I'm very happy thank you. And I think pretty much everyone left on here now is a lifelong supporter. I know I am.

But my point was not that I think Chalmers is trustworthy, it was that given where we are I think that having a plan that builds for the future is a good thing.

That doesn't mean that Chalmers is someone who can deliver against it. But I think the shape of the plan is about as good as we can hope for. A 4 year recovery plan that sees us in a strong position to apply for a SL licence. And at that stage we have built sustainable income streams, have a reserve team, improved academy - things that a lot of current SL clubs don't have - that would see us set up very well for the future.

I don't think that anyone was or is expecting a miracle announcement.

Ok, but what do we get for finishing last? As I understand it (I read it somewhere) top place gets full SL funding, second a million, third 800k or so, fifth 500k, and so on, so it makes sense that last would get about 150k.

There are set funding levels for each position in championship which determine funding for the year. top place is 780k, 2nd 760k, 3rd 550k, 4th 500k then a drop to 250k for 5th and a sliding scale for remaining positions dow to 12th with lowest place getting 150k. Not sure if those are the exact figures but their pretty close.

Each teams position is their position at end of previous season, But at top of league if someone gets promoted then everyone above them shuffles down a place and relegated team comes into league in position number one for funding purposes. so last year hull kr came down and received funding leigh would have got for finishing top ( likewise leigh received full SL funding Hullkr would have received if they had stayed up).

Likewise at bottom of league the two teams coming up are ranked as 11th and 12th for funding purposes and will receive the funding amounts us an whoever goes down would have got. we drop into Championship one and receive the fixed 75k funding all championship one clubs get.

This year both us and the 2nd promoted club from last year were on the lowest 150k amount. we should have got 250k for finishing 5th last year ( pluss 100k prize money for winning championship shield IIRC). Presumably the 100k we were docked plus the 100k prize money we never saw for championship shield went into same pot as the 135k portion of this years central funding that RFL also withheld to pay back the rugby debts.

So - next year we will get more actual central funding, more sponsorship, more ticket money and more merchandising cash than we actually got this year? Cool

First of all; your last sentence is incorrect - at least one of us was definitely hoping for a miracle announcement; sorry, but I was.

Secondly - using the word "plan" over and over again may convince you but it means jack to me.

Hitler had a plan to take over the world - guess what?

If AC's speech convinced you and everyone else on here - great, that was the whole point of it - I'm not knocking you, or anyone else for being a believer. If thats what you need to get you through the next 12 months, fine.
I needed something a bit more substantial. But like I said before - we're all different - if AC's speech floated your boat - good for you.

But whether you like it or not - I'm not gonna buy a season ticket until I can see the "plan" actual achieve something - if you dont like that - tough. It's my money - I do wtf I want with it. If in 4 years time I'm wrong - whats the downside? I'll still be a Bulls fan; the Bulls will be doing well but I will be less skint.

Lets just agree to disagree on this - we're all Bulls fans - so whats the point of squabbling between ourselves.

I see no harm in that - the first bit that is!

His plan no doubt requires season ticket sales.if everyone declined there would be no club to support...

Just a thought....

Well, yes we definitely get more funding, except that we seem to be (to the best of my knowledge) the only Division 3 side with a compulsory academy system to pay for. £75K will barely pay for the coaches, so in actual fact we're actually on a minus figure for funding.

I know what you are saying but,

In December 2016 there was nearly no club to support; but season tickets had already been bought by the fans, so it didnt help then.

If the purchase of season tickets was the panacea we wouldnt be in this dire straight now.

All of us fans have been pumping money into Bradford Bulls for years and years.
All the while Nige has been pumping £300,000 into his bank account year after year.

The RFL forced the Bulls to play this ridiculous season in the Championship purely for their own benefit.
Who else benefited from the Bulls being in this league? - not the Bulls fans who put their hard earned cash into it.

The RFL used us - for their own selfish benefit.

The Bulls club is still being used as a pawn in a bigger "plan" that will no doubt become clearer in the next 12 months.

The Bulls club will not disappear unless the RFL want it to - irrespective of how much the fans put into it.

If none of us bought a season ticket - would the Bulls club do worse than the last 3 seasons or at worse disappear

If more than 3000 season tickets were sold for next season - does that guarantee anything? anything? - of course it doesnt.

The only thing that can seriously change our clubs fortune is some BIG money coming in.

Tell you what - Instead of a season ticket, I'll buy the equivalent in lottery tickets and if I win big I'll give 50% to the Bulls
- I could even call that a "plan"

The previous regimes were robbing Peter to pay paul ,turning over creditors left right and centre,anyone would be naturally cautious with the new set up .
The point I was making was -if everyone took that stance it would penalise the current owners who had done nothing wrong.

A bit like docking 12 points off a new team ..

I applaud the lottery gesture though

A thought that the last 4 club owners have used to play on all our heart strings in order to make us part with our money. Those heart strings for a few of us now are toughened to the point they don't quiver quite so easily any more.

This

Come on, what do you want them to do, honestly? Not even bother to attempt to sell season tickets?
It's a sh*t situation for the club to be in but there isn't going to be some white knight riding in to save the day - we're stuck with what we've got. So you can p!ss and moan about Chalmers all you want, but if you want to continue having a RL team in Bradford to support then it's him or nobody.

At no point have I said anything as absurd as they shouldn't attempt to sell season tickets. Now you're just taking comments to an extreme they weren't at.

The point I'm making is that they can't rely on the same old "if you don't give us your money, you won't have a club" motto that has been pedalled for years now. Fans are sick of it and are starting to ignore that line now. What they need to do is give you value for your money and give you an actual reason to hand over the pounds, which isn't empty promises or putting the responsibility onto the fans (again). What that value for money is? I don't know, I'm not a businessman. But all other companies understand that if you want customers to part with their money, you have to give them a reason to do so and not overcharge them. Season Ticket Price Freeze for a division lower with poorer teams, IMO, isn't value for money. To others, it will be. Plenty will blindly pay out of loyalty, it's up to them. Plenty will fall for that "it's your responsibility" line again, also up to them. But there are also plenty who've heard it too many times now and need something better to tempt them. Which is why the idea of 3,000 season tickets looks to me as totally unrealistic without some change to current philosophy of how they treat the fans.