TrueBull

Catalans. Very strong corporate income

I got why fans of Halifax, Fev etc were against IMG. It looked like it was set up for single city clubs like London & Bradford to get their act together and score points in the IMG league. But this is another level. I like it, feels like an iconic moment….

Just to throw another log on the fire… I’m fairly sure Rhodri was the Bulls commercial manager sometime round about 2000? 2001?

And now, Halifax are being forced to play at Odsal for the next 5 home games! Are they not being punished enough? I didn't realise Ken was that mean....

I'm working from memory now but was it £15m world cup investment fund they had from the government? The last iteration of Odsal upgrade pre-2011 had promised £2m from Yorkshire forward, £4m from the EU infrastructure fund, whatever they could get from selling Red Hall. Then it depends on how the stadium is used going forwards I suppose. That's why is said a visionary would be needed. We had Nigel (I've brought in the best TV deal ever) Wood and Ralph Rimmer.

Bad, no, naïve? trusting? I mean how did that conversation go? Bