Re: Latest state of play posts only : Mon Jul 16, 2012 6:37 pm  

M@islebugs wrote:

The RFL HAVE to take account of who the club is because game does not have the number of clubs with a support base that it can cast 10,000 fans plus the SKY subscription audience in the Bradford area out of Super League.

You make a good point there actually. When two of the so-called 'big clubs' pull 9000 for the Semi Final with a Wembley Final for the winner, they don't have the luxury of chucking out a club with 10K season ticket holders.

Yes, I know the Scottish Premier have just done something similar, but I suspect it will come back to haunt them. Notice how the Chief Exec of the SFL desperately tried to get clubs NOT to dump Rangers into the bottom tier - because of the financial ramifications for all the rest of the clubs

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:19 pm  

Adeybull wrote:

But the escrow account was set up by the CLUB, if I recall correctly? And the initiative was by the CLUB, right? My point is that all those who are lecturing us about the SUPPORTERS doing all this from scratch have not done that themselves.

And you have made the point too - nowhere near enough to save the club anyway.

As we said at the time, any supporters initiative would have split the donations between club and fans, sown confusion and sent out a message to potential investors that this was a club divided. In the event, Caisley did that anyway, of course, after most of the money had already been pledged.

There is not a cat in hell's chance in my opinion that the supporters collectively, in competition with the club, would have raised more than a fraction of the 500k - over 20% of which did not come from the fans anyway. And without the 500k the club would have been in administration the following week. At least we bought time, and created a fantastic united platform on which to build. Sadly, tragically, the shareholders chose instead to fight and depose each other rather than work together to save the club. They betrayed the fans, and history will damn them for it.

The points that a huge amount of goodwill that could have been called upon by a rescuing consortium COULD have been available had the Bulls not run the pledge.

What would the reaction be from season ticket holders if ABC decide that all season tickets are worthless and everyone has to pay full price on the gate for the rest of the season?

Yes, the pledge gave a stay of execution and MIGHT have been enough to provide a stop gap, but it's still a very real and unfortunate possibility that the Bulls may cease to exist and the fans have been screwed out of £500k for nothing but false promises.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:26 pm  

Wooden Stand wrote:Decisions being made in smoke-filled rooms is no good for Rugby League or any other sport:

1. Bring back one-up one down promotion-relegation from next season - with the rules as to who goes up and down fixed before the first season of promotion/relegation starts. (Don't care what it is e.g. bottom club down / top club in league below up. Grand Final winner from league below up, bottom club down, play-off between bottom club and league below Grand final winner etc).

2. Go into administration - points deduction immediately. Bulls should suffer it now - but RFL wants them to fulfill 2012 fixtures.

3. Go into admin. & re-form with a "Newco" - relegation to bottom division for the next season a la Rangers.

Just keep it fair and simple - so everyone knows where they stand. There has to be an end to the "we'll make it up depending on who we're talking about", mentality.




All fair points but before you make that decision go do a month's work experience at RFL when they're trying to sell tickets to international matches or finals that involve anyone other than Leeds, Wigan, Hull, Bradford, Wire and Saints. Then try running a national grass roots development programme on the income from a semi final when a well funded club sells less than 3000 tickets.

The RFL HAVE to take account of who the club is because game does not have the number of clubs with a support base that it can cast 10,000 fans plus the SKY subscription audience in the Bradford area out of Super League.


& go do a month's work experience at a Club outside Super League where there is now nothing to play for!

Just set fair rules and let success determine who goes up and down. Just give it a chance.

Super League can be a great spectacle and even more so if success leads to promotion to it - which then generates true support. Bradford's average attendance was less than 6,000 the year before Super League came in...

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:53 pm  

paulwalker71 wrote:

You make a good point there actually. When two of the so-called 'big clubs' pull 9000 for the Semi Final with a Wembley Final for the winner, they don't have the luxury of chucking out a club with 10K season ticket holders.

Yes, I know the Scottish Premier have just done something similar, but I suspect it will come back to haunt them. Notice how the Chief Exec of the SFL desperately tried to get clubs NOT to dump Rangers into the bottom tier - because of the financial ramifications for all the rest of the clubs

Haven't I read somewhere that most of those Season Tickets were at £50 each. If the Bulls management had charged an economic price for them they would not be in this position.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:08 pm  

christie wrote:

Haven't I read somewhere that most of those Season Tickets were at £50 each. If the Bulls management had charged an economic price for them they would not be in this position.

we've never gone as low as £50. Think giants did the £50 ones.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:11 pm  

mat wrote:

we've never gone as low as £50. Think giants did the £50 ones.

Think it was 60 quid, but still the same but a tenners difference.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:33 pm  

To end all the arguments, regardless of season ticket prices and administration, we are Bradford and deserve to be in SL.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Tue Jul 17, 2012 6:41 am  

paulwalker71 wrote:

You make a good point there actually. When two of the so-called 'big clubs' pull 9000 for the Semi Final with a Wembley Final for the winner, they don't have the luxury of chucking out a club with 10K season ticket holders.

Yes, I know the Scottish Premier have just done something similar, but I suspect it will come back to haunt them. Notice how the Chief Exec of the SFL desperately tried to get clubs NOT to dump Rangers into the bottom tier - because of the financial ramifications for all the rest of the clubs

Agreed, whether right or wrong it will cost the SFA millions. Plus, what club's fans have made a greater effort to avoid administration than ours? Certainly not those of certain clubs on this thread now.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:12 am  

M@islebugs wrote: Agreed, whether right or wrong it will cost the SFA millions. Plus, what club's fans have made a greater effort to avoid administration than ours? Certainly not those of certain clubs on this thread now. I still expect Rangers to be back in the SPL in 2013/14, it doesn't appear that the league can survive without them: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... l-collapse Clearly the Bulls are not Rangers, our relegation in itself wouldnt have the same effect on SL. But that assumes that other clubs do not go the same way. If the RFL takes a hardline with the Bulls and then another couple of clubs follow suit the house of cards could easily collapse.

M@islebugs wrote: Agreed, whether right or wrong it will cost the SFA millions. Plus, what club's fans have made a greater effort to avoid administration than ours? Certainly not those of certain clubs on this thread now. I still expect Rangers to be back in the SPL in 2013/14, it doesn't appear that the league can survive without them: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... l-collapse Clearly the Bulls are not Rangers, our relegation in itself wouldnt have the same effect on SL. But that assumes that other clubs do not go the same way. If the RFL takes a hardline with the Bulls and then another couple of clubs follow suit the house of cards could easily collapse.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:13 am  

Wooden Stand wrote:

& go do a month's work experience at a Club outside Super League where there is now nothing to play for!

So every club outside the top or bottom 2 or 3 just pack in as they have nothing to play for ?

Just set fair rules and let success determine who goes up and down. Just give it a chance.

We gave it a chance for years & years. Clubs destroyed themselves at an equal or greater rate.

Super League can be a great spectacle and even more so if success leads to promotion to it - which then generates true support. Bradford's average attendance was less than 6,000 the year before Super League came in...

What is this true support of which you speak? Is it better support than the franchise system? None of the clubs being touted for SL will generate anything near Bradford's.