www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A ... xvTtpQKpDA Stupid move, Mr Wilkinson go cap in hand to Red Hall and ask them to buy us as well so that we can put out a team that we can not afford and pay upto the salary cap, Is it worth watching Super League anymore? How unlevel is the field now and what a very bad precedent to set. Bradford not famous before SL and in SL playing a team they couldn't afford to win trophies when others played within their means.

www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A ... xvTtpQKpDA Stupid move, Mr Wilkinson go cap in hand to Red Hall and ask them to buy us as well so that we can put out a team that we can not afford and pay upto the salary cap, Is it worth watching Super League anymore? How unlevel is the field now and what a very bad precedent to set. Bradford not famous before SL and in SL playing a team they couldn't afford to win trophies when others played within their means.

Disgusted of tyldesley right now.

Surely can't carry on with the franchise system now? Imagine the last franchise place is between Bradford (who they own) and Salford/Wakefield/Cas. Wonder who they would choose?

I don't want Bradford to go under but it's all there own fault.

It's a shambles of a competition Super League.

[iFair enough

Hope the same applies if any other clubs face going under in the near future...[/i

Shocking.

How can this possibly work as surely it's a conflict of interest, if the other clubs vote that Bradford be demoted for going into administration they take longer to get a return for their money, if they allow them to stay in SL then it's a travesty as the club has been allowed to run in an ruinenous way.

I have half expected SKY to put in a bid as they seem to have a soft spot for Bradford, is Super League (Europe) in any way owned by SKY? if so even more this seems like a total conflict of interest on behalf of every other SL club.

I would hope that if all clubs have voted for this that they have received cast iron assurances that the franchise system will be scrapped and that SL becomes a closed shop. Anything less and it's a case of Turkeys voting for Christmas.

....or it could just be a temporary solution until a suitable buyer is found.

But the bid by SLE is the same as the ABC one, it is conditional that Bradford stay in SL and own the lease
on the ground, so how can the RFL accept this when they rejected the ABC one.
Will players be sold off to cut the wage bill to what is actually coming in?
Too many wrong precedents being set here.
Would they do the same for us?

The former chairman,during the glory years,wanted Hood ousted back in April [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/17622969Link[/url

He was the largest shareholder so should have known,or had an inkling as to what was happening,but also suggested he had investors lined up [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/09/chris-caisley-bradford-peter-hoodSource[/url

The sport lurches from one crisis to another and the guy,Glover,at Wakefield,and every other person who has
been housekeeping with due honesty must feel pretty sickened.

How the other Super League clubs have given their 'unanimous support' is beyond me.

The nail in the coffin, what a shambles the sport has really embarrassed itself this year. It just gets from bad to worse every week, the sport needs a massive shake up.

I can't see anything in the press release that suggests the offer is conditional, but I can see this:

"If our offer is accepted, SLE will welcome approaches from all interested parties who have an interest in helping us secure a bright future for professional Rugby League in Bradford.”

For a long time now I have been saying how ridiculous the Super League is, at best a closed shop and at worst a three team competition where the winner isn't actually the best team over a season.
You have to question how big will Bradfords budget be from SLE as of course that company will want almost instant sucess.
Would Salford be offered the same lifeline if in the event they have to go into administration I doubt it simply because you no longer have that ground. Super league wasn't around when Swinton went 20 odd years ago but at that time I don't recall the RL jumping up and down to save us abd we certainly had a better history than Bradford and at the time our own ground, so don't hold your breath.
Sadly this episode simply makes the whole sport look stupid, The same should have happened with Bradford as has Rangers i.e demotion to Championship 1 and a new company formed and start again, if the structures and desires are there they will soon return and in the meantime scrap the dreaded franchise system dreamt up by the puppet masters SKY TV.

which will be conditional that Bradford stay in SL which is what ABC wanted, that's what I read into ,"secure a bright future for professional Rugby League in Bradford."

I think it's a bit of a stretch to read that into it. I suspect by "secure a bright future for" they just mean "ensure the existence of".

