For the RFL to have acted in the best interest of the game in general, they must have to prove that the business deal they have completed was in the best interests of all parties and the game itself.
I can see how this deal is in the best interests of the Bulls, they have sold something that isn't actually theirs for a million pounds, and are going to receive staffing hand assistance too, something i remember the Crusaders receiving and they still went pop shortly after.
From the RFLs point, (when Lewis was commenting not too long ago about their not being much money in the game and the viability of a 14 team SL, since then they've lost sponsorship revenue and now a million to the bulls!!!!!) how are they going to benefit from the deal?
Are they going to make a profit on the lease that they get from the Bulls, if the Bulls were struggling before on peppercorn rates, how on earth are they going to manage with a market price plus interest lease?
Are the RFL in a position now to help other clubs who find themselves in a similar position to the bulls, and act with parity to their other members, now that their annual margin is minus £2M?
Do you trust the RFLs motives, not to the Bulls but to the game, in this decision? IMO there is way too much grey in all of this for it to be 100% legitimate, as in many other of their dealings, and can you see similarities in this deal and the Crusaders deal (ground , staffing etc) and in the end the additional costs got too much.
I know the Bulls are in a far stronger position than the Crusaders from an income point of view, but the Bulls decline has been marked, and if life is a struggle now, from a financial point of view its just got a lot harder if your daily costs have risen.
Ok your home may be safe short term, but if you cant afford the costs, are you any better off in the mid to long term?
I know when we've spoke in the past you've always been very supportive to our club and of our problems, and spoke with common sense on the wider game, so i look forward to you (as un biased as any fan can manage) reply.
Good luck to you and your club whatever, your problems are and how they (hopefully) get resolved.

I understand from posters from Bradford that the rent was a peppercorn and if so they would hardly default on that - a jar of Scwartz is not expensive but alternatives are also available.

If they did not pay other bills they would either have to sell assets such as the lease to pay the bills or face winding up.

I think most know what has happened but as I said earlier just tell us the truth and not a fairy tale.

Sorry - I meant if they were 'up the creek' - i.e. bust! The administrator would love the 'Peppercorn' bit!

And that's where I see preferential treatment.

I dont think there are many on here who have anything against Bradford fans, they are fans just like us. I know Addybull and he was very helpful when we were setting up the Supporters Trust and equally I have nothing at all against Bradford - I can remember 1964 when Northern reformed having gone bust and we gave them a young centre called Ian Brooke and they bought him from them a few years later.

Rugby League used to be a "Family" where we all supported each other and thats how I liked it and if only we could do the same today but the way the game is now run its become every Club for itself and its turned fans that we too.

My only gripe is that the RFL should tell the truth and not some garbage about saving an iconic Stadium from big bad evil Developers.

Your absolutely right Sandal and at the bottom of all of this is the RFL's beloved franchise system.
Seen as "the best way" of developing the game and giving the clubs more chance to develop young players, it is destroying the ethos of the game.
No longer are we involved in sport, it has become a business which takes place in a "russian roulette" environment where nobody quite knows where the bullets are.

There are lots of emotional people on here. that is what makes our great game what it is. As a Bradford fan, looking on most boards has led me to shake my head at what many people have said, including some fellow Bradford fans. MOst fans put their club first, before the welfare of the whole league or sport, and we are mostly biased in some way, myself included.

I cannot see how Odsal, and the BUlls status in it is legally more secure this week than it was last. I dont have enough detailed information to make an informed judgement. I understand fully how fans of other SL clubs feel aggreived, especially those struggling to comply with stadia not up to "Superleague standard" and those who have struggled to attain that status.

I miss grounds like Wilderspool, Central park and Knowsly Road. I will miss Belle Vue and Wheldon Road. They all have/had things that were annoying/poor/appalling, but they had a real sense of what Rugby League was about; community, history etc... I would love to see a day where relegation and promotion is more about what happens on the pitch, and less about the buildings around it. I agree that finances shouls be a factor, as we dont want clubs going to the wall, or getting in huge debt to win the odd trophy, but why the ground criteria? if it conforms to health and safety regs, then it is good enough!

The purchase of the lease of Odsal strengthens one club over others. That is not fair. simple as. Even though its my club, its still wrong! The RFL should be looking to develop the whole game from the ground up. They would argue that by securing Bradford's future they are doing just that!

I would love to have more information about the numbers/terms etc... because this just looks like a short term cashflow, wonga style deal!

I'd love to know the exact numbers of clubs that have found themselves in financial trouble, since the emergence of SL, and how many millions of pounds the RFL have wasted in trying to manufacture and support clubs (of their chosing!!).
If this was the board of a PLC, wouldn't you just to love to be at the shareholders meeting?????

