Now! For this reason..

Now. It's time to put an end to this. The RFL can sort it all out then. They will enjoy having an empty Odsal to play with.

I'm not sure I know enough to make this call.

I've said before that if we could be sure that we would not be permitted to carry on in superleague next year then I would definately want to end it right now and hand the RFL a PR disaster to deal with.

I'm not indulging in the spate of RFL bashing NOW because I can't really fathom what their intentions are. But in this hypothetical situation where the RFL are asking us to go quietly into the dark, I'd much rather we go out flinging the Vs.

I find the concept that the governing body of a tin-pot regional sport would be willing to sacrifice 10k of fans is remarkable. It certainly wouldn't be for 'the greater good'; To suggest they'd go watch someone else is risible.

sums my feelings up too

And the reason they have that is because you were so skint u had to sell them the lease

Its perhaps a bit early to pull the plug, all is not yet lost. But we could easily reach the point in the next couple of weeks where there is no realistic bid on the table and those currently providing their services for free start to walk away from the club. Simply paying the players will not be sufficient. It could all become horribly embarassing very quickly eg games being cancelled at the last minute because of problems akin to the lack of pitch paint.

You mean let the RFL sort out a mess entirley of the Bradford Bulls' own doing? The RFL have taken as many steps as they can to help you but wont be held to ransom by the conditions (whatever they may be) of any potential new owners.

What's happening at Braford is a really poop state for the fans. But for the fans to keep on harping about the big bad RFL when they have done more than they have to to keep you ticking over irks me!

Some (not all) Bulls fans need to realise the mess that needs sorting is its own!

We know where the problem has come from, we are not that stupid. The point is the RFL are only interested in keeping us going until the end of the season to suit their own ends, regarding bad publicity and expunging records etc, so please forgive me for not giving a tom tit about what happens to the SL table whenwe are gone.

I don't believe I have all the answers to say either way. Ideally I'd like to see the season out.

I feel with all the help we have had from the other Super League teams, morally if possible we should see the season out. Also in the future ruining this years competition would do us no favours whatsoever.

i am suprised at your attitude .A lot of bulls fans and rl fans have worked really hard for your survival.DO NOT GIVE UP NOW hope you will compete nxt year

I think its a moot question, because whatever happens the RFL will ensure we'll see out the season now

By a mix of advance Sky moneys, gate receipts, donations from others and even the odd 'loan' we WILL fulfill our last five fixtures - its too close to the end of the season for the RFL NOT to let that happen. We might send a bunch of kids and trialists to Catalans, but we'll field some sort of team in the last match of the season...

I dont like the idea of this thread (no offense to the OP) but its just seems as though some have given up and already decided we have gone...

The RFL have given us a lot of help, more than they have helped other teams in the past but they will not spoon feed us and nor should they be expected to! I think both the RFL and us are in a hole but atleast it is the same hole! The RFL are playing tough ball over the conditions because they cant afford to lose any more ground over this whole scenario and any reasonable party with money would be nervous about investing any money into a club if they didnt know what league they would be in after a few months or even if they can adapt the ground to make it self viable so its a stalemate at the moment!

But negotiations are exactly that, and i am hopeful that a common ground will be found very soon! We as fans shouldnt be putting across the vibe off lets just pack it in now and screw the rest... well not IMO!

To put it simply, if we don't see this season out and fold now, then we will never again be in the super league.
We have been aided by the RFL more than most, so to P them off so badly with 5 games to go would be suicidal if we want to rise again.

Let's see out the season if we can. However we cannot expect volunteer labour from the staff to continue and I doubt there will be enough qualified volunteers to cover all the essential posts after this weekend. What will be the players' attitude (and actions ) at that point.
Red Hall are not to blame for this mess but their actions have certainly not helped.

Wise words.

It is always the fans who suffer & I can't blame you for being bitter but taking your bat home now would be the worst thing to do. Not that there is any chance of that happening, you will see the season out for certain.

If you fold it is still certain that a Bradford club will reform even if it has to play in a lower division. There does seem to be a feeling among some on here that life outside Super League is no life at all. That's not true. Not if you love your club and the sport of Rugby League.

My club Hull Kingston Rovers was in administration for THREE AND A HALF YEARS! During this time no one wanted to buy us and with no prospect of creditors being paid there was no point in liquidation either. The response from the rest of the Rugby League community seemed to be 'Who needs 2 clubs in Hull anyway?' We got no help whatsoever from the RFL or any other club and despite our long history nobody seemed much bothered if we died. Except us.

The club stayed alive because we had a core of diehard fans busting a gut to raise money any which way and because we had an administrator in Edward Klempka of PricewaterhouseCoopers who simply refused to entertain any 'solution' that did not have the main mpriority of the long term wellbeing of the club. He was the best chairman we never had!

