Quote: Mr Dog "The RFL are not making Bradford run a reserves side at all; the club is choosing to do so by continuing to run a cat 1 academy, for which they are handsomely compensated through central funding (I have seen a figure of £100k quoted but don't know how realistic that is). To do that from next season also necessitates the running of a reserves.
They are hardly squeezing them financially over Odsal either - I'd bet a pound to a penny you'd be moaning if they were not charging them a market rental rate and/or subsidising them through paying for ground maintenance. Don't forget the RFL coughed up the best part of £1m to save the iconic stadium and so far will have got back around £350k through rent but are extremely unlikely ever to get the capital back - reducing the book value of Odsal to about £400k a couple of years ago points to them knowing that. Not exactly a good return on investment.......'"
How come Bradford are compensated to run an academy, as are Widnes I understand? Is this option open to all clubs?