RFL reach agreement with consortium for new professional Rugby League club in Bradford

[jobo]

Sorry if this goes against the grain, and I admit that I do not know the full facts, but . . .

. . . the RFL "own" Odsal. My understanding is that they bought the lease as a way of trying to keep Bradford afloat whilst not allowing new owners to benefit from the value of the stadium. Bearing in mind that "the RFL" is, in effect its member clubs, this decision was presumably made with the interests of the whole RFL in mind - i.e. it's to the benefit of everyone for Bradford to be given a chance of survival.

. . . re the latest situation, the RFL are faced with owning a ground but no team. If they sold it for development, possibly making a profit, wouldn't many voices be raised saying they sold out the team? And what good would this have been to RL in the long-run?

. . . then there's the place in the Championship. Again, if they gave it to Toronto, unfair. Give it to Workington, potentially to see them relegated in 2017 (given resources and limited chance of decent quality signings)? What would Whitehaven fans have to say?

In short, faced with a no-win choice, they seem to me to have come up with as good a solution as possible. Surely member clubs have been consulted and the majority realise this?

Oh, and the 12 point deduction means the new Bradford team have little chance of short-term benefit from the decision - in fact, they could easily be relegated.

Finally, I despise Bulls' fans ("forrard, forrard") but my support for the game in general leads me to the conclusions above.

Think that is a reasonable assessment Morley. No point in owning a lease and having no tenant, who at least have a chance of meeting the rent.

Had the new club started in the championship, not sure they would have been able to raise the revenue needed.

[FWarrior]

Bradford starting at -12 points = relegation. Far better to start at C1 and rebuild. A replacement is for the RFL to decide, possibly club relegated from C or the club that just missed promotion from C1.

[georgeorwell]

RL in general is losing fans, and has a number of small town clubs that can only attract a small number of supporters. Bradford did, and can again, attract over 10,000 every home game, which makes them a big club. The RFL is right, for once, in attempting to keep the club going, but in my opinion they are absolutely stupid in giving the new owners a points deficit of 12 points. What motivation does this provide for the owners, the players and the potential fans? Answer, none at all, the RFL are not fit for purpose. The game needs a strong Bradford ASAP.

[Nezza Faz]

RL in general is losing fans, and has a number of small town clubs that can only attract a small number of supporters. Bradford did, and can again, attract over 10,000 every home game, which makes them a big club. The RFL is right, for once, in attempting to keep the club going, but in my opinion they are absolutely stupid in giving the new owners a points deficit of 12 points. What motivation does this provide for the owners, the players and the potential fans? Answer, none at all, the RFL are not fit for purpose. The game needs a strong Bradford ASAP.

But without any points deficit, this would just encourage other clubs who go bust, to have new owners then come along, not have to repay creditors any old debts off the field, as well as no point deductions on the field. There has to be some kind of integrity shown in all of this, and it could only be retrospectively on the new club. It obviously can't be against the old club ! Financially there is also a compliance issue in the world of business at large, and not just in RL, or sport in general, as it is detrimental to the game for more of the same to happen. New owners of liquidated concerns know they'll be "punished" retro spectivelly and they bring all of this into their new business plan so there's not much more the RFL could be responsible for, on this particular stance, as it's more involved than the RFL just "wanting a strong Bradford ASAP" as you say,georgeo.

[FWarrior]

Scottish FA did it right with Rangers. The RFL stuffed up here.

Worse Bradford are serial offenders and have been since 1964!

BTW crowds? a winning, successful Bradford in C1 or a hit / miss losing many in C Who attracts more fans? what % increase do Bradford add to C crowds compared to C1 ?

[fozzieskem]

The whole situation has,as usual been handled very poorly by the rfl,i suspect we will be back here in a year or two at best

[FWarrior]

Lowe was a legend. No he is luck to be alive, far, far too old and offers even less than Noble as a figurehead name. 70+ and no coaching for 20 years!

[Nezza Faz]

Lowe was a legend. No he is luck to be alive, far, far too old and offers even less than Noble as a figurehead name. 70+ and no coaching for 20 years!

I don't believe he's going to be coaching, FW. Read the two new owners (he is one of them) have parted ways with the old Bradford coach, Rohan Smith and that they are on the lookout for a top name coach to be brought in.

I didn't realise Lowe was that wealthy he qualifies as a money man style owner and that concerns me that the RFL have gone down this path, with possibly two owners at the helm (of vast RL experience) but who might be lacking in financial resources.

[FWarrior]

It was the post by Mick implying that Lowe being there would be somehow beneficial to our young players. It is akin to saying Alex Murphy being linked to Leigh would be great for our young players.

I surmise Lowe has very limited financial input / capability other than being a figurehead. Chalmers will have more financial clout.

The bizarre aspect is that Chalmers and Lowe had a bid previously rubber stamped by the RFL that was rejected by the administrator. So if a RFL backed bid was not good enough to be acceptable then to the agministrator what has really changed? other than the adminstrator no longer being involved?

[Mike]

Money. The would have been buying the old club and its debts. This is new and the administrator has no say.