The current position just shows what a mickey poor decision it was to, first of all, to loan the 700k in the first place and although there seemed little option other than to take on the lease when the old, old, Bulls failed.
Having said that, I just dont get how the Bulls will prosper at Dewsbury.
Moving away from their home City, albeit into a ground that they can rent relatively cheaply, will inevitably lead to loss of your fan base and unless there is some on field success and/ or a new facility found in Bradford, this could be a slow lingering death.
From the outside looking in, surely it would be better for all concerned to find either a new solution for returning to Odsal or some kind of share with your footballing neighbours ?
I can remember comments previously that Valley Parade had some issues but, surely, it would be better for Bradford to be playing in Bradford and not moving to the Wakefield district.
The 2-4 year timescale for a return looks hugely optimistic.
Just remember how long the council took to open the new shopping complex in the middle of your city and there would be more people driving that scheme than a new ground for your club.

Dewsbury is in Kirklees not Wakefield and a move to valley parade would cost 750k a year which defeats the point of moving.

I'm a tad confused?






Of the £500k, how much is the annual rates bill?

Rates are low 6 figures. As part of a lease though, generally there are expectations to keep the facility in a similar level of maintenance. Whether those expectations now contractually revert to the RFL- who knows?

If I understand the system correctly, business rates are the rateable value (£105k) multiplied by the poundage (49.3p in the pound) or about £52k. This will still need to be paid (presumably by the RFL) when Bradford leave as the rateable value is above £12k.

Maintenance will likely revert to the RFL BUT, Bradford will almost certainly be required to leave the property in a state that allows for wear and tear. Last time I was there it looked as though there was quite a lot of maintenance required that would be difficult to assign to simply W&T so the soon to be ex-tenants may find themselves lumbered with a fairly costly leaving present

Not really, as the company has only been at Odsal for 30 months or so and the state is similar to what is was then

What about training facility at tong?

How do you know what FT wages the Bulls pay??

That’s a direct contract with the council. No reason to believe that won’t continue.

Except Chalmers keeps saying that there was 3 years left on the lease when he took over the club so should be relative to the state at the start of the 5 years. Seems to me that the club is new when it suits and old when that suits too. No wonder the ex employees had a good claim....

Indeed, I agree with you the Rfl dropped a ball with that one. No wonder they settled out of court

And you can expect sustained cock-ups going forward when you appoint a man who's natural level is lottery manager of Wath Brow Hornets, as CEO of the governing body!

Reinvigorating the challenge cup is in safe hands. Maybe free Odsal crush barrier for every 10 tickets sold?

£500k a year for rates on what will be an empty site with no trading from it? Find that incredibly hard to believe.

The business rates are about a tenth of that at around £52k per year which will require paying even if no business is operating from Odsal - rateable value of £105k (from which the business rate is calculated by multiplying that amount by the poundage, currently 49.3p per £) is well above the £12k threshold for not having to pay.

Clearly something he learned from the RFL. New club in that we had to sign new contracts for players. Old clob when we were forced to stay in the championship instead of restarting in League 1. AS I have said on other threads, the RFL have proven themselves to be inept. Why are they still in charge.