Halifax should be offered Bradford spot for the 2 years left on the Franchise and a new Bradford RL club should start 2013 in CH/CH1.

As it is, the RFL will now be expected to offer the same level of time and money to other SL clubs who find themselves in a mess.......if David Hughes walked away from London Broncos today, does anyone think the RFL would bail us out? Like Fk they would...
5 years or nothing to whoever takes their place, Fax, or Toulouse, but if it is the French, where does that leave Bradford?

Next year we already have 14 qualified clubs in The Championship, there isnt room for another, so if somebody moves up from there , the Bulls drop 1 division, if its the French they drop 2 , then they are in trouble, attendances might hold up at Odsal playing Fev,Leigh,Batley,Barrow , but doubt they would playing Hemel, Skolars and Northampton

My first reaction was 'farce'.

My underlying feeling at the moment is still 'farce'.

Another idea is starting to drift to the top though, and it could actually benefit the game could it be implemented correctly - unfortunately this is the RFL and SL, neither of whom I'd trust to organise a party in a brewery.

How about if the RFL owned EVERY club. Not just the licences, but the clubs themselves?

It'd protect existing clubs, level up the playing field in a similar way to the US system, and would potentially allow for sensible explansion.

The only problem with it is that I don't trust the nobeds at Red Hall not to favour three or four clubs.


Ah well, back to the drawing board.

Ooops, just seen the 'Centrally Owned SL" thread.

What are you talking about relegated? Is there a press release extra to the one I read? They are still playing in super league and until we receive extra information, that's where they will be playing from now on. What are you talking about?

B License people. Heavily scrutinised like all clubs and given a B. A gnats wing from an A license, all they needed was a few new hotdog stands.

It's not unusual in Australia for clubs in financial dire straights to be centrally funded to keep them in the comp. What the RFL do need to do though is be transparent about the reasoning and clear on precedent. Seems to me they are drawing a very interesting line in the sand re member clubs of SL and the value they are to RL in general. Problem with the way things are being done is A) they are not transparent and B) justifyibly other RFL member clubs that have faced financial problems and have not received equal support must be peeved at the inequity of its governing body.

The difference is that whether some people like it or not, Bradford are one of the few genuinely 'big' teams in SL. SL could replace the likes of Wakey, Widnes or Cas with Halifax, Leigh etc. They simply could not replace Bradford (or Wigan, Sts, Leeds, Warrington for example) with a team of similar stature. London and Catalans are also completely different beasts to the reamining SL clubs due to their value to sponsors and TV rights.

SL IS a two-tier competition in that sense - and no, I'm not arguing that other clubs couldn't get 'bigger' like Hudds and Warrington have. But within a year? Within 2 years? No chance.

That's the reality being faced by the rest of SL and hence the agreement by the other clubs to go through with this - losing Bradford would be massively different to losing one of the smaller clubs.

Fair? No. Reality - absolutely.

The other thing is that this is not intended to be a permanent solution in any event. The aim is to stabilise the Bulls - get through this season at least - and then get the club bought out when its not under the threat of liquidation and the club will probably be offered to market in some form of competitive tender.

Arguing that SL/RFL are somehow bringing the game into disrepute is ridiculous. Its the management of the Bulls that are solely responsible for the current mess. Personally I think SL/RFL have made the right move, and have acted farily decisively for once.

Great post.

and it's not like there hasn't been something similiar in the past. Both Hull and Huddersfield were effectively given RFL money in order to survive and remain in the top division.

...yet it's always London who get the flat earth treatment

Interesting precedent being set here.......let's see what happens in 2015 when London lose their backer...

As stated the precedent was set back in 1999. Quote: "Super League clubs yesterday gave their unanimous backing for a merger between Gateshead and Hull Sharks. The merger's acceptance means the new club will receive £1.25m over two years.'" www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 41473.html

As stated the precedent was set back in 1999. Quote: "Super League clubs yesterday gave their unanimous backing for a merger between Gateshead and Hull Sharks. The merger's acceptance means the new club will receive £1.25m over two years.'" www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 41473.html

It is about integrity of the Sport and Glasgow Rangers got relegated.So why Bradford different.It is not as if bring 60000 fans every week.The sport will never be a National sport,so I do not seen the point in bailing them out.

The assumption that Bradford are a big club and therefore too big to be allowed to drop out of SL ended when nobody was interested in buying them

The 30 odd other British RL clubs need to know who is playing where next season no later than the final matches of this season, that is Bradfords cut off date, that is when the RFL have to announce the decision

SLE can afford to finance a Championship club, it cannot or will not finance a SL club currently requirering a million pounds extra over and above the existing SKY money to operate

Bradford will become a Championship club on the last day of this regular season