More likely I would say as moving back to Odsal would be a prerequisite before being invited to join SL next year. The suggestion is clearly that Odsal becomes economically viable if you add stock cars into the mix as well as Rugby. Personally I fail to see how adding Stock Cars gets anywhere near the cost of maintaining the ground. I still think this will all turn out to be nonsense and Leigh get it, but I'm no longer as certain that they aren't about to pull something silly as I was.

You would think that there would be a huge "up front" cost to make Odsal safe for both stock car racing and for RL crowds and whilst it makes sense to have 2 sports in the same stadium to share the overheads and day to day costs, I never thought that Stock Car racing was a huge money maker.
Who knows ?
It would be good to see the Bulls bac k in the big time but, they would be queue jumping here and it's not right.
Clubs like Leigh, Fev, Toulouse, London have all consistently been in the running for promotion and for them to be overlooked by some "dodgy" appraisal, frankly, disgusts me.

.

You are wrong.Certainly with regard to my disagreeing.

Looks like the Super League M62 clubs are desperate for 12 clubs ,and loop fixtures, and all the broadcast money.

It's great to see...

The sport is really booming.

Did all Super League clubs claim some of the money given to the RFL....that is the RFL,by the government?

Dearie me.Bit of a geographical misfortune for your bête noire ,old Toronto. That Canadian government sure don't just hand their money away.

Shame really.I enjoyed reading your posts of pure invention.

About £500,000 to merely do enough to get the doors open for either sport apparently.
It would be good to see a stable Bradford side that earns our place in superleague, but I agree that at the moment we are not close - we've not proved to be stable over any length of time, we're not currently in Bradford and we're not next in line on the pitch. So if this all designed just to get a remembered version of the 2003 Bulls back in, don't worry, plenty of Bulls fans will also be pretty disgusted. And if its our away fans the other chairmen are after (how ridiculous is that as a standard to aim for btw) I suspect most will be disappointed (probably not uncle Gary though).

My choice would be Toulouse, but I have a horrible sinking feeling I know where this ends up, hope I'm wrong.

The more I read, *especially now with this Stock Car story*, the more I believe there has been plotting & scheming between the RFL & SLE to =#FF0000'force' the return of Bradford to Super League.

Taking all aspects into account that we know of from =#FF0000convenient criteria to =#FF0000Stock Car stories, I can't help but think that the withdrawal of Toronto, their demise & Covid 19 have created the =#FF0000perfect storm , a convenient set of circumstances in which SLE & the RFL can force through Bulls return under the pretence of =#FF0000mini licensing !!!

I am keen to know, and I wonder if, at some point in the future it will transpire that this has been Odsal Gate 2 ?

Q. This £500,000 , a cool half million, just to open the doors & the shared costs of that, will an amount come from the RFL, being that they stand to benefit from having 2 paying tenants ? If so & there has been a collusion to push through Bulls at the expense of more able & qualified clubs then this has the potential to split rugby league wide open & create the beginning of the end !

Q. Exactly how much does stock car racing make ?
Q. Do the Bradford Bulls & Mr Stock Cars have a spare £250,000 each or any combination creating £500K ?
Q. Will the RFL be using any of the £16 Million & further £12 Million Government Loan to fund Odsal Gate 2 ?
Q. Does the financial involvement of former RFL & IRLF supremo Fat Nige in Bradford Bulls cause concerns that there has been collusion to benefit his investment via the old boys network & call into question the validity of this selection process ?

I have to give special credit to Bradford fans here. From what I have seen so far, all if not the vast majority have asked that Bradford be not unfairly favoured for the benefit of a few deluded chairmen & RFL/SLE plebs !!!

Time will tell if this is another sham.

Thank you. We know we aren't the most deserving of the applicants, and whilst we of course want to see us in the top flight again, none of us want to shaft the rest of you, and nor do we want to keep being used as the playthings of 3rd parties.

