Dont think Bradford got a penny for Odsal as they owed the RFL money, in essence the RFL got control of the ground and the debt was wiped

was with friends from Bradford in January and he made a statement that Bradford would fold soon
if they didn't get they act together .I said to the wife coming home I thought Frank had got it wrong .But what do I know .Like to bet Lynch think he made the right choice to come to Hull .Could be going this weekend to Bradford to see them .and the Pub we go in known I am a Big Hull fan .Yes I feel for the fans of the Club but it should not stop us going for players even for this season .We still have money left on the salary cap use it to get a prop or .any cash sum would help Bradford short term

I suppose the point would now change as to what use / benefit would Odsal be to the rfl if there is no one playing there?

Any idea why they owed the ref money for?

The added problem they have over Wakey though is the ground. Hopefully any new venture would have no problem getting the go ahead from the RFL to play at Odsal, but as we see on a regular basis, you can never quite predict what they will do.

It's the combination of administration + potentially no ground that I think would possibly threaten their franchise position.

It smacks to me of posturing on the part of the Bradford Board. There's clearly been some discussions between them and the RFL over the last few months and it seems that Bradford haven't got the result they wanted/expected so they have now gone public to force the RFL's hand in the belief that they won't let them go to the wall. Especially after the RFL stated publicly the value of Odsal as a spiritual home of Rugby League or something similar and now own it.
You wonder how the players that have recently signed contract extensions will feel about it now they know the true financial position. I understand why Bradford did what they did with Whitehead but he has to feel a bit used now he knows that , essentially , it was just a device to make him a more valuable asset and the club knew they couldn't afford it. Maybe he could tear it up and be a free agent once his existing contract runs out?

I feel sorry for the loyal Bradford fans. Hopefully the club can be saved, it would be extremely bad news for the sport for the club to go under.

Without new owners you wonder whether £1m in the short term is enough and if in a few months time, should they have a poor cup run and miss the play offs again, they'll be back in the same boat.

Yes, it may be irrelevant, but the point is that it can hardly harm them further can it? Whereas offloading at the cheapest price can. Who would buy a club with big debts, no ground, and no decent players to boot? The players are currently the best assets they've got, getting shut at rock bottom prices (or even free) to save money they can't pay anyway would be madness at this stage.

Haven't read all the info out there, but is any of this related to the image rights issue - the case against Leeds seems to be never-ending, but not up to speed with it?
And the other question for me is whether removing the 50% of turnover max on player salaries has contributed to the situation.
Very sad for Bradford fans regardless. Feel for them.

I'm pretty sure the RFL would rather have a paying tenant in Odsal than have an empty ground costing them cash.

The problem Bradford have is lack of operating cash. Wakey were never in any danger of not being able to keep operating until the administrator could find a buyer; unfortunately that's not the case with Bradford. If they can't find the cash to pay wages next month then they fold, simple as.

Some pretty poor opinions on here.

Lets NOT do a DOBBINS special and vote/act them out of existance.

Were bigger and better than that....JUST REMEMBER OUR MERGER.

WE NEED TO SUPPORT THE BRADFORD CLUB (not board members).

Period.

Ironically it seems that the Odsal deal that was supposed to secure their future may have done the exact opposite:



Now that's simple incompetence. The BOD should have talked things through with the bank before selling the lease to the RFL.

I would certainly hope so after all their bluster after buying it. I just hope that if Bradford have to start again that the RFL come to an affordable rental agreement for them and don't get tempted by approaches for the land.

The threat to Bradford is very severe, I hope they come through it. I was just saying that if possible it would be far better for them to avoid administration or restarting IMO, as it could effectively mean them out of SL and I wouldn't fancy their chances of a return any time soon.

I understand what you are saying, but it could be what they have to do in 2 weeks time with no way back, big gamble by the board who I consider have been totally incompetent.

^^^^^^
Ditto this.

The difference between Bradford and Hull FC, is Person.

I would hate to think where we would have been had Person not stepped in.

We would have been faced with a big tax bill and other mounting debts, and a continued dwindling number of supporters along with very little assets.
I recon if we had not had Person come in, then within 12 months or so we would have been Bradford II

Quite possibly given the tax bill. There must be plenty of clubs on the brink and pending outcomes of tax test cases this could push some over the edge potentially.

There is now way that the Bulls will vanish and or leave super league, it would be a disaster to the whole sport. When the RFL took over the Bulls lease on Odsal they virtually signed upto protecting them, because with the Bulls Odsal is virtually worthless. Couple that with the imense media frenzy that would result in with a SL club of the Bulls status vanishing, its not going to happen.

Clearly there have been some bad decisions taken along the road to today's announcement. Clearly they have been spending more then have been getting in for a long time, the Harris affair took its toll and too many seasons finishing outside the top eight has hammered the point home. I see on there website they have an offer seven matches for £70 and £55 for concessions from a list of graded matches. For a club going into financial meltdown this must be suicide added to there season passes at give away prices.