Why is Bradford different to what Wakefield went through sounds like favouritism to me

and this forum is awash with criticism of the way Salford have managed their business .
what a sport .

no wonder the chief executive fled back to ping pong

We are cost cutting to live with our means.
We 're losing players primarily because the budget is being slashed and Veivers cannot even give assurance to players a contract can be offered...
meanwhile down in happy valley the shopaholic overspenders are being bailed out because the Championship is awash with ' Famous Clubs ' with more heritage and silverware ?

were happy to let Crusaders die which was a strategic expansion plan of 5 years gone up in smoke
happy to let Wakey flounder
deny Widnes a SL place in 2008 due to administration dispite them having a rich backer, now they are actively propping up a club in SL in Admin.
would they spend 10 bob to save Blackpool Panthers . no
gave away season sponsorship for zilch

That's not the fault of the RFL, or of the sport in general. It's the fault of the people who come onto fans' forums spouting b[io[/illocks about how they'd do things differently. It's easy to do someone else's job better when you don't actually have to do it.



The difference, though, is that none of these clubs went tits during the season. This is an entirely new set of circumstances. I'm reading the press release as SLE saying the least worst option is to get Bradford through to the end of the season and take it from there. In order to get them through the end of the season, they're bidding to buy the club with a view to preventing the uncertainty surrounding them, then, longer term, to sell the club to a suitable party.

There's been some Olympic cycling level knee jerking about all this, but let's just see what happens. And remember, it's only a bid. It's not been accepted yet.

Good move got to be,we supported It so did all other super league clubs.yes they have been poorly run as of late
but won a lot,we have been poorly run and won now't.the league needs a strong Bradford.

The League doesn't need a strong Bradford any more than it needed a strong Widnes or Wakefield,both clubs with excellent tradition.
I really am struggling to understand this move.
They are setting a precedent that is absolutely certain to come back and embarrass them.
Having said all that,there may be more to this than we are being allowed to see at the moment but ,if it does happen,they need to offload it very quickly indeed to a new,safe home.

The Governing Body of the sport cannot be allowed to end up owning one of the member clubs. In those circumstances the Governing Body could not make any disinterested decisions as it would always have a vested interest.

Any future decisions would always be seen to involve the question, "What's best for Bradford?"

Looks very much like something of a power struggle at RFL after Lewis's leaving. First Watkins report, unsolicited and off his own bat, now this.

Whatever the logic those in charge hardly have great credentials for sorting out financial matters. First the Crusaders, then a total lack of control over the SL clubs finances as part of the franchise review less than twelve months ago!!!

There are those at the RFL/SLE who want to turn things over. No objection to that but as John Kear said in the RL Weekly, decide where you want to be before you decide how to get there.

The worry is that they will be in so much of a rush that they will destroy the SLE set up, faulty though it may be, and lose Sky sponsorship!

Taken from the BBC website.

Bradford Bulls are approximately £1.5m in debt, it has been revealed.

Just think, all those fans that stumped up £500k could have waited 3 months and owned the club after it debt-defaulted, rather than see their money go up to smoke.

What's happening at Bradford is symptomatic of wider society, where nobody and nothing is allowed to fail due to their own bad decisions - whether it be banks, governments or people taking on stupidly large mortgages. Ultimately it just ends up smearing the problem across all the people and entities that did nothing wrong, and leads to all sorts of moral hazard.

And effectively we are now standing behind that debt, as well as our own..

I wish some posters had gone to the Bratfut board to read exactly what has happened.

1. It's not a precedent: the SLE clubs input money into Gateshead/Hull to keep that entity going: they all received sheres in GHull which, afaik, were sold at a loss.

2. The SL clubs have made no promises of what will happen after September: it is very likely that Bradford may end up in the lower leagues. They are trying to avoid liquidation while some of the season still has to be played with huge disruption to points and fixtures. So bratfut continue to meet their fixtures.

3. The clubs have gambled on a buyer being found to buy Bradford as a going RL club - not a going SL club - if this does not happen, expect Bradford to be forced to sell off players etc.

I have no torch for the Bulls. I also feel salford would not be so nicely treated but, unlike the Bulls, we have Sharks ready to take over.