Here's how I see it.

1. There is no way the RFL can ever sell one clubs ground to another club. Conflict of interest. Everyone knows it was wrong for the RFL to buy Odsal. But that decision triggered administration and then the other SL clubs benefitted from our sky money. So it's not as if we benefitted and everyone else lost out.

2. I don't believe Carter or Hudgell see it as a business interest despite what they claimed earlier in the year. The RFL own the lease. The council own the land. So if Bradford moved out, were kicked out, or went bust. They would have a lease with no tenant. They can't just fill it in as they're new build houses all around it and I'm not 100% sure they could just build houses on it due to it previously being land fill. Even if they could, a building company isn't going to pay much for the leade. The land will be what they're forking out for. I'm not sure the council would be too happy either if we were homeless. I doubt they'd just allow two other SL teams to make a nice profit and screw their own sports team over. Like I said it's not a business decision from them.

I've said it before, the politics need to stop and all the chairman keep their egos out of the limelight(and I 100% include my own) . I want to be talking about Tom Johnstone, Konrad Hurrell, Blake Austin. Not Andrew. Chalmers, Michael Carter or Ian Leneghan. We. Saw the poltics with the "Yorkshire cup" which isn't really the Yorkshire cup but just the teams who were part of the championship committee last year. There is real animosity between Chalmers and Hudgell and its rearing its ugly head with off-field politics taking over.

They all need to stop and be locked in a room. They are all great at running their own clubs. Unfortunately they are all trying to get as much power as possible.

Quote ="Bull Mania"Here's how I see it. 1. There is no way the RFL can ever sell one clubs ground to another club. Conflict of interest. Everyone knows it was wrong for the RFL to buy Odsal. But that decision triggered administration and then the other SL clubs benefitted from our sky money. So it's not as if we benefitted and everyone else lost out. '" While I agree with much of the sentiment you've expressed, was it wrong for the RFL to buy the lease? Certainly not everyone was of that opinion at the time https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/16709752 And it could be argued that it staved off administration rather than triggering it.

Quote ="Bull Mania"Here's how I see it. 1. There is no way the RFL can ever sell one clubs ground to another club. Conflict of interest. Everyone knows it was wrong for the RFL to buy Odsal. But that decision triggered administration and then the other SL clubs benefitted from our sky money. So it's not as if we benefitted and everyone else lost out. '" While I agree with much of the sentiment you've expressed, was it wrong for the RFL to buy the lease? Certainly not everyone was of that opinion at the time https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/16709752 And it could be argued that it staved off administration rather than triggering it.

Then they make an offer of what they deem it to be worth. How is that artificially inflating the market? I'd imagine they have a pretty good idea of what it should be worth.

Quote ="Clearwing"While I agree with much of the sentiment you've expressed, was it wrong for the RFL to buy the lease? Certainly not everyone was of that opinion at the time https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/16709752 And it could be argued that it staved off administration rather than triggering it.'" Yep. I’d argue it’s exactly the sort of thing the RFL should do. Practical assistance to help a club revive itself.

Quote ="Clearwing"While I agree with much of the sentiment you've expressed, was it wrong for the RFL to buy the lease? Certainly not everyone was of that opinion at the time https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/16709752 And it could be argued that it staved off administration rather than triggering it.'" Yep. I’d argue it’s exactly the sort of thing the RFL should do. Practical assistance to help a club revive itself.

Quote ="Clearwing"While I agree with much of the sentiment you've expressed, was it wrong for the RFL to buy the lease? Certainly not everyone was of that opinion at the time https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/16709752 And it could be argued that it staved off administration rather than triggering it.'" They didn't even 'buy' the lease so to speak. The RFL lent the Bulls some money on the sly, no other SL club was aware of this loan when it was made. When it came to repay the loan we were short of cash again and were unable to repay. The genius Peter Hood then decided to sell the Odsal lease to the RFL as a means of repaying the original loan. He failed to realise that the lease was currently being used as security on the club's overdraft facility so as soon as it was sold, the bank called their overdraft in so it ended up creating more problems than it solved. This is also the same muppet who tried to get away with not paying VAT on season ticket sales. Is it any wonder we are where we are now?

