Best thing they can do is go under like we did, yes they will lose all their best players, but so what we did. So it would be nice if we could pick up a prop. Burgess, Scruton, Manuokafoa, Kopczak. Interesting times.

There problems IMO stem from one thing, clinging on to the belief they were a big club, long after they were not.
They failed to head the old adage; cut your cloth accordingly.
I'm sure they aren't the first and certainly won't be the last.
I blame Noble......... or Agar!!

This is indeed very sad and worrying news. However the fact that the rumour mill for years has circulated that the Bulls were in financial trouble does ask questions.

With so much time over the years (if the rumours are true) to get the house in order it will be interesting to see what comes out in the wash. Now with such short notice to raise what is undoubtedly a mammoth figure it seems too little, too late.

I really feel for the fans who are now going through the heartache we know only too well. It truly is awful and such significant debts are scary. Whilst a horrible process it may be administration is indeed IMHO the best option. People like Steve Parkin et al will have seen what it did for our club and now we are stronger and have much brighter near time prospects as a result.

The asset stripping (of players) of a club in administration is awful and circling clubs as vultures can create resentment. What Tony Smith did last season and his public comments were highly commendable and I am forever seeing him in a grateful eye because of it. Indeed Leeds, amongst others were helpers to us and how we ended up with Amor, for which we are grateful.

As a supporter of Wakefield I often thought Bradford lost their way once Noble left. Indeed I never thought that they made a big name signing since except for Orford. McNamara I felt did not achieve much and being out of the play-offs for so long is not good for what is undoubtedly a big fish in our pond.

Bradford are like us, a sleeping giant with immense potential. Their discount season tickets have generated crowds frequently in excess of 10k yet they keep losing money; why?

Are the players overpaid? Does the club have drains on finance not in the public eye?

With professional accountants reviewing finances as part of the franchise process how did this be allowed to happen? Was it another cover up by the RFL who wanted to turn a blind eye since they felt Bradford were too big to fail? Questions have to be asked.

A million pounds is an immense sum and I fear not possible to be raised in such a short period of time. It seems that RL clubs are becoming play things for people with deep pockets. Even Glover admitted that Wakefield has cost more than he anticipated. Even so James Elston said last year we were making a profit and this year we must be getting close to an income level which is able to balance the books, new stands aside.

To be fair, I've looked at the Bradford team sheet in recent years and not been impressed or fearful of the names on it. A few positives have stood out like Burgess, Orford and indeed Menzies yet in comparison to today I certainly don't think their squad is anymore desireable than ours.

Bradford have suffered a cash drain either through bad management, unwise investment in over paid average players and staff, or a combination of the two.

I really feel for the decent Bradford fans. What I am confident about is that if the administration does happen (which I suspect it will) then the phoenix from the flames will be something the fans can be proud of. In 2-3 years they could be a force again with the right owner.

My sympathy and support goes to the Bull fans, my despair and dislike goes to the clubs owners and the RFL who have allowed things to get this far. How many more clubs will fall this way?

You are talking about certain Bradford fans we are talking about the Ltd company that is Bradford Bulls which is an utterly different issue.

If you give money to prop up this current Bulls set up I'm sorry but you're an utter fool. If you give money to support whatever new regime rises from the ashes then I salute you. However I think you need to be a little less naive about this.

I feel genuine sympathy for the fans. Horrible times, as we all know.

No sorry the bulls fans I know didn't give a _____ about us going under even gloating and said we should merge with Cas/Fev, even sniffing around our players Peter Hood did not give a fig, now he as sh't his load, what comes around goes around... I say get in for 1/2 props then some of their top juniors... at the same time I hope they survive, but most of all I care about Wakefield Trinity Wildcatsss...!!!

Its bad management pure and simple.

I have sympathy for the troubles but they haven't been handled well.
They are still paying big name players this year. If they had reduced their salary bill they would be down the bottom of the league (like we were) but they would have saved money.

I'm happy to take a few players on loan....that will reduce their bill.

The worry is, that hey have been down at the bottom of the table for a number of years now and still they have financial problems.

TBH won't be enough, the present Bulls company is over as far as I can see and frankly it does not deserve saving. Supporting the current club is the same as Bradford fans supporting the old Richardson regime at Wakefield - pointless.