As would I!!
The messes created in Paris,Wales, Gateshead and even Sheffield, as well as the "Success" of the London Fulham/Crusaders/Broncos/Harlequins/Broncos would all be expensive.. However, the vested interests there are still clear as the money thrown at the gateshead venture benfitted Hull FC when they were on the brink, and the Sheffield folding benefitted Huddersfield.
what is questionable is the value that London/Catalans bring to the comp in terms of renegotiating the sky deal? if it is a deal breaker, then its worth it, because if sky want a national game they have it. If they dont want a northen / regional sport and they pulll out, everyone is in the brown stuff!


not sure why leasing a few hectares of BD6 is worth doing though?

As with many of the RFLs business solutions, they create more questions than answers, and then it all goes quiet!!!

You guys: please go read some of my posts on the thread on the VT. And the links. You might then start to wonder if the situation is a little different - and a little less sinister and "unfair" - than you seem to think it is. That includes you too Isaac1.

I can't relay everything I picked up, but its pretty clear to me the RFL DO see this primarily as a big opportunity for the long term. Nowhere else could they pick up such a site and with suich an existing facility at so little cost, for a start. But I can't stop people believing what they choose to and shunning any kind of objectivity - RL fans after all DID write the book on that!

The cost of developing Odsal from its present state into something resembling a top class stadium would be prohibitive, sorry,not buying.

Adey, I can read, and comprehend all the detail that has so far been put into the public domain. Your posts are ace, and i know that from many topics in the past you are very much the voice of reason, and a bright bloke.

But:

this still seems wrong. the RFL should be governing the sport, not helping one of its members gain financially. if they wanted Odsal for an RL national stadium, or as a new HQ, as a part of a property portfolio for investment, or whatever, this could have been done in a way that meant the bulls didnt benefit directly in terms of finance. they would be unable to do this for the other SL clubs, so should not do it for us.

at least this allows Bradford to move ahead of Leeds in one respect in these dark recession hit days; now we are the most hated team in RL!

Not at all in my eyes.

Dont think so. I have no hatred of Bradford or its fans at all.

We all have one thing in common - we all love this great game of Rugby League. My dislike is of the RFL for not telling the full story and the way its running (or ruining) the game.

Adey, I think we will all have to have our own views and if they are different so be it.

I worked in Property Development and I'm struggling to see the potential of acquiring a long lease on a site with a sitting tenant who in turn will have a new long lease but with a different landlord.

You had a secure lease and were in no way threatened by anyone let alone big bad Developers, there is nothing anyone could make you do againt your wishes. So why should the RFL come in and buy the lease from you ?

The RFL are in the business of running and administering the game of Rugby League and should not get involved with anything else - they certainly should not get involved with development whatever they think the potential is.

As I say we will have to agree to disagree.

Adey, you speak with great eloquence & passion regarding this new dawn, a win-win for Bradford & RL in general.

But this still doesn’t detract from the fact that both your club & the RFL are now inseparable from now on.

So, my initial criticism of the deal still prevails, Bradford now have a cast iron guarantee of a Super League licence ad infinitum, don’t give me that guff about anybody could have a licence at Odsal – even Wakefield.

Not even close to mate.

One thing I noted this is one thread where wakey and cas fans both agree :O

Yeah they should merge together and be a force.

yer like you should with Halifax and use their ground

The Shay is a nicer ground than theirs

Hi Isaac. I got far too carried away about this yesterday, but it seems I was not alone, in view of the 22 pages on this post in a day.
I like your post. It summarises how I feel and how most fair minded fans feel at all clubs. This reaction is not just about this deal, it's about seething resentment that is felt not only by Wakefield supporters, but, quite rightly, by the fans of many other clubs too, over many issues. The rfl appears to behave in a very arrogant and inflexible way, convinced of the correctness of their grand plan, quoting this and that stat but totally ignoring the traditions of our game, the simple justice and fairness that sport should represent and the feelings of the majority of it's paying customers. Chickens will come home to roost sooner or later

If you should find that, a few years down the road, we were to have a RFL national stadium and headquarters at Odsal, similar model to the RFU and Twickers (although perhaps not quite on that scale), and on a site that the RFL had acquired for a fraction of what a newbuild freehold site would cost (for which thank Bradford council for the original peppercorn lease), would you still be of the same view? Or would you feel they had done something right for the game for once?

Just wondering, since your expressed feelings in that post (regardless of any previous) seem a lot more objective and less "its a surreptitious bailout" than those of many other contributors.

ok then why odsal its just waiting to used as a land fill site, the ground is in dire need of a massive upgrade that would cost millions so why not use the shuddersfield the birth place of rugby league



by the way who was the parties that was looking to take over bulls?