Quote ="Clearwing"While I agree with much of the sentiment you've expressed, was it wrong for the RFL to buy the lease? Certainly not everyone was of that opinion at the time https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/16709752 And it could be argued that it staved off administration rather than triggering it.'" They didn't even 'buy' the lease so to speak. The RFL lent the Bulls some money on the sly, no other SL club was aware of this loan when it was made. When it came to repay the loan we were short of cash again and were unable to repay. The genius Peter Hood then decided to sell the Odsal lease to the RFL as a means of repaying the original loan. He failed to realise that the lease was currently being used as security on the club's overdraft facility so as soon as it was sold, the bank called their overdraft in so it ended up creating more problems than it solved. This is also the same muppet who tried to get away with not paying VAT on season ticket sales. Is it any wonder we are where we are now?

I don't really know the politics and from what I've read there is nothing but hearsay about what is actually happening but the one thing I do know is Carter and/or Wakefield Trinity don't have money to splash around buying other team's stadiums.

It doesn’t matter what they think it’s worth. It’s worth what someone who can actually buy it will pay for it. They can’t buy it so they’re artificially raising the price for other potential buyers.

Imagine if the RFL were selling land to Wakefield for a new stadium but Leeds and Wigan kept putting bids in on the land for no other reason tha to make it more expensive for Wakefield to buy. The Wakefield fans would rightly be going crazy.

If Hudgell and Carter want to publicly criticise the RFL for selling the lease too cheaply then they can do that. That’s where their involvement ends.

All part of the power struggle going on in the game IMO. If the RFL knocks back C&H's bid, however spurious, the SL chairmen can then make a stink if the RFL later negotiates a lower value deal with another party. This would benefit C&H 3 ways:
it puts a spoke in the wheel of a rival with that might otherwise out-perform their own operations;
it serves to undermine the RFL whose remit is to serve the game as a whole, often at the expense of the top sides;
it ingratiates them with the real movers and shakers within the would-be 11 club cartel. Who - and let's be clear about this - will drop them both like a red-hot rivet if and when more lucrative opposition materialises.

That said, I'd imagine the RFL has been conducting itself with its usual evasiveness in the midst of all this. Had it made the position clear from the outset there'd be less risk of its position being compromised.

If they can't buy it how can they artificially raise the price?

Like everything people make bids for what they can afford, if the highest bidder walks then it goes to the next one. If there are only two interested parties than Chambers only has to offer want he wants/can and wait for Carter and Hudgell to walk away.

Anyhow in answer to the orginal post, supposedly there is some mutterings about a deal to redevelop Belle Vue that will be agreed in January next year.

Sadly I'll believe it when I'm stood in it.

So they can either force the buyer to pay what they deem to be the market value or to use as pressure against the RFL in the media by saying they are selling it below the value of other bids (ie theirs).
There is no other reason for Carter & Hudgell to bid on it.

Either way, they shouldn’t be doing it.

Do you think they have because I do not I think it is fake news of someone who has nothing better to do
.

You seriously think the owner of Bradford has gone to the trouble of inexplicably writing a long and fictional tale? What really? I think running Bradford is unlikely to leave him in the "nothing better to do" category. Thats a bit too Donald Trump for me.

This is all coming from a fairly reputable RL journo.

I think they have. Looks like some owners of the smaller SL clubs worried about Bradford getting themselves back to the top tier and wanting to make life hard as possible for them. This is just another tactic to try safeguard a SL spot IMO just like Carter doesn’t want the SC to rise nor a fan of marquee signings because he knows his club can’t compete financially and hence him saying clubs shouldn’t be allowed to make marquee signings if they don’t run reserves.

Yeah, it's obviously that lol, explain why would Trinity be worried about Bradford eventually getting promoted, I can't remember being worried last time they were in SL, even when they did well. The only thing Trinity has to worry against is being demoted Also isn't Hetherington against the rise of the cap and was against marquee, wasn't he?

