The people that spent the money aren't there anymore why don't you understand that?

Or as a matter of some sorted misguided principle do you want to see people made redundant three weeks before Xmas through no fault of anyone at the club now?

A couple of them stand to lose everything.

The other point with the sky cash is that since the club went into admin - and even worse now since Whitcut started to forget to pay people - they have to pay people up front for services. Tht means to run the club they need cash in the bank.

The half sky cash deduction is an unprecedented move that isn't repeated anywhere.

I can help but feel it's club rivalry driving it and I'm yet to see an argument for it tht I agree with.

If London go into admin they will have to do it now and probably go bust within a year again.

I suppose the money held back was in a licensed perood, now that P&R is perhaps returning its only fair the RFL should reallocate the retained funds. Short of that the Bulls could always ask their rivials for the £50k back, they only need 8 to agree to reach £400k.

Having said that the current board may find more debt hidden away if the experiences of Trinity is anything to go by.

People seem to think that introducing more money into SL club coffers from an increased Sky deal and sponsorship will miraculously stop these idiotic clubs going bust.

A more robust rule book can only stop that happening I'm afraid. Super League will never be "super" whilst you've got financial bad eggs like Bradford, Wakefield and London in it. Franchising failed in this regard. Taught no one any lessons and did nothing to punish financial mismanagement or lay down deterrents.

I wish some folk would come to understand that this is the fourth complete new board and fourth set of owners at Bradford in just over 18 months.

What any of the previous boards/owners did, and what financial and other mismanagement sins they may have committed, is about as relevant to going forward as e.g. those of Halifax under Wood, Leeds pre Caddick, Wakey under Richardson, Wigan under Lindsay, Widnes under that shyster whose name I can't remember...

That is precisely the worry. Indeed, it was apparently what they discoveed last Friday that precipitated the present crisis. We can only hope that no more skeletons like these fall out of the closet.

the problem with a points only deduction in a league where there was no relegation doen't punish a club for running up massive debts and then leaving creditors high and dry while the club starts again with a clean slate. The RFL basically had their hands tied by the fact they had a lease on a ground and needed a team to play in it, so short of demoting Bradford to a lower league they had to accept the new owners offer of reducing the Sky money to ensure a SL licence. Any less punishment would have set a precident and would hardly have been seen as a deterent to other clubs running up massive debts and walking away scot free.

was the bradford sky money penalty not because they had taken the money early so they could keep going till they could find new buyers?

It's not a repayment of loan.

No, no, no, no, rich, the next lot will be genuine experienced businessmen and will automatically know what is required to return the Bulls to former glory

Has anyone actually stated what the purpose behind the new directors setting up "Bradford Bulls 2014 Ltd" is. And if the current situation only came to light last Friday. Why did they set that company up on the 12th of November?

Is this really a bolt from the blue for the new directors or did they know about it a while back?

Response to "Maurice":

Maybe. And that was relevant to the third iteration 15 months ago, when the current company was formed and granted the SL Licence.

But that is irrelevant to the present situation, since the company has not gone bust, and it is the same company. Just totally new owners, and totally new Board.

So you are missing my point, which is that folk assuming the current owners & board will continue the same financial mismanagement as their predecessors is at present without foundation. We'll judge them by THEIR actions, not by the actions of those they replaced.

Should the current company end up having to go into administration, then your argument becomes highly relevant. Probably academic though, since I cannot conceive of a Bulls phoenix ever being viable outside of SL.

And anyway, it has hardly been "pain-free mismanagement" for Bradford, with the post-administration owners being punished financially for the sins of their predecessors. Ultimately, if the current business fails it will now be because of that, irrespective of whether the punishment was justified or not.

Here is one to ponder on: some might say "let Bradford spend a fraction of what other clubs do on players then to balance the books, lose almost every game (in all likelihood) like Leigh did that time, and get relegated at the end of the season. What's wrong with that?" If Bulls were to be relegated, it would be straight into administration without a doubt. So, if you are a Bulls director, and you know (or ought to know) that in all likelihood your company will become insolvent by the end of the season because you cannot be competitive, you are bound by company law to take immediate steps to mitigate the potential loss to creditors. Which would almost certainly mean calling in administrators NOW. See the awful situation, between a rock and a hard place, that an incoming board can find itself in?

Well what is it then?

I’ve read time & time again on various threads that Bradford received less money for the 2013 season (circa £600k) & another £400k for 2014.

But I can’t for the life of me find anything official about the arrangement, was it done in a cloak & dagger way between the OK team & the RFL?

I was originally of the impression it was a way of Bradford regaining the lease on Odsal or repayment of monies lent during the initial crisis, but then people said it was a punishment for going into admin, then I heard is was a sweetener to keep their licence, with the other SL clubs agreeing for Bradford to stay in SL as long as they got a share of the spare cash.

If it was for the repayment in exchange for the lease or repayments of monies lent then, fair do’s, but as a penalty, that’s ridiculous.

They stated at the forum that it was as a vehicle for new commercial ventures, running in parallel with the existing company.

Those who know about these sort of things obviously speculated that it also provides a vehicle ready to hive the club off into, at need - maybe to quarantine it away from the loans owing to and other claims connected with or attributable to the previous ownr. If it was me, that is precisely what I would do. And I said that last week, before I got wind of what was about to be announced.

The current situation has been coming to light over a number of weeks, seemingly. I think they said every day brings some new financial revelation? Apparently, though, on Friday they found something new and very major, that was a game-changer. That was how they explained it, anyway.

In the hypothetical scenario that everything was moved from OK Bulls Ltd to Bradford Bulls (2014) Ltd except for loans owing to the former owners (which most folk assumed were not loans but capital, and were never disabused of that misconception), and then the shell of OK Bulls Ltd was wound up so the only financial loss was to the former owners, I doubt the RFL or any other reasonable person would have a problem with that.

The figure has been reported as half the sky money for 2 seasons, which equates to around 650k per season. This was apparently offered by OK as a way of keeping the licence, which the Super League clubs accepted (not the RFL) and chose to divide amongst themselves. If you call this a sweetener or a penalty either term would seem appropriate.
There was no reports or that it was as a repayment for the Odsal lease which is held by the RFL who got nothing from that deal. There was also no report that Bradford had received 2013 Sky money early, but 2012 sky money was certainly paid early prior to OK buying the club from the administrator.