I do feel sorry for the Bradford fans and the players and do not wish the situation on any club. For the sake of the sport in general I hope this doesn't happen to any other club any time soon. My heart has sunk so many times when Keighley have had their problems.
Bradford haven't gone into liquidation yet, so it will be interesting to see what happens if they do - I would hope they are suitably penalised. Keighley were penalised and it eventually resulted in relegation to Championship 1. There is no relegation from Superleague so a points deduction is pretty pointless. If they go into administration I think they should lose the license and a more deserving team should be allowed their chance in Superleague which probably right now is Featherstone being last years Championship victors.

The only slightly edited article by Dave HatfieldThe Independent, Friday 11 February 2005
Success of today’s competition rests on radical blueprint provided by a club excluded at the game’s highest level. As the new season kicks off, Dave Hadfield reflects on a decade of revolution.
Super League in debt to Cougars’ crazy originality.

As Super League enters its 10th season tonight, the events of a decade ago begin to acquire a sepia-tinged, mythic quality.
........ For the record, that first Supper League was meant to read like this that television pictures of muddy men playing on muddy fields did nothing for the image of the game.”
Much of what Smith proposed - and for which Keighley had acted as the test laboratory - was incorporated into Super League. Love it or hate it, the hype, the branding, the match-day glitz all started at Cougar Park on dank, chill Sunday afternoons.
The irony was that Keighley were not destined to be part of it, which is a little like John Logie Baird being refused a television licence. The Cougars, who should have been promoted to the top division for the 1995-96 season if Super League had never happened, were completely excluded from the blueprint for the future.
“It would have been bad enough if we had been told to merge with Bradford, but we weren’t even included as a merger,” Smith says. “We were just kicked out.”
Keighley took out an injunction to try to stop the new competition kicking off and only withdrew their legal threat when the offer from News Ltd. Was revamped to include more money for the lower division clubs and the prospect of promotion and relegation.
But for the Cougars, the moment had passed. The disappointment of bbeing denied the promotion they had earned cost them fans and sponsors and Super League went its way without them.
“It has proved to have been a fantastic success and the spectacle is magnificent,” says Smith, without any hint of bitterness. “But every revolution has its casualties and we were the first fo Super League.”
....... The fifth member of that elite has fallen on hard times, with Halifax now looking as far away from Super League as Keighley.
Workington and Oldham have also shown that the descent from Super League can be a painful one, which is why issues at the foot of the table - where two teams will be relegated to make way for the restored French presence of Perpignan in 2006 - will be as compelling as at the top.
..... And Keighley? They will be pursuing a slightly muted form of Cougarmania in their first group stage of the National Rail Cup against Hull KR.'"

Or any other clubs thats had money problems over the last few years to think about it.

What goes around comes around – I’m so very very happy! Bradford Bulls, for me the most despised club in rugby league “Anybody but Bradford!”.

I seem to remember Northern (why did they ever change their name? It was historical) having difficulties back in the sixties and coming round on match days asking for donations to help them reform, we all gave, perhaps just a few pence but we gave. That won’t happen again, if they come on Sunday they better bring a spittoon rather than a bucket because that’s all they’ll get from me.

At Doncaster after our one season in the big league prior to SL we finished bottom, went bust and had to reform starting two divisions further down as we were a new company, two relegations for the price of one! The ground was sold and we had to play at Stainforth Greyhound Stadium. All this happened while the SL bandwagon was getting into full flow and we received no help from anyone but our own fans, however there is no way i would wish this on ANY other team. The people who you should be angry with are the likes of Caisley, Hetherington, Lindsey,SKY etc, these are the people who have ruined RL not the fans of another team.
The best future for RL would be to return to a semi pro status where clubs only pay what they can afford and are not bullied into full time professionalism by the RFL and SKY.
I don't think that the sport can afford to loose 7-10,000 fans whoever they support.

