But the three years without relegation was supposed to give clubs precisely that guarantee, so they could plan. Why withhold this now?

I find it embarassing that they would put that Message on Facebook, The RFL clearly said in the last round of licensing that if they did not follow through on their Business plans etc then they could be removed, Simple, they havn't and they should be removed, And in al honesty is Castleford and Wakefield dont get there grounds sorted in the next 12 months then they should be removed also. Integrity is the only way to be and i personally think the RFL are doing the right thing, Guarentees to stay in the top flight of sport is a definate NO NO as far as i am concerned, for once i have to say well done RFL. " If you put us in championship then we are going to fold " .........Your problem Bradford, Not the RFL or the other clubs who have been more than over generous in their help of your plight, Enough is Enough. Put Toulouse in or something.

A team can have it's license revoked at any time.

As long as a team operated correctly, franchising gives them the safety net of not trying to avoid relegation each year, but it doesn't mean they can't have the license revoked if they f*ck up off the field (which bradford have done).

If it's in the rules that a license can be taken away, the RFL simply can't give bradford that guarantee.

The RFL are actually acting with a bit of backbone for once and not buckling under public pressure.

I'm guessing the RFL want a guarantee re the use of Odsal and they are not providing it. The other things don't sound unreasonable re license and purchase of the lease.

Of course it could all be a dastardly plan to liquadate Bradford and then sell Odsal for development for heaps of pounds!

I suspect they know exactly that it will put pressure on the rfl. Not saying I agree with it but as a bulls fan its good to hear any news in the media, too much has been via rumour and people "in the know"

I also don't agree with the gun to head analogy, there is another bid, as far as ABC are concerned they either invest in a super league club or they don't, thats just a fact, if people want to see that as a gun then fair enough. And they only want to know if they will retain the excisting licence for this franchise period and be reassessed with everyone else at the next round. They won't want to pay £3m out now for the club to be in c1 in october if thats the decision the rfl are going to make anyway.

I suspect all they want to hear is the rfl saying we're not being kicked out [inow[/i, we retain our excisting licence (including the provison for licence removal at any point between now and the next round). but if the decison has been taken already to remove us for a "liquidation event" then we need to know now not in the close season.

But who really knows, I'll await the next twist of the knife in this sorry tale.

BTW, I should state, the only people I hold to blame for all this is the Bulls previous (mis)managing BOD's and shareholding, with a seris of shocking decisions and infighting since about 2005.

...oh and its only on facebook as the administrator cant allow the official website costs.

They do have to one of those things.

They have to say at one point whether Bradford are a championship club or an SL club, why not tell the investors which?

Its almost like some people think the RFL should carry on saying “maybe you’re an SL club, maybe you’re not, invest and find out” hoping someone will invest before they let out an evil cackle and say “ha, we got you, you’re being demoted now but you bought it so there is nothing else you can do hah hahaaaa”

I think that for the clubs' part, they need to be financially stable for 3 years ??

Fair enough.
I will say though that if they are offering cash up front for Odsal then fair enough BUT if they are saying they are going to pay it over 5,10 or 20 years then I cannot see the RFL going for it nor should they IMHO.

I agree, and now its out in public from one side (righty or wrongly) if the 1.5 is wholely unrepresentative of the actual deal I hope the rfl comes out and says so.

Why should the RFL drop to ABC's level.

Business should be conducted out of the publics ear shot not of FB

Maybe ABC should have 2 business plans- one for SL, one for Championship.

maybe they dont want a championship club, as they have actually said.

And if this is tha actual situation, what next ?

You're missing the entire point by about half a universe, the consortium have definitively stated that they aren't interested in owning a Championship club, so no SL, no bid. All they want is the existing licence to continue, on its current terms (which btw include revocation clauses etc) until it runs out.

If you wanted to buy a SL club, what would you do?

Would you pay for a car first, and only later get to know whether it was the BMW or a Fiesta? well, the RFL's seeming position is about as nutty as that, given we can assume that only sane bidders exist.

Possibly but this is what I don't get though.
Do ABC think having a very public bun fight with the RFL will in any way help with getting this over the line?
If they do then I think they are being very naive.

If the RFL are demoting Bradford then they should say.

Maybe somebody with a bit less money and less grander plans would look to get involved in running Bradford on a much smaller scale, its certainly preferable to the uncertainty, which if anything is putting off investors.