ATEOTD even though the some are making it out to be something it may not be, why not wait until someone other than a journalist talks about it, especially since this has supposedly been going on since June or so and they are wrong so very many times about things.

IF (and it's a big if) Odsal was being off loaded on the cheap, why not have a pop.
If I had more than a few gold bottle tops, I might have thought about it



Remember, the iconic stadium, with it's peppercorn rent was "bought" for 700k ?? and then rented back to Braford at "market price" - due to it's "iconic status" and all done to artificially pump cash into the cash strapped club.

This was wrong at the time, effectively gifting the club a huge amount of cash.

It proved not enough to save the Bulls at the time and what would be wrong, would be for them to receive yet another "gift", were the lease to be given back to them on the cheap.


At the risk of stirring the Odsal pot further, just how much is the "commercial rent" on such an iconic ground ?

Hetherington's tune is very much changed if I'm not mistaken. And it's Bradford's chairman who has raised this who, it can be safely assumed, knows the score better than any journo. Hopefully Carter and hudgell will see fit to clarify what, if anything, they've been up to.

I can only speak for myself but if it was GH who was in Cater's position, I'd very much put it down to what I said before, he's doing his job for the RFL. GH like Carter has shown he's got a good reputation and GH is a very good Chairman of Leeds, who's done an awesome job there, someone that I actually respect in the game and so wouldn't be jumping to all kinds of dodgy scenarios. obviously, you have different feelings about carter. If this was GH, you and the rest of the Leeds posters would be doing exactly the same as the Trinity posters are, you'd be lying to say otherwise.

Also, let's be honest before the Bradford fan brought it up on this thread, hardly anyone outside the bulls gave a monkeys about it.

In his piece in the T & A where he's getting his informmation from is very vague with quotes like ,





To me he's going off journalists reports, it even says that tbh.

At the end of the say it will all come out and if we have a fans meeting I'm sure it will come up.


I thought GH has changed his tune on Marquee, since you now have a couple but haven't read anything about the Cap.

Toronto aren’t in SL but doesn’t stop the same few clubs being worried, likewise Leigh for the couple of seasons before they finally got promoted in 2016 it was the same couple of clubs complaining about them trying to find faults and criticisms of them. A strong Bradford back in SL would be a bigger club than those that seem to be involving themselves in their affairs.

Hetherington was against marquee and the cap. But as I mentioned several weeks ago I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’ve gone for marquee signings as soon as the stadium work has been sorted and is coming to completion. Think he was against spending whilst we had the ongoing issue of getting the stadium finally green light and done. Now we have he can change his tune (and he doesn’t even really have to now with Sinfield in place to be the face of the place). Call it self interest, hypocritical or underhand but really just smart to suit his club at the time........the exact thing any other owner or CEO main thought is when dealing in any of these SL meetings and RFL.

Carter will still have his Wakefield hat on in this role he’s been given to look at RFL, no one should be naive to think otherwise, like I said any other guy in his place would do similar. Doesn’t make him a bad guy but some people trying to portray his actions like his some longing riding in on a white horse are kidding themselves.

We don’t know if GH would take the same course of action as Carter if he was in the same position right now. I do know GH has had plenty of critics from opposition fans throughout his time for his views, actions and opinions to the point he’s almost become a pantomime villain for some. Some of that is fair game, sometimes it’s overexaggerated. Whilst you personally may respect him you can’t say that’s true for many fans from other clubs who see him as manipulative and dodgy in nearly every issue.

But also the same can be said of Leeds’ fans towards him, it’s far from an “GH is always right” view at Headingley or that they don’t see through him working things Leeds way, it’s one of the reasons he has certain nicknames even amongst Leeds fans.

Depends which rumour you believe, although the one about a 'rent holiday' until the Bulls got back on their feet could make the actual amount pretty irrelevant.

eye, s'about the size of it

Bradford’s is hardly an iconic stadium! Who has called it that? It’s on a par with wakefields!