Hull KR after all that time never went into liquidation, it went into CVA whereby the eventual rescue package paid an agreed amount to creditors - a small amount (most were 'club sympathetic')- except for the taxman who would only agree to staggered payments in full over several years. That's what we did and so after long years of administration we had long years of repayments, CVA and all the restrictions that imposes.

Hull KR were not allowed to simply walk away from it's debts which you might say is how it should be. Some Bulls fans would like the debts to stay with an 'oldco' whilst the 'newco' is given Odsal and a guaranteed Super League licence. But if the governing body of the sport were to simply go along with that there would be serious ramifications for the whole sport. Why bother any club paying debts at all if there is such an easy way out? And why would anyone ever want to have financial dealings with a Rugby League club ever again?

If a buyer comes along who is willing and able to take on your debts or at least agree a CVA then great stuff. If not then you have to bite the bullet and do a 'Rangers' and start again at the bottom. It's tough but the real fans among you will stay the course - and find there is plenty of enjoyable rugby outside of Super League. You'll probably become converts to a return to promotion & relegation too!

A Bulls team should be capable of starting again in C1. We would, for at least one season, be able to command crowds of several times those of the rest of our division. The salary cap would be a fraction of that in SL. If we couldnt break even its hard to see how any other club could.

The huge problem would be in managing the transition. It wouldn't be remotely comparable to say when Cas were relegated a few years back. They had to drastically cut costs but were able to retain the core of the club and build around it. We would literally have to sack everyone and start all over again. Create a completely new organisation. And do that in a couple of months. It might be doable if a few individuals with experience of running a lower league club could be pursuaded to take it on, but it would be a helluva a task.

Superb post

I'm currently away on holiday, missing the most important games of my clubs history, not able to do anything to help. I feel positively neutered and it's having a really negative effect on what should be an enjoyable and relaxing few weeks. Your post has (oddly) cheered me up a little as "it could be worse" and "not everyone's out to get us". I'm not sure that that's what you intended to say but that's what I'm taking from it

Snipped it there, great post.

Sadly I think the higher costs of running a SL squad means that there is little chance of supporters being able to raise money to keep the club going through an extended admin period, not to mention the difficulty of persuading people to contribute when the way the pledge was handled meant 500k was ed up a wall, but it is a perfect example of what a club is supposed to mean to it's supporters. Too many people on here give the impression that if Bradford Bulls aren't playing at Odsal in Superleague with a certain set of employees and players then it's not worth bothering with, and that's an attitude I struggle to comprehend.

Fair comment. To be honest, I don't think 'managing the transition' would be a problem. Mainly as there would really be no actual 'transition', more a stop and re-start. It would be like any new start business and require a certain amount of cash up front, and then with decent crowds, which as you suggest in the initial year shouldn't be a problem, there is no reason why a new club shouldn't be successful (ie get through the season) and give a solid base from which to build going forward.

Or am I over optimistic?

A good history lesson from His Bobness--"It's tough but the real fans among you will stay the course - and find there is plenty of enjoyable rugby outside of Super League." Exactly
If we fold and reform I will definitely continue to support a Bradford team in C1. However I don't think I'll be travelling to Skolars South Wales North Wales Gateshead and all the expansion teams that will be included next year. So I'll probably also continue watching a team in the Championship, in my case Batley. I will not transfer my allegiance to another SL team. In fact I will:
cancel my sky subscription
stop going to internationals
stop going to Magic weekend
stop going to the Grand Final
stop going to the Cup Final
The net saving to me and the family will be well over £1000.
I suspect other Bulls fans will take some or all of those actions. Perhaps if there's enough of us ,Red Hall might realise that not having a Super league presence in one of the biggest cities in Northern England does have some consequences for their flagship league and it's sponsors. But they can console themselves with the thought that they control a large stadium which cannot be used for any other purpose than Rugby League until 2020.

Fair enough, everyone has a right to their own decisions although I can't see my sky or the internationals going.

If you actually enjoy doing those things then why cut off your nose to spite your face?

Surely you won't only be able to enjoy them while Bradford Bulls are in Super League unconditionally?

I will still see and enjoy Rugby League and will continue to support the club I started watching when it was bottom of the league in the early 60's-- before the Foster / Phillips rescue.I will also increase my involvement with a well run Championship side at Mount Pleasant.
But having lost all faith in those running Superleague, I will not support their ventures at the top level of the game--sorry business.

If we drop out of SL my Sky sports will go, if we are in the lower leagues then that will be my interest not SL. I haven't been to an international for years and only go to cup finals, play-off finals or MM if we're involved so that won't change. I'll still follow the club home and away though, it's been too long to change now..