Where did you find this out from? Why would an administrator a) Not turn up for a players meeting and b) Not bother to inform of it being cancelled?? It's Ludicrous.

I am getting sick and tired of know-it-alls from Wakefield coming on here and telling us what we should have done. And we having to explain to them ad nauseum why what they "advised" was totally impracticable in our very different circumstances.

You guys really do not have the first idea of what was and was not practicable here. Do you think a fundraising effor on this scale could have been organised in the very few days we had between the catastrophe being suddenly dumped on us and the dealine to avoid winding up? Do you really think a fans' effort in those circumstances could have raised anything like the money the club raised (which incidentally included over £100k that was not directly from the fans, and of the £400k that WAS, not a small part came from outside the fanbase? And the first we fans knew of the looming catastrophe was when the club mailed everyone and announced it. Did you seriously expect the club to suddenly pull that whole operation because the fans said they were going to try and do one of their own? When the clock was ticking, and as directors they had to do whatever they could to stave off insolvency? Can you simply not see that the club would almost certainly have had to continue with their own efforts? Thereby dividing the income and demonstrating a schism between fans and club, in all likelihood
to the detriment of BOTH efforts?

What the hell do you think Supporters' direct could have added? Their rugby league operation, lacking any meaningful external funding, consists of one extremely busy lady who also has a range of other responsibilities? I was speaking to her only last week, about the current situation, and she said the same thing - just not enough time to resolve the immediate crisis, you could only look at a longer-term solution one the immediate crisis is over.

And, perhaps most importantly of all, where was this massive groundswell from the fans? I don't think we had one existing member urging us at that time to seek to intervene, and indeed even since then I think only one or two new members have put such proposals forward. Conversely, we had quite a few members saying they agreed that the club's pledge was the only game in town in the circumstances - something the society board advised the members and the wider community that it had concluded after considering all the options. Bear in mind we had no advance warning.

The society board comprises a small number of very busy volunteers doing what they can in their spare time. Something on the scale of what you propose - even if it was practicable in the timeframe, which it was not - would have required a massive increase in resources available to the task as well as a load of legal and other work. Just who the hell do you suggest was going to do this? And in the timeframe? There was no mad rush of people demanding action and volunteering their services. the nearest we managed was a handful of people for the leeds match bucket collection. And if the society board members had been crazy enough to try and attempt the task anyway, what mandate would we have had to do so? Alsmost certainly, as a minimum we would have had to convene an emergency EGM, given the major change to a remit reconfirmed by the members only two months before at the AGM, and we are bound by the notice provisions in the society rules and time was waiting for no-one.

Please, when you have managed to raise half a amillion for YOUR club, in a matter of days and from a standing start, come back and tell us how we should have done it. Otherwise, can I please ask you to stop giving us advice on a matter you are in no position to advise on?

EDIT: Its only fair that I add that if you WERE well-meaning in what you said, then you have maybe caught some of the anger I feel about the disgraceful situation what is left of the club is now in, and the way the head coach, players and other staff have been treated. If you did not deserve my anger, then to you I apologise. But please take on board what Mike and I have said, and maybe dissuade some of your fellows for flogging the issue to death?

I can tell you why. It's because we foresaw the consequences of administration that so many are bewailing now, and we wanted to help prevent them. There was one plan - and one plan only - on the table to achieve this, so we threw our weight behind it, while expressing our reservations. The plan failed anyway, but if we had opposed it, it would [udefinitely[/u have failed at the first hurdle, and we would have been handy scapegoats.

If, we had gone down the route of asking people to contribute to us instead of the club, as well as scuppering any chance of the pledge, we would have contributed to the confusion, brought the full weight of the club down against us, fragmented fund-raising efforts and been very lucky if we had raised a five-figure sum, let alone £500K. Bear in mind that, before the crisis, only around 150 people had cared enough to join. During the crisis, about another 10 or 15 have been galvanised into action.

Let's be generous and say that we raised a couple of hundred thousand (of which there was not a chance IMO). It wouldn't even have paid a month's wages. Even 500K would have been utterly inadequate to take the club forward.

