Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:27 am  

Asim wrote:

The essence of a club is the supporters, the reformed club driven by Trevor Foster and the fans is the same in spirit as the Bradford club that preceded it. The Bradford Bulls are just the current conveyor of that and, to me, are not the be all and end all of things.

Correct. If the current club bites the dust it is essential that we get some form of commitee together to raise funds in order to set up a team in CC1 next season. As long as a team runs out onto the pitch in red,amber and black on the first day of next CC1 season it will be a start on the long road back.

: Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:35 am  

There would be a committee formed in an instant. Too big a fanbase for the club to immediately cease to exist.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:39 am  

hi de hi wrote:

Correct. If the current club bites the dust it is essential that we get some form of commitee together to raise funds in order to set up a team in CC1 next season. As long as a team runs out onto the pitch in red,amber and black on the first day of next CC1 season it will be a start on the long road back.

It is appalling that this is what it has come to. The failure of the RL authorities and the club's management are outrageous.

What is even more disgraceful is that there is no proposal to bring in proper financial monitoring and controls to prevent a repeat of this latest disaster.

How many clubs have to go through this before something is done about it?

[Kosh]

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:42 am  

Deano G wrote:

It is appalling that this is what it has come to. The failure of the RL authorities and the club's management are outrageous.

What is even more disgraceful is that there is no proposal to bring in proper financial monitoring and controls to prevent a repeat of this latest disaster.

How many clubs have to go through this before something is done about it?

There used to be a provision in the Salary Cap that limited the amount a club could spend on playing staff to 50% of turnover. It was removed a couple of years ago at the request of the SL clubs. As for any other form of monitoring I would suggest that this is not the responsibility of the governing body of any sport.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 12:08 pm  

I’m sure the answer to this question has been covered in one of the pages on this thread but I haven’t been able to find it yet.
 
Have the club disclosed what will happen if the total pledges are enough to cover the 1st 500k but falls short for the 2nd 500k? I’m guessing that by reaching the 1st 500k target the club will cash the pledges?
Will all this money be lost if the 2nd target isn’t reached and the club then enter administration? I’m pretty sure that without a financial backer we won’t make the total amount.
 
BTW a great gesture once again from the Widnes chairman. A true RL fan.

Re: : Tue Apr 03, 2012 12:08 pm  

AaronBull wrote:

There would be a committee formed in an instant. Too big a fanbase for the club to immediately cease to exist.

Just so long as all of that committee were prepared to then make the hard, lonely yards that would be needed. Out of the public eye, doing the boring necessary grind. And they had the support of the rest of the fans, who understood the commitment necessary and not to expect overnight results and were themselves prepared to help out from time to time.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 12:18 pm  

by the sounds of the interview on look north last night, Peter Hood is finally saying it as it is.

"there isnt a que of investors outside my office door!"

by the sounds if you dont get someone major to invest this really could be the end.

Admin is the only option you have from where i sit.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 12:37 pm  

Jeez.....
What an almighty c**k up! Start by being super optimistic - become supper pessimistic and ending god only knows! On an earlier comment Adeybull mentioned that they board have no middle management to lean on and are doing it all themselves - this becomes more apparent every day - they look and sound exhausted, and still don't have a pln other than trust us !!

The expectation that all season ticket holders would pledge is rubbish given the family nature of the support, I'd be interested in the ratio of number of households season tickets belong to against pledges - I have 3 for my sons and have pleadged once, so 33% of tickets but 100% of households.

Assuming (and a big one!) we do limp over the line my point of last week is where on earth is the next £500k going to come from is still my main concern. Assuming no administration, the only way I can see us survive is selling players. Appreciate few clubs will have cap space left - but imagine Warrington signing Bateman for say £150k then loaning him back for the season - but we all know where this path leads. I was hoping against hope we had a cunning plan - after reading the T&A and YP articles it's clear we don't!

Hate to say - but future is NOT bright and my dream of seeing a Bradford team win at Wembley looks like it will stay a dream. Really really p****d off!

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 12:43 pm  

I've been thinking. A few musings.

The RFL are coming out of this very well at the moment. They have a very cheap 135yr lease on Odsal. If the Bulls stave off administration, it also sounds like they will have annual income from Odsal, with no maintenance costs.

These are all thoughts for another day but - Is there a buyback clause? How much can the rental be increased? Who gets concession stall money?

At the time, other RL fans were concerned about the RFL being the landlord and there being a CoI with regards to franchising.

If administration happens, they will have both the decision on the franchise, but also on who plays at Odsal. This power cannot be underestimated. How would the lease be re-negotiated? The RFL would want someone at Odsal ASAP paying rent.

IF a pre-pack happened quickly and seamlessly then local creditors (usually businesses but also first aiders etc) and the taxpayer would be the ones (legally) ripped off. But otherwise there would probably be a seamless transition.

If admin lingered on then there might be other scenarios. The only power the fans would have is with the perception of who is the true successor club?

Imagine Bulls of Bradford 2012 being issued the franchise and getting the lease at Odsal but only getting 1200 season ticket holders whilst in a lower league there being Northern of Bradford 2012 getting 2200 season ticket holders?

The RFL would have to compromise a lot on the negotiation of the lease to get their money back. They do have a lot to lose with this after all...

Ps - we've pledged (3 season tickets in the family) - but one pledge between us.
The tallying up of pledges on Saturday will define what happens thereafter. The only assets we have left (as long as we are not in administration) are players & their contracts.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 12:51 pm  

Good post there Highlander, IMO.

I recall being soundly jeered by fans of other clubs at the time, when I pointed out that this was IMO a win-win deal and potentially of considerable advantage to the RFL. We have since learned that it was in all probability an even better deal for them.

Concession stall money is for the Bulls.

Don't know the rent or the review basis, but I believe there are also obligations on the RFL to e.g. find us a home should they themselves want out of Odsal.

I think there is a buyback clause, but I'd really prefer the club to confirm that (or otherwise).

I really don't know how the maintenance works, since I have heard them say both that the Bulls are resposnible and the RFL is responsible. I suspect it may be one organises it and one pays for it, but I do wish this had been made more clear at the time.