"In these circumstances the RFL will always seek to support a club in difficulty for the sake of those directly affected and also on behalf of the Chairmen and Boards of well managed clubs who deserve stability"

The RFL statement suggests they may do the same to Bradford.

Not looking good for the Bulls.

News I'm hearing today is that the Consortium bid has failed and it's looking very likely that they'll be liquidated.

Keep hearing that even up until the current crisis Bradford still carry 65 non playing staff. That seems a heck of a lot for a second tier side to maintain. How many do we have wonder?

Can't put my finger on it, but I am struggling to care. They had the good times on the bubble, now it's coming home to roost. If they had just dealt with it back in 2012 rather than borrowing cash from the RFL on the quiet they perhaps would be on the other side of this saga by now.

I think any club would hope that the governing body would help them, to some extent, if they were in trouble. Indeed, IIRC, Trinty were helped with some advance cash, when we were last in the brown stuff.

The only aspect with the last time, when the RFL took over the lease for Odsal under the "iconic stadium" clause, is the way that this was "sold" to the public.
Not wanting to admit that they had found a way to advance serious amounts of money, to a club in crisis and moving The Bulls from a "peppercorn" rent (paid to Bradford Council), on to a "commercial" deal, paid back to the RFL.

As I said, we shouldn't have any issue with some help from the governing body and you do have to feel for the Bulls' fans and for the players and staff affected by this (again) and let's hope that they come through the other side.

Don't have an issue with the 'advance' just the lies that went with it. Also the bleating about the unfairness of it all from some Bulls supporters grate a little. It seems had Trinity gone into administration when Glover and Elston intended we would've been demoted. Bradford thought this wouldn't apply to them but still moaned when they were docked points and had the SL money halved yet still retained their SL status.

Despite this bid being rejected there's another bidder in the frame for them. I've a feeling they will come out of it just fine.

I'm just sick of the line being spouted "The game needs a strong Bradford club" No it doesn't.

The game needs all its club to be strong.

Correct. This is what the exspansionists don't get. For the game to be strong and expand all it's existing clubs from amateur to pro need to be strong. Bradford are an important club in that regard but no more iconic than any other clubs. All we demand is a level playing field!

It does need all its teams to be strong.

I think now whatever happens with the Bulls, they need to realise that is is difficult to get back into super league and in their current situation.

With this in mind, I do think their best option if possible would be to review their playing rosta, revert to part time and build up again. Maybe even offload players above a certain age and replace with youth.

Isnt that like what Glasgow Rangers did and just a few years later they are 2nd in the Scottish Premier League.

Wonder if those thousands of fans that went missing when the Bulls were relegated have disappeared from the game altogether or distributed themselves amongst other clubs. I've a bit of sympathy for some of those less arrogant fans, but no way do they have a divine right to the Super League or even the Championship. At least Trinity pulled their socks up through their own endeavours.

Don't think you can compare Rangers to Bradford, in any way shape or form.
Rangers are an attractive investment, Bradford aren't!

Think with Bradford, it was called 'denial' and an unwillingness to accept they were not a 'force' anymore.

Bang on mate.
The ideal would be, as per the franchise criteria, for all clubs to be financially strong, playing out of modern stadia and playing in front of 10,000 plus fans.
Sadly, only about 3 or 4 of the top flight clubs tick all of these boxes.