there used to be a big pig farm on the way to the ground, just out of town ?

as an aside (sorry to off topic) but many years ago when I was selling properties in sw France a nice old house came up for sale, perfect for renovation with great views etc and really cheap, even for the 80s in rural France - problem was it had pig farm running adjacent and every time I took clients to visit the property they saw and smelled the pig farm and were put off (not surprising) - I changed the advert in the window and called it "Pig Farm Cottage" and people were intrigued by the name and the first couple who visited it after the name change bought it and are still there having turned it into their 'dream home'...that's when I realised that honesty is usually the best policy...

and the smell ? .......well, the pigs got used to the people !

Wrong on all points. But this isn't the place to have an in-depth discussion on the issue with someone who's clearly new to the game - or has a very selective and faulty memory.

All SL clubs had shares in the 'new' Hull FC. This information is in the public domain, and was discussed extensively on RLFans on a number of occasions. The shares were initially non-voting shares and were redeemed by the Hull BOD a few years ago, shortly before they were due to mature into voting shares. I believe the shares came about because all clubs had made some investment into Gateshead when it was formed.

miaow!!

assume you were at the George Hotel in 1895 then????????????????



condescending ass!!! what does it matter if someone has watched the game 100 years or 100 minutes???????

prat

The former shout "Gerremonside" at all the wrong times.

The pig farm was just over the lane from the Pilkington factory where the coaches used to park a few years back. Can't say I ever noticed the smell, as I mentioned previously, I was brought up in one of the more rural parts on the edge of the city so regarded pigs as something which were always around. Pigs were never the smelliest creatures anyway, provided they were 'mucked out' regularly. Anyway, too much information...

thanks for the pig info/confirmation - glad the old grey matter hasn't given up altogether !

If you'd said you were an Estate Agent I would have made allowances...

If they had they would have bought us by now.

We're well past the stage where a buyer, intent on keeping us in SL, has anything to gain by dragging this out. In addition to minimising the purchase cost, a prospective buyer needs to have a strategy in place to make us competitive and cut our losses next year. The longer this saga continues the worse are our prospects, competitively and financially.

off contract players will have to be replaced, it was hard for Widnes to contract top players once they knew they were granted a licence fo SL and they had more time and a backer. Going to be harder for the Bulls as time is against them, even if they do keep the licence

The relevance in this case would be whether someone was around at the time of said events or not and could therefore be expected to know what happened. But don't that get in the way of your jerking knee.