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Bradford Bulls die?

Father Ted

First Grade
Messages
5,531
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/18554519

Bradford Bulls go into administration and face 'extinction'


Bradford Bulls have entered administration and face "extinction" if a buyer is not found within 10 days.
The Bulls announced in March they needed £1m to stay afloat and are thought to owe over £600,000 now.
Joint-administrator Brendan Guilfoyle said: "We have just 10 working days to save the club from liquidation because there are no funds to carry on longer.
"If anyone is interested in buying the Bulls we need to hear from them, this club is on the brink of extinction."
He added: "The directors made every effort to try to save the club within the 14-day timescale issued by the courts, but the moratorium ended on Monday without any potential buyer coming forward."
Continue reading the main story
“The position of the staff is that their wages were paid for June but there may be redundancies”
Brendan Guilfoyle Bradford Bulls' joint-administrator

The Bulls, who are currently ninth in the Super League table, are one of the most decorated sides in English rugby league.
They have been crowned Super League champions four times, with their last victory coming in 2005, and won the Challenge Cup on five occasions.
Administration means the Rugby Football League are now likely to hand them a points deduction and this would almost certainly scupper their hopes of making the play-offs for the first time since 2008.
Guilfoyle admitted that the meeting he had held with the club's staff prior to the public announcement about going into administration had seen tempers flare.
"The position of the staff is that their wages were paid for June but there may be redundancies," he told BBC Radio Leeds.
"The meeting I held with the staff was very difficult and the longer it went on the greater the feeling of animosity there was towards the directors who were there.
"There's a general feeling of unhappiness but I hope they realise that by binding together they can demonstrate what a fantastic club this is."


Former acting chairman Stephen Coulby revealed the club was in a worse predicament when he came in in the middle of May than had been thought and this has put potential investors off.
"Within 24 hours of getting through the door we found the situation was worse than we had previously assumed," he said
"We ultimately came to a figure of £1.2 million to keep the business running to next year.
"What people have been saying to us is why would they put in money now when they can't see the club benefiting to the extent they want."
It is understood Bradford currently owe £196,000 in PAYE tax for May and June, plus an outstanding VAT bill of £250,000 from the sale of the lease of Odsal to the RFL, while the monthly wage bill is over £200,000.
On 14 June it was revealed that the club could be forced to go into administration after being served with a winding-up petition by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs over unpaid tax.
Bradford shocked the rugby league world in March when they announced that they needed to raise £1m to stay afloat after an impending tax bill and a changed banking lending arrangement left them short of money.
Bradford's major honours

World Club Championship - 2002, 2004, 2006
Super League champions - 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005
Minor Premiers - 1999, 2001, 2003
Grand Finalists - 1999, 2002, 2004
Challenge Cup winners - 1943-44, 1946-47, 1948-49, 2000, 2003.


Having asked supporters to pledge £100 and carrying out a number of fundraising activities they were able to raise their initial target of £500,000.
Attempts to pull in further investments were unsuccessful and chairman Peter Hood stepped down last month after a series of disagreements with majority shareholder Chris Caisley.
Coulby admitted the club were at serious risk of going into administration at the start of June.
The Bulls become the third Super League side in three seasons to enter administration after Yorkshire rivals Wakefield faced similar difficulties last year and Welsh outfit Crusaders in 2010.
Crusaders were then liquidated in 2011, with Widnes Vikings taking their place in Super League.
Bulls forward Ian Sibbit said on Twitter: "Super League wouldn't be the same without Bradford Bulls. Let's hope our great club can be saved."
Current Super League licences are not up for renewal again until 2014 so the Bulls' place in the elite of the sport should be safe, assuming they can sort out their financial problems.
 

muzby

Village Idiot
Staff member
Messages
46,625
This wouldn't have occurred if Hornby had retired last season.
 

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
111,288
One million quid and they'll sink?

Don't Bradford have a development application in somewhere that will allow them to trade of the goodwill of their creditors for the next few years?
 

Father Ted

First Grade
Messages
5,531
I guess my real concern is for the health of the game . If a large and famous club can die you have to wonder how the other clubs are going management wise over there in Europe. Besides which wasn't the involvement with the Murdochs surposed to have them rolling in the Pounds/Euros or or was that more News Bullsh%t??
 
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DC_fan

Coach
Messages
11,980
I guess my real concern is for the health of the game . If a large and famous club can die you have to wonder how the other clubs are going management wise over there in Europe. Besides which wasn't the involvement with the Murdochs surposed to have them rolling in the Pounds/Eurosor or was that more News Bullsh%t??