Add to the fact that all the existing committee had volunteered only on the basis of meeting our initial aims of supporting youth development. All of us hold down full-time jobs. No one was beating down our door to come on board with the kind of expertise needed for what you suggest.

I appreciate your sincerity in asking the question, but suggest it would have been utterly impractical at the time. Whether it will be possible to use this approach to salvage things in future, or even to work alongside future owners, is of course an entirely different question.

While writing this, I see that Adey has posted something similar. I don't share his anger at Wakefield fans - I do believe that the advice is sincere and well-intentioned - but I do echo most of the other points he makes.

Hey, I am not angry at Wakefield fans! Don't forget I gave some help when they were setting up their trust, and like you contributed to their own fundraising. Lot of time for the vast majority of them as fans, always have had.

My issue is with the handful who keep lecturing us what we should have done, despite us repeatedly explaining why we as a fanbase could not. It's gone way past friendly advise, and is becoming both counterproductive and wearing now.

This.

I'm really too choked up to make any reasonable comment, but this says it all really

Don't worry about that. Respect for your fans, players and (ex) coach is sky-high with almost everyone involved in the game and deservedly so.

If Caisley were to save you how many would still stump up their hard earned cash to watch the Bulls? If this same situation happened at the Giants with regards to what Caisley has done then I wouldn't set foot in the ground until he'd upped sticks and sold the club on. I'm only going on what I've read on the net but it seems a very underhand way the Bulls have been treat by someone who's supposed to have your best interests at heart.

Good luck and I hope you pull through it, have a lot of mates who support you and I always enjoy a day out at Odsal once a season.

As one of the late comers to Bullbuilder alluded to by Adey and MDF I accepted the premise that supporting the pledge was the right course of action to follow at the time.

But with the the club folding completely now being real possibility, then the fans willing to stand up and be counted are going to need some structure to rally round if we have to start from scratch. I am sure last night's meeting was set up with all the right intentions, and even if I could not actually get in I got to thank MP for his efforts, but there was no proper organisation or objectives.

Posters have also explained that setting up a supporters organisation is a complicated process, and this is obviously the case. So if willing shouldn't B/B consider widening it's objectives now as if the worst comes to the worst and we do have to start again from the bottom of the ladder then genuine fans are going to need some banner to rally round?

Bang on. I for one would be willing to match every penny i put into the pledge by supporting such a venture.

BullBuilder is a democratic organisation. If that is what the members want to do, then that's what it will do. I think we had suggestions in this direction from 2 or 3 people (presumably including you) so far. Certainly no groundswell. However, I appreciate that circumstances have changed, and if members now want this - or if new members wanting this start to join - then they could re-orientate BullBuilder in this way. Due to other commitments, as mentioned above, I suspect most of the board (me included) might not go along, but the Trust belongs to the members, not the board. We certainly won't stand in the way.

This is the point. To even talk about Bullbuilder henceforth running Bradford Bulls RLFC, even leaving aside the absence of funding, you first of all need to have a number of suitable candidates who for at least the next year and probably longer are prepared to devote their lives to doing this for nothing. If they don't step forward then you aren't even at first base.

Were there such a vanguard, I too would be happy to match my pledge, but doing so would pay the wages for about 15 minutes, and me making that 'commitment' is in fact little more than taking the proverbial.

If think BB does a great job - and as you say often thankless. But if the much heralded "rescue" does not materialise we really will need to work from the bottom up - so perhaps some limited pre-planning might not go amiss and I am reasonably certain there would be more volunteers - maybe even some with relevent experience and some time to spare.

I know Ferocious has just commented that individual contributions are a drop in the ocean - but surely that is the reason the fans need to join together as their collective contribution could make a difference?

As I say I still have some - albeit failing - hope there might be a different solution but think we should be starting to contemplate a Plan B being required - and I am not talking about a rap singer for the pre-match, though my son tells me he would prove a bigger pull on the gate than the Bulls!

You were. And you were one of the very very few across the fanbase that I saw putting forward considered proposals. Which is why I would suggest readers might wish to pay particular attention when you post on here.

In response to the speeches being given from the top table last night about setting up a supporters trust to be the vehicle of the fans, some will recall I pointed out to the chair and to the meeting that we already had an existing supporters' trust - already empowered to do pretty well what they were looking to do, and set up under the auspices of and backed by Supporters Direct.

