Think it was 60 quid, but still the same but a tenners difference.

To end all the arguments, regardless of season ticket prices and administration, we are Bradford and deserve to be in SL.

Agreed, whether right or wrong it will cost the SFA millions. Plus, what club's fans have made a greater effort to avoid administration than ours? Certainly not those of certain clubs on this thread now.

Quote ="M@islebugs"Agreed, whether right or wrong it will cost the SFA millions. Plus, what club's fans have made a greater effort to avoid administration than ours? Certainly not those of certain clubs on this thread now.'" I still expect Rangers to be back in the SPL in 2013/14, it doesn't appear that the league can survive without them: www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... l-collapse Clearly the Bulls are not Rangers, our relegation in itself wouldnt have the same effect on SL. But that assumes that other clubs do not go the same way. If the RFL takes a hardline with the Bulls and then another couple of clubs follow suit the house of cards could easily collapse.

Quote ="M@islebugs"Agreed, whether right or wrong it will cost the SFA millions. Plus, what club's fans have made a greater effort to avoid administration than ours? Certainly not those of certain clubs on this thread now.'" I still expect Rangers to be back in the SPL in 2013/14, it doesn't appear that the league can survive without them: www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... l-collapse Clearly the Bulls are not Rangers, our relegation in itself wouldnt have the same effect on SL. But that assumes that other clubs do not go the same way. If the RFL takes a hardline with the Bulls and then another couple of clubs follow suit the house of cards could easily collapse.

So every club outside the top or bottom 2 or 3 just pack in as they have nothing to play for ?



We gave it a chance for years & years. Clubs destroyed themselves at an equal or greater rate.



What is this true support of which you speak? Is it better support than the franchise system? None of the clubs being touted for SL will generate anything near Bradford's.

Why ?

[iQuoteJust set fair rules and let success determine who goes up and down. Just give it a chance.[/i

We gave it a chance for years & years. Clubs destroyed themselves at an equal or greater rate.


But there's a "Salary Cap" now - to stop clubs destroying themselves !!!

This is a separate, if not unrelated issue. You have not responded to my points.

Isn't that a Mae West Quote??

It all seems to have gone very quiet. A good sign or bad? I would have thought that if there is going to be a deal involving a move to VP there would be more ongoing chatter.

Anyone else hear the rumour at weekend that ABC is now just A?

If only it could have been AC/DC!

Is Stu Fielden heading a consortium?

Quote ="Cibaman"I still expect Rangers to be back in the SPL in 2013/14, it doesn't appear that the league can survive without them: www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... l-collapse Clearly the Bulls are not Rangers, our relegation in itself wouldnt have the same effect on SL. But that assumes that other clubs do not go the same way. If the RFL takes a hardline with the Bulls and then another couple of clubs follow suit the house of cards could easily collapse.'" The Bulls also do not have the luxury of having Rangers minded "journalists" printing scaremongering and bullshe-ite through their collection of fanzines in the national media. The nonsense that has been printed in pro-Rangers rags up here is ridiculous and sadly too many people believe it.

Quote ="Cibaman"I still expect Rangers to be back in the SPL in 2013/14, it doesn't appear that the league can survive without them: www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... l-collapse Clearly the Bulls are not Rangers, our relegation in itself wouldnt have the same effect on SL. But that assumes that other clubs do not go the same way. If the RFL takes a hardline with the Bulls and then another couple of clubs follow suit the house of cards could easily collapse.'" The Bulls also do not have the luxury of having Rangers minded "journalists" printing scaremongering and bullshe-ite through their collection of fanzines in the national media. The nonsense that has been printed in pro-Rangers rags up here is ridiculous and sadly too many people believe it.

Does it involve the Pope?

I'll have to defer to your expertise on that one.

Tigertot - you wanted my thoughts on the above points;

1. Automatic promotion and relegation work for Soccer including up and down to/from the Premier League. Rugby League should have one-up, one-down. The salary cap is supposed to stop clubs destroying themselves. Promotion/relegation brought in investors in the past - Ernie Clay at Fulham, Paul Fairs in Kent, David Watkins in Cardiff, Geoffrey Robinson at Scarborough etc. Every club in all sports should have the realistic dream of doing what say Wigan has done in Soccer - non-league to Premier League (and back again in Btradford City's case - but that's life).