FT, I agree with you.

I do wonder if the game can survive in the UK. It could be quite possible that very soon the game will only be played here in Australia and NZ.
 

Father Ted

First Grade
Messages
5,531
Before I cark it I would like someone to take charge and grow the game especially in PNG where it is the national sport . From all accounts they are chaffing at the bit to have someone organise there own national comp or for a team in the NRL no less , although I imagine a side in the Qld cup is maybe a more realistic chance .

Also if you love the game it can't be allowed to die in Europe it would be a massive shame .. Frankly I would love to see League in Germany those big and agressive bast*rds are taylor made for the game and a four team test series with England , France , Wales and Germany would be a promoters dream imo.

Throw in Australia, New Zealand , PNG and a combined Pacific island team and you have yourself a mini world cup league style...
 
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bottle

Coach
Messages
14,126
One million quid and they'll sink?

Don't Bradford have a development application in somewhere that will allow them to trade of the goodwill of their creditors for the next few years?

They should build a block of flats. I'm sure they can contract Quigs to come up a with a design for them. He has some great ideas for the Sharkies development.
 

big pat

Coach
Messages
10,452
Before I cark it I would like someone to take charge and grow the game especially in PNG where it is the national sport . From all accounts they are chaffing at the bit to have someone organise there own national comp or for a team in the NRL no less , although I imagine a side in the Qld cup is maybe a more realistic chance .

Also if you love the game it can't be allowed to die in Europe it would be a massive shame .. Frankly I would love to see League in Germany those big and agressive bast*rds are taylor made for the game and a four team test series with England , France , Wales and Germany would be a promoters dream imo.

Throw in Australia, New Zealand , PNG and a combined Pacific island team and you have yourself a mini world cup league style...


relocate the scummers, the bradford sharks.
 

Mr Red

First Grade
Messages
6,193
Before I cark it I would like someone to take charge and grow the game especially in PNG where it is the national sport . From all accounts they are chaffing at the bit to have someone organise there own national comp or for a team in the NRL no less , although I imagine a side in the Qld cup is maybe a more realistic chance .

Also if you love the game it can't be allowed to die in Europe it would be a massive shame .. Frankly I would love to see League in Germany those big and agressive bast*rds are taylor made for the game and a four team test series with England , France , Wales and Germany would be a promoters dream imo.

Throw in Australia, New Zealand , PNG and a combined Pacific island team and you have yourself a mini world cup league style...
there are already plans underway to have a PNG based team in the QLD cup... i think 2014 from memory.
the name getting thrown about was "western highlands" or something like that.
 

W.Smith

Juniors
Messages
616
really sad, i remember back to when they werre Bradford Northern at Odsal stadium with the old Speedway track around it and the Kangaroos would play tour games there, i just loved the look of the joint and then when we started getting pay tv here the first game of footy i watched on pay tv the nxt morning was Bradford on Brian Smith's last day in charge before he headed back here to coach Parra and was handing the reins over to Matty Elliott

the ESL is on its knees by the sounds of things and i read somewhere they hadda give away naming rights this season to Stobart, a shame really coz while i dont rate the comp as even close to on a par with the NRL its still a good watch
 

bottle

Coach
Messages
14,126
Hahaha. Still searching for a topic that BBC can talk about with some seblance of knowledge. Footy: bust. Politics: bust. Maybe we should start a chat about the ideal ply number for toilet paper. I think 2 ply minimum

Of course ya do ya farkwit. But you wouldn't have a clue champ. 3 ply minimum is the way to go champ. I'd know, I have a source at the club that sponsors the toilet roll supply and I've got the good oil that's it's 3 ply or nothing champ.

FFS the Dogs and Broncos have 4 ply ya farkwit and look how well they're doing. They have professional toilet roll buyers there champ. Dousty and co. wouldn't know decent toilet rolls if they rammed a full one up their arse champ.

Prior and Hunt probably only use 1 ply the farkwits. Get a clue champ.
 

Fire

First Grade
Messages
9,669
Of course ya do ya farkwit. But you wouldn't have a clue champ. 3 ply minimum is the way to go champ. I'd know, I have a source at the club that sponsors the toilet roll supply and I've got the good oil that's it's 3 ply or nothing champ.

FFS the Dogs and Broncos have 4 ply ya farkwit and look how well they're doing. They have professional toilet roll buyers there champ. Dousty and co. wouldn't know decent toilet rolls if they rammed a full one up their arse champ.

Prior and Hunt probably only use 1 ply the farkwits. Get a clue champ.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
 
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