The Bulls board where very shrewd handing the lease of Odsal to the RFL in payment for money owed and I would like to know why the RFL agreed to take on the lease. They must have some idea of the financial state of the club and the resulting problem if the club went pete tonge.

I feel for the Bulls supporters and its must be worrying for all concerned, but they will be ok but we must work harder to stop this happening. We may have to look at perhaps reducing the league numbers and ensure that clubs are fully funded.

Other clubs are looking vunerable and if the Bulls get through this and I think they will others will follow a similar path.

That is the danger for the sport a raft of clubs with little money, the bulls will be OK due to the steps they took to wrap the RFL around them.

OTHERS WILL NOT BE

That’s the frightening thing.

We may be heading towards having the best team since the 80’s, and no one to play with.

Its frightening to think where HullFC would be without Pearson's takeover.

I reckon we'd have limped on for another couple of years, playing to dwindling gates before the serious problems started.

I can only imagine how bad our pass sales this year would have been had Agar been retained and if the drugs scandal had broken with those involved still at the club!

Bradford would be a massive loss to Super League, and I have sympathy for the fans, but you can't deny how bad some of their decisions have been.

Agreed, is a right hole

is there enough money in the game in these tough times to sustain 14 full time squads?

why not call eddie stobart tell him there could be some ex players looking for a driving job

Except that part of the reason the Bulls are in trouble is that the RFL called in a loan made to them in January 2011. The Bulls were not expecting to repay it in full so quickly. Odd way to protect them.


Or very stupid. Y'see, the reason why their bank withdrew their credit facility (overdraft) and precipitated this crisis is that it was secured against the lease and the Bulls now have no lease and nothing else against which to secure credit. They may be nearly debt free but they have no actual money to operate the club.

It's like landing on Regent St with 4 houses and you only have £200,00 in your hands but plenty of your own houses BUT on the pinks !

Sure Bulls will survive ...........somehow.

The sport needs 14 teams - Bradford can support one, where else could ?

One of the press releases talked about almost non existent advertising & sponsorship - clear sign of just how deep this recession is biting. Fans on a shoestring too so just less money to go round.

Suspect some financial re-structuring, RFL support, Couple of player sales etc will tide them over till a new owner/investor moves in.

And yes I would buy one of their 'young guns' - just to help them out of course.

In Adam we trust !!!!!!!!!!!!

Firstly, I feel sorry for the Bradford fans. Everyone supports a team and their team is their team. We're all happy when things are going well and we're all sad when things don't go well.

I do not have any sympathy for the management of the club. Rugby League is a very simple business model.

Revenue is limited. There's the Sky money, gate receipts, sponsorship, transfer fees received, club shop sales, prize money and any club lottery.

Costs are relatively controllable. A salary cap controls the majority of these costs, other staff wages, ground costs, other operating costs, transfer fees paid, cost of merchandise and catering etc.

So basic business principles should apply and if revenue is greater than costs, then everything is fine. If revenues are down, then you reduce your costs accordingly. In sport, this should be done through the biggest cost, the players contracts. Pay should not be set as high and contract terms should be reduced when renewing contracts or signing new players.

I know all this is very business text book, but the failing is in the risk management. The main cause is being pointed to the signing of Harris. Closer to home, City's near miss with financial ruin was the contract awarded to Jimmy Bullard, 5 years @ £45k pw with no relegation clause. At the time of signing, it was 99% certain that City would face relegation in those five years and they would still be liable for his wages unless he was sold elsewhere age/injuries permitting. A player can demand any contract, but it doesn't mean they should awarded it.

What is happening at Bradford, is happening all over the place, Rangers, Port Vale and Portsmouth and it's been happening for years, see City's receivership in 1982.

I work in Business Development and I have to vet every piece of business I ever win ahead of the contract being signed. Basic things like, is the customer credit worthy; can they pay their bills; have I included all the costs of the service; what happens if volumes change; currency/fuel fluctuations; do we make a profit on the contract; is their any other risk during the contract period?

So when clubs continually fall into this trap, especially after receiving unprecidented TV money, I have little sympathy, except for in part, the fans, who may have demanded on occasion, for the Board to get it's cheque book out!

You have to cut your cloth accordingly. If you follow the dream, then be aware that some dreams turn into are nightmares.

If Hull were in the same position, I'd feel the same. I also support City and was not impressed with our self inflicted, post Premiership plight.

I hope Bradford survive, but they are going to have to find some cash from somewhere soon (their owner does seem a bit vague on whether its £500k or £1m, so it could be a bit or scarmongering going on). If Hull sign any of their players to provide Bradford with some revenue, well that's all good, just as long as the contract is right for Hull and we don't over expose ourselves.