But what about if xyz consortium came in and bought the bulls with the intention of paying the debts off?

A quick scount round the internet seems to show a lot of support for scrapping the points deduction in football, as it seems to lead to a spiral of less income/relegation thus penalising the fans further. Alternatives suggested seem to be banning chairman for life/fining the ones responsible, and more thorough checks on owners.

Its easy to put financial problems down to bad owners or chairmen but often its the fans that pressure the clubs into living beyond their means. Imagine if at the start of the season Hood had announced that Bateman & Whitehead had been sold to alleviate financial pressures. He'd have been slaughtered.

Point taken. It's still not the fans fault that clubs go into administration though.

There are rules for company directors which can result in being banned from acting as a director in certain circumstances (bankruptcy for instance), maybe the same sort of punishment could be brought in for sports club directors who take their club into admin?

As for the fans clamouring for whatever, there is a saying for coaches which goes along the lines of, "if you start listening to fans, you'll soon be sitting with them". Maybe the same should apply to chairmen/directors? Just like the coaches, they sometimes have to make unpalatable decisions, but that surely comes with the territory. A saying about heat and kitchens comes to mind.

nope, it's not the fans fault, it is down to the club living beyond their means. We did it in the early nineties and were forced to sell Central Park because of it and become squatters at Dave Whelan's stadium. The problem is the club try to achieve success on the field that the fans demand this comes at a cost. Would you get 10,000 plus crowds if you never make the semis of the challenge cup or ever enter the playoffs by being in the top 8.

The problem is that unless you get 15,000 crowds on a regular basis and make finals etc etc you dont get the revenue needed to spend up to the full salary cap without a wealthy benefactor as there is not enough money from the RFL to support the clubs expectations.

Lack of financial constraints by the RFL ie. allowing clubs to spending more than they earn is the problem. It should be a live accounting system based on known fixed revenue for the coming season, ie. season ticket sales, RFL/Sky money and any signed sponsor contracts only plus cash in the bank less loans overdrafts etc etc.... Any surplus made in a season is cash in the bank for the next year.........probably impossible to police so clubs will continue to spend more than they have.......