What comes next is what matters. If the Bulls re-start without any RFL assistance at the bottom of the pile I will back them. Any attempt to keep the current failed and dishonest regime in power will get nothing but hostility from me.

This is a horrible situation, both for the game and of course the Bulls and I genuinely hope they come through the other side.
Indeed, it does appear that the RFL knew what was going on and they have protected the iconic ground for the phoenix that will inevitably rise from the ashes.
The staggering aspect of this, as it was with our own club, is that rather than batten down the hatches and cut costs when the problems begin, they carry on pretty much as normal, signing players etc.
It is increddible that a club with 10,000 ST holders can end up in the brown stuff and obviously more details will come out in due course.
How many other clubs are on the brink, I think its time for our game to have a reality check for the good of the sport.

Adey,

You did what all of us would do in the same circumstances, perhaps blinded by a touch of club loyalty, but genuinely, I hope that you come through the other side.
We've had our share of difficulties in the past and it is horrible in the extreme.
Although the RFL buyout of the lease looked odd, I for one will not be gloating and the worry is that there may be other clubs in similar positions.

I have to agree and echo everything you have said Sandal!

Adey - As a prominent Bulls poster I think you should strongly consider taking Sandal's advice & urging fans NOT to support this measure and give up some of their hard earned cash for the longer term good of the club.

Through my support of Newmarket & my friendships with Sandal, TRB and others prominent fans of Trinity, I accidental (for want of a better word) got a neutrals ring-side seat of the issues at Trinity and both what the fans and old management went through in trying to secure the future of the club, but also the future of the then current owners/management! I am not going to get into the whole Ted debate, as my personal dealings with Ted have always been friendly, open, honest and amicable, but it became clear to these closely involved fans that sticking your hand in your pocket might not be the best way to secure the long term future of the club because the management of that club are effectively responsible for the club being in that position in the first place (again, with all due respect to Ted). These fans in the main decided that the time had come to, unfortunately and regrettably that said, not to bail out the current management but to seek a fresh start even though in the short term that was going to be very painful and possibly even condemning themselves to lower league RL... but with a fresh start and fresh management!

I think anyone would now struggle to argue that that was not the correct decision. The club has a fresh, dynamic owner, no debt, a bright future and is most importantly being managed sustainably!

I think you should keep your hands in your pockets with your money and prepare to take the club forward with a fresh future, even outside of SL, than see your money almost certainly disappear down the drain with the existing management of the club!

It's not that incredible when you know that those 10,000 ST's were bought for ten bob and a 's egg.

The more I think about this, the more I suspect that the RFL were complicit; maybe they knew all about it and chose to take the lease on so that it a) wouldn't be an asset that could be stripped by the administrators, b) would deter Steve 'The Predator' Parkin from snapping up the club for a song and c) could be leased back to the pre-pack company that will end up running the Bulls.

The only fly in that particular ointment is the Bulls recent spending spree on new players, longer term contracts for existing players and the hoovering up of quite a few young players; surely the RFL wouldn't let them do that purely to give them something to sell come the inevitable collapse.... would they?

As it stands, if they implode like we did, which seems likely given the impossible deadline they've set for raising a million quid, their best players who are still in contract will likely go to the monied clubs who are prepared to pay now, rather than wait for admin when the players become free agents; think Hull FC, Warrington, Wigan and inevitably Shudds, who are specialists in the fire sale market.

It's a sorry situation and whilst I respect Adey for coming here to apologise, I take no pleasure in their plight; yes they had a few divots who gloated about the Odsal deal (a few sig's being hastily amended this morning I ecpect) in large part, they don't deserve this.

To be honest, if we are talking about the players and fire sale side of things rather than the moral arguement of it, I would probably try for one of the good British props (Scruton, Kopciezk (Spell?) and Burgess but would then concentrate on the youngsters.
Our team is fine and building well. Buying a load of others to either st on the side or push someone out isn't going to do us any good. We are not the team to buy success, we need to build it slowly.

Lets build a good youth team that will reap rewards later.

I would hope that as a club we would not try get in and poach their players , look how we felt about Hudd and Hull when they did that to us and how we felt about the fact that Leeds and Wire helped us. Do unto others as you would have done unto you is how I live my life and feel OUR club has the same ethos.

Having said that if Bulls were pleading with us to take someone off their hands I would not say no to Olivier Elima ( that was for you Dread Nowt )