If as happened with halifax yrs ago they said they were at deaths door and fans from all over were duped wonder if similar ploy being used by bulls.

I think the Bulls will survive this with some new investor and avoid administration. Going into administration I'm sure the club would still remain in Super league anyway with a points deduction. I don't reckon there will be much impact on the league or support other than some more poor results and the loss of some of their players. If Bradford Bulls ceased to exist in Superleague (which I very much doubt) I think the issue of the number of fans affected is unfortunate, but inconsequential as the hardcore fans will support Bradford whatever league they are in, more casual sports fans will support somebody else. Some would be lost to rugby league but that said if for example Halifax, Featherstone or even Keighley were in the super league instead, they would build up similar fan bases from new supporters in or around those towns... Swings and roundabouts! In fair sport, Bradford have no more or less right to their place in the Super league than any other Rugby League team that can work their way up there. Fair play to Bradford for being in in the top-flight for so long but I don't think the management should be allowed to squander that position when other teams are constrained by arbitrary rules in their opportunity to get to that same position.

I am of the same opinion as many of you. I dont want to see the Bradford club disappear, but I think its very much Karma what is happening for a number of reasons.

1. When Nigel Wood and co left Fax with a load of debt that they struggled for years to get rid of and which eventually nearly killed the club off. a number of Bulls fans poked fun at us Fax fans and made comments like you are a disgrace to SL when we was forced to field a weak squad in the year we was relegated. They thought it hilarious to see us struggle and getting hammered in each game even though the board made the decision to cut its cloth as best it could. Sadly the debt Big Nige and co built up proved too much a few years later and the club had to get the buckets out. We appreciate the help from fans from other clubs including Keighley. But we didnt get that much help from other clubs and the RFL. Did the RFL look to help us with our lease? Where was the help for Keighley, Doncaster, Whitehaven. Leigh etc?

2. The words of Chris Caisley poking fun at Keighley and Fev and re inventing history is something I also remember well. How he lied and twisted things to make sure Bradford got the best of things over others. He was chairman at Bradford and I dont remember too many Bradford fans saying he was wrong to say what he did.

3. Halifax like Keighley, Batley and Dewsbury was a prime target for free tickets and raiding our clubs to fill the Bulls Academy team. The hard work the Championship teams did was systematically undermined by the Bulls. They knew our areas was Rugby areas and they couldnt be bothered to do that much work in Bradford who in the main dont give a toss about Rugby.

4. The rubbish from people saying SL needs Bradford. No they need a strong Bradford that isnt badly managed and begging to survive. For me Bradford should lose their SL status after this year even if no team replaces them. They should have to rebuild just like Fax, Keighley etc have had to do

5. The whole farce of licences and Nigel Wood twisting things to suit his agenda really annoys me. He ran up debts and upset many people at Halifax and he is not learned any lessons. His arrogance and ego has seen him and the RFL split the game. It doesnt matter what you do on the field its if your face fits etc. The game is in a mess below the surface but he doesnt care about anything but himself and SL. To see 3 SL clubs in 18 months in such a mess makes me laugh at what a fraud it all is.

Bradford have run up massive debts and paid for players they couldn't afford.

Now the whole of rugby league seems to be bailing them out and paying it off for them . If anyone from the RFL reads this board, STAND UP AND BE COUNTED as you give them a B Raiting. This is a complete and utter joke.

I have a small office in Bradford, it appears the Bulls Supporters Club are calling all businesses in BD to see if they can assist with the 'keep the bailiffs away for a few more weeks' fund.

I took great delight in declining his request for a donation. I wonder if they are going to make the £500k by tomorrow? Think they have 300k according to super league websites, then I would imagine a packed Odsal at the weekend could bring home sufficient......for now.

I see our old mate Chris Caisley is hovering in the background.

Can you imagine?

Clocks ticking B***s but dont worry Mr Caisley will come and offer his help

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-g ... t-17628749 Could be worse

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-g ... t-17628749 Could be worse