No - Salford fan - we are in a tricky position it seems as well so would expect to be treated the same and all future Admins/Liquidations must start afresh. Consistency is what we need - if allowed to carry on then that sets the standard and all clubs in the same boat can point to that decision.

Nonsense, they cheated and will pay the price. Smaller clubs will get good attendances, Rangers will have a good run of success for the fans and they will give great "press" as they come back.

The problem at Bradford is that RL, can't afford to kick the fans, because there would be no obvious route back to the top table. Coupled with the fact that the RFL own Odslum!!! No way will they be kicked out.

Incidently, if this was Wigan instead of Bradford, i wonder how many would want Wigan kicked out? Point is that many could be looking at this with biased eyes.....

And when Sky and ESPN renegotiate their contract, pulling millions of pounds out of the game?

Bradford fan and if the club goes into liquidation and ceases to exist, I don't think they should be allowed to take their place back in Super League as if nothing had happened. I would be happy for the club to start again at the bottom and work their way back up into Super League. But then, if they don't come back in - are we left with 13 clubs? Why should someone take their place? Not sure how the licensing system works here, I guess the objective of the licensing system was that this situation would never arise. But yes, hopefully it won't come to that.

And maybe in the SPL teams will start to get real in terms of what they can afford to pay players etc, it will make for a more level competition and supporters will come flocking back to watch teams outside of the Old Firm (or Celtic, as they are now known in the SPL!).

I assume we're talking about [iif[/i they were to be a newco rather than a rescued oldco. In which case, it is arguably about letting them 'enter' rather than 'stay'.

And it depends on the alternative - a 13 team SL? Unlikely.

Fairest (well best, at least) IMO, if SL stays at 14, would be to allow applications for the 14th spot from New Bradford and any Championship club that wants to throw its hat in the ring.
If New Bradford got themselves sorted they'd have a very good chance of being the best applicant.

Outside the old firm, the SPL is probably smaller than SL.

There only 2 stadiums in S[iP[/iL (outside the old firm) that can hold over 20k, Only one club averages over 10k, 4 clubs which cant get over 5k.

The old firm is the SPL, without their Sky money they wont be able to pay the wages, it would be much worse than SL because there are a massive number of leagues where even an average scottish player can go and earn a decent living. The quality of play will fall, attendances will fall, more clubs will go bust and the scottish league will be gone. This is the beginning of the end for that league.

There appears to be two option which are getting confused.

If Bradford come through adminsitration then they will have the points deduction but will be perfectly at liberty to continue with their SL status until 2014.

If Bradford Bulls is liquidated Bradford Bulls no longer exists and therefore are no longer a SuperLeague team. The RFL will not have to do anything to remove them from SL. If Bradford Bulls is liquidated then Bradford New Co can apply to the RFL for member of SuperLeague. It is likley that the RFL will allow New Bradford to compete until the end of 2012 thus alllowing the fixtures to be completed. The RFL will then need to make a decision as to whether Bradord New Co will be permitted to stay until the next round of franchises are agreed. This is when the arguments will all start again as New Co will not have a proven financial record, will not have the relevant success history etc etc to qualify for membership as may people will lose sight of the fact that they are not Bradford Bulls any more

I sure as hell hope you have missed a "P" out as there will be plenty of people from Wigan, Hull, Huddesfield, Warrington, Leeds etc who would like to join together and dispute your first two comments!

I did indeed. My apologies.

SL is a farce. London have been warned about their crowds, Wakey & Cas their grounds, all the clubs have been told financial probity is paramount yet no-one is actually punished for failing to deliver on their promises.
If we're going to have a franchise system (which I disagree with) Wakey should have been given the boot for going into administration, Bradford should be given the boot, Cas and Wakey (again) should get the boot if the stadiums don't materialise and London should get the boot if their crowds don't go up.
Alternatively we could behave like a sport and have success on the pitch determine which division a club is in.

The RFL won't be making any decisions as they don't own SL. Any newco will need to be voted in by the remaining member clubs who [ido[/i on SL. The RFL can lobby for or against but the club chairmen will make the decision. As I mentioned earlier, the vote may be a lot closer than I thought it would be.

Its actually the RFL board who decides on licences, expulsions etc.

Not really.


Both Cas and Wakey have new grounds in the pipeline. Wakey have made some improvements to their existing ground. London's crowds are poor, granted, but crowds are only one aspect of SL criteria. They'll need to improve drastically in the very near future or cease to exist anyway.


Cool. You reckon you can replace all these clubs with better ones from the Championship I guess? Care to list the candidates? And while you're at it you'de better start lobbying the SL club chairmen to change the rules of [itheir[/i league to allow clubs to be summarily dismissed on a whim. Let me know how that goes for you.


Because we never had clubs go broke under P&R. No siree bob...

The RFL board issue licences based on rules decided by the clubs. They can also only expel a club if the rules - again voted on by the clubs - allow it. The clubs actually have the final say on admission to SL as they own the league pure and simple. There have already been discussions between them on the possible admission of a Bradford newco. Opinions are divided.