2. If there's is an open, merit-based, route to the top, it generates support - the snowball effect. Of course, not every club can succeed at the same time - but that's sport.

3. I'd rather have a well run, commited, financially sound Featherstone for example, with tidy ground, 'grow your own' players system and a true RL heritage etc in Super League than Clubs that just try to buy success with money they haven't got.

:38avaek1
I did thanks.



Maybe so, but you will be watching a sport concentrated along the M62 with more & more kids opting to play soccer, yawnion, basketball.

The problem with promotion/relegation is that the promoted team is under pressure to stay in the League, the only way they can do this is by spending a large amount of the salary cap. This cap may be manageable, whilst in Super League, although, if they are unsuccessful and are relegated in the following season, they will then have multiple individuals on large wages, that they can no longer afford. This will then lead to further financial troubles for these clubs.

Look at Widness. It's clear that 1 season is not long enough to build a SL team. If they were demoted, they would be worse off for playing in Super League.

Halifax, Leigh, Featherstone etc. do not have squads capable of competing at SL level, and would have to break the bank to survive. The next year, they would almost certainly be demoted and then they are in a worse scenario. This is what the franchise system hopes to avoid.

Football have already identified that there is this problem at the 'top table' and had to create parachute payments for demoted teams (£20 million over 3 seasons, to help with existing staffing costs etc.). I don't think RL can ever compete with this, nor do i think clubs in the championship would like demoted clubs to be receiving financial help.

There's also the Christmas turkey aspect, whereby players celebrating their clubs promotion were very often NOT in fact celebrating their own promotion, as they would as likely as not be thanked for their services and then replaced by someone better.

I'd rather have one-up/one-down promotion & relegation than a Franchise system. That's just my view and I think overall it's better for any sport.

Of course, tigertot, when that promotion/relegation gangway was pulled up in RL, some outside investors thought what the heck and walked away.

Of course, any new system does and would take time to bed in. That's why I say, just set fair rules and stick to them long term.

Many on here suspect other clubs in SL are not far off 'doing a Bulls'. So, in time, when clubs realised that the penalty for going bust is relegation to the bottom division, they wouldn't do it. Then, in time, the gulf between bottom of SL and top of the league below would not be as insurmountable as people think it is now. Some (I know not all) promotions to the Premier League become 'permanaent' - like Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon for many years, Stoke City, etc - as do relegations; Leeds United. Just live with it and the open route - up and down. I'm not against reasonable parachute payments to meet justifiable costs; but dealing with paying off a 5 year contracts you shouldn't have entered into isn't one of them.

Many on here any I'm sure players wouldn't agree with me on something else - but I'd like to see a limit on the number of player contracts that clubs can give that are more than 12 months.

There is plenty of evidence for & against.


Yes, I remember well Fulham, Kent, Scarborough & Cardiff calling it a day when SL started, or was it the millenium before?


All sports set fair rules then bend them for what they see as the best interests of the sport. I don't have a problem with it.


It makes no difference if there is P&R or franchise. Teams will bankrupt themselves to try & maintain top league status, be it football, yawnion or rugby. The demands for instant success demand it.

Let's move to automatic promotion and relegation then - so the investors in our game that are a distant memory, might just come back. There's scant few out there now as you all know - even with a Franchise system.

The more clubs bankrupt themselves like the Bulls, the less chance there will be of others being able to do it in the future - suppliers will stop giving credit and, more to the point, HMRC will come, and is coming, under more pressure to act much more quickly when companies (especially sports clubs) reach the point where they can just about scrabble enough together to pay players' wages each month (net) but without paying the tax (PAYE & National Insurance) that is due. In time, clubs will just have to live within their means. If that means RL that we all love becomes more of a minority sport then so be it - BUT, I do believe that a long term automatic one-up/one-down promotion/relgation system would draw in more financial backers.

Union keeps being mentioned. Up to now, they have had automatic promotion/relegation. Do you think the guys at Exeter, Worcester or even Doncaster RU clubs would have put their substantial money in if they thought the existing closed shop top division clubs could have conspired to vote to keep them out?

I get it, you have a Hobby-horse.

More like a high horse...the fella is wrong about automatic promotion in union as well.