I questioned why they would seek to start from scratch (if indeed SD would sponsor a second trust), and pointed out that all that would be required would be for interested fans to join Bullbuilder (The Bradford Rugby League Supporters Society Limited) and elect/appoint directors and other officers/helpers who could then take their campaign forward. I must admit, I am unsure why they had not sought to talk to the BB board before - maybe they misunderstood what BB was - but at least now everyone should be aware. Indeed, when they contacted SD last week, Jacqui there rang me and asked permission to forward to them our contact details (see website) as she saw little point in people trying to start all over again and result in fragmentation of fans' efforts.

We always knew that we could make no progress with acquiring a stake in the club under the previous mad shareholdings - something Supporters Direct fully concurred with at the time - but the vehicle was then there for if and when something maybe circumstances changed. In the meantime, we concentrated on something we COULD make a difference by doing.

I can only reiterate what MDF said above - Bullbuilder is the sum of its members, and the board is elected/appointed to carry out the wishes of the membership. At the AGM in January, I asked the specific question was the board pursuing the wishes and intentions of the members, and were they happy with what we were doing? A clear yes. But that was then and this is now. Bulls supporters already have a supporters trust established and empowered to do most of what was put to the meeting (a full takeover might require some amendment to the Society Rules, probably in conjuction with SD). Although I am not speaking for them here, I believe none of the existing board would have any hesitation in making way for a new group seeking to pursue a new prime objective - I certainly would not, and will stand down at the earliest opportunity once the next secretary is appointed.

So its over to the fanbase.

Accoring to Sir Gledhill BG & CC have held a meeting today at non other than the famous place that is..........Spoons in Ilkley?!

It's difficult to appreciate the extent to which we were presented with a fait accompli and just how manipulative the management of the information has been. We were told we literally had days to save the club and if we managed to achive this aim then all was well. Obviously when a business sells its lease for £1.25 million and still can't pay the wages that is palpably nonsense but how do you get that information as a fans group without the time, expertise, mandate or money when the club itself is saying something completely different. Into this scenario comes another group of former directors/shareholders (with more inside knowldege than the fans group) saying they have investors etc. The previous board gets the message out their removal from the board is a stitch up irrespective of the mess they've left and blah blah blah.

It's a minefield of lies, egos and possibly fraud with some saying the administrator is part of a broader deception. To say Bullbuilder should step forward and sort out a mess this long in the making is unfair.

Registered yesterday: www.whois.net/whois/bradfordnorthern.com

Registered yesterday: www.whois.net/whois/bradfordnorthern.com

Quote ="vbfg"Registered yesterday: www.whois.net/whois/bradfordnorthern.com'" Domain name: bradfordnorthern.co.uk Registrant: Chris Hallas Relevant dates: Registered on: 02-Jul-2012 Expiry date: 02-Jul-2014 Last updated: 02-Jul-2012

Quote ="vbfg"Registered yesterday: www.whois.net/whois/bradfordnorthern.com'" Domain name: bradfordnorthern.co.uk Registrant: Chris Hallas Relevant dates: Registered on: 02-Jul-2012 Expiry date: 02-Jul-2014 Last updated: 02-Jul-2012

Im sure he's a leeds fan on twitter

Could be just someone eagle-eyed enough to try make a quick buck if that particular scenario does happen!

It is.

I'm sure his intentions are pure. #rugbyleaguefamily

Still seems to be signs of movements in Ilkley today then - but if it all ended in a fight over who picks up the bill rather than PG saying "oh let me pay " - thinking "I bill him back later" - and we really are left looking over the fence at a big empty hole next week then maybe a Bullbuilder general meeting might be an idea. I might even shave off the facial hair to avoid being mistaken for CC and set upon!!
If the BUlls do carry on then even with BB's current remit it is likely there will be the need to replace a lot of our current young players?

Aaaaaargh! There are few enough moustachioed Bulls fans as it is (though I detect the number is on the up, especially since Movember, and can only increase following the fine example of the locals at that weird event in Poland and Ukraine). Have some moral courage man!