I've always hoped that the whole community would begin to see just how bent the misfortune of Bradford and the stadium saga has been. I don't know if we'll ever get to the bottom of it all, but from the inexplicable appointment of the bidders with the lowest wealth, to the bizarre dealings with odsal, something has always seemed a little off.

Bulls are the favourites because of the multi-thousands fanbase that's likely to return and follow the club at Odsal and to other grounds. The fans will earn them their place.

Adding Toulouse will put how many French fans onto the terraces and into the seats of the clubs?

Not sure of what advantages they would bring as likeable a club as they are?

After Toulouse are we then looking for Avignon 2022??

If you go round the grounds in your thousands paying on the day and buying the booze and food then I cannot see a single director of the host clubs thinking your shafting them??

Bradford have already been given the nod, this has been ongoing for months, a joint venture between SL, RFL and Stock Cars will see the refurbishment of Odsal.

The 1 million central funding will be split between squad and ground improvements.

At the end of 2021 Bradford will be “locked in” without fear of relegation. They know they will finish bottom this year but will see it as a period of bedding back in.

The question about whether any of the £16 million loan has been used to open up this venture, would indeed be interesting.
IF and it 's a big IF, the re opening of Odsal was funded using some of the loan, to facilitate stock car racing, while other RL clubs go to the wall, it would be the ultimate mickey take.
At this point in time, nothing would be a surprise.

This isn't going to end well and DB at Leigh, plus the other chairmen are going to be severely hacked of if/when the Bulls get the green light.
I take on board what some of the Bulls fans on here have said but, their comments seem to be the opposite of what is coming out of the club and what appears to be happening.

Well, as one of the Bradford northern and then bulls fans who has followed the club far and wide, I can tell you that if I think we've been unfairly shoved in because of our away support I for one won't be attending any away match. Also, if we go up, we're going to spend the season getting smashed, and that will probably mean a few hundred away fans for the most part (If there are away fans allowed at all) and I would be amazed if we averaged over 6k at odsal or 4/5k at Dews if we're losing every week. They'll be enough of us who turn up no matter what at home, but there has been so many years of mismanagement and disappointment that it's really eaten away at the potential for quick growth and recovery of the fan base. We need either trust in the running of the club or success on the pitch (or more likely a mix of both) to start regrowing the crowd, neither is apparent to me yet.

I think Toulouse if we're still going for geographical expansion, If we're not then it should probably be fev or Leigh ahead of the bulls.

I desperately want my bulls back in super League, but only when we have earned it on the pitch and are playing in Bradford .

Yep. that's because the people making the decisions aren't the fans who have lived and suffered all the nonsense of the past 10 years. I have asked the club if they are going to consult the fans to ask if we even want this but didn't get an answer. It feels like desicions are being made behind closed doors again and it stinks , hope im wrong...

I'm increasingly thinking the same. We could have been privately told to accept half money and a season of being bent over, because at the end of the year relegation ends. It's the only scenario where Bradford applying suddenly makes sense to me.

And yet Robert Elstone has stated during the past week that 'It's safe to assume there will be relegation in 2021'.

Taken from love RL site

With Elstone confirming the intention is to restore promotion and relegation at the end of 2021, he accepts the replacement for Toronto will face a battle to survive.

“On the basis we’re all vaccinated and safe, then in a 12-team Super League, we’re committed to a promotion and relegation,” the executive chairman said.

“The clubs felt that with a good coach and good existing squad and with that level of funding, a club could come into Super League and be competitive.

“Clearly it will be a challenge and they’ll need to have a good coach and recruit well but clubs felt it was the right amount of money.”

Following Matt Shaws report that he felt things that were being said about a 12th club seemed to fit Bradford Bulls like a glove, could it be the case that a "good coach" is another indication Bradford have it sown up as John Kear is a good coach?

All I can see missing is a rich backer? At this stage whilst nobody appears to be in the frame, who is to say that Name may not be announced if and when Bradford are announced as the twelfth club?. If such a backer is being lined up the person may well be happy to bankroll Bulls in SL and if they go down continue to back the club. Going down doesn't mean clubs with rich owners stay down, HKR bounced straight back......

Nah. I genuinely think that the only way Bradford would apply is if we'd had the nod that we wouldn't be relegated. We've proven over and over again that there is no one willing to bankroll Bradford, so no yo-yo back up if we get bummed into next week during 2021.

I get it that some Bradford fans would like to actually earn/win promotion, a noble (no pun intended) position to take.

But firstly this position/principle surely also applies to the clubs you name - Toulouse Fev and Leigh??

Secondly do you think it's an all or nothing thing? Bulls could go down and return even stronger. I remember Huddersfield being kept in Superleague year on year and being useless, eventually they went down, then came straight back a much stronger club??

Thirdly your analysis of a poor season and possible relegation has to be respected and acknowledged, but if Wood, Sawyer & co. are happy to take the chance because they have the funding and desire to keep on investing in the Bulls for the next few years then why not go for it now, especially if the Superleague clubs have actually decided they want Bradford.

Saying NO to an open invitation from Lenegan & co doesn't sound like a good thing to do/turn down?

Could it be that the private investment company looking to invest in SL have a say in who they want in the League? They may see Bradford as a crucial part due to fan base potential?

We all know that their application has gone in.
It's all about where the Bulls would play and, more importantly, the million dollar question, where is the money coming from to sustain them.
There is a HUGE risk for any club that gets the nod as income for EVERY club is still a massive unknown - unless the successful club has some backers with very deep pockets.

Stop this crap about it been bradford as the 12th team, it’s obviously Leigh just look at the money there spending, it’s so obvious, there spending it quicker than Toronto did lol, my money is on Leigh. Any takers give me a shout

Quote ="Molsk111"Stop this crap about it been bradford as the 12th team, it’s obviously Leigh just look at the money there spending, it’s so obvious, there spending it quicker than Toronto did lol, my money is on Leigh. Any takers give me a shout'" Don't Leigh always do this every couple of years, it's nothing new, if they don't succeed in Championship next year. Beaumont will asking them all to leave as can't afford salaries. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hullda ... 823793.amp

Quote ="Molsk111"Stop this crap about it been bradford as the 12th team, it’s obviously Leigh just look at the money there spending, it’s so obvious, there spending it quicker than Toronto did lol, my money is on Leigh. Any takers give me a shout'" Don't Leigh always do this every couple of years, it's nothing new, if they don't succeed in Championship next year. Beaumont will asking them all to leave as can't afford salaries. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hullda ... 823793.amp

Quote ="bulls2487"Don't Leigh always do this every couple of years, it's nothing new, if they don't succeed in Championship next year. Beaumont will asking them all to leave as can't afford salaries. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hullda ... 823793.amp'" No, all players have accepted and signed a on one year contracts. If Leigh don't earn promotion next season, the door might be shut for SL after that. All the players are aware of this when they signed.

Quote ="bulls2487"Don't Leigh always do this every couple of years, it's nothing new, if they don't succeed in Championship next year. Beaumont will asking them all to leave as can't afford salaries. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hullda ... 823793.amp'" No, all players have accepted and signed a on one year contracts. If Leigh don't earn promotion next season, the door might be shut for SL after that. All the players are aware of this when they signed.

A burning question for me is that, if it transpires at a later date that there has been collusion between the RFL/SLE/Braford & Wood/Sawyer =#FF0000we are all aware of Nigel Wood's history & connections to the RFL, the IRLF & Bradford Bulls that the selection process was deliberately reverse designed & that the "weighting" of criteria was deliberately withheld, then where does Rugby League go from there ?

Will there be an investigation ?
Will there be an implosion ?
Will it create a huge split between clubs in the RFL no longer willing to be governed by the RFL & SLE ?

Only time will tell, however I fear that if it transpires so, this could be the beginning of the end !

Or just as likely it turns out it's Leigh and we can look back at all these rumours about bradford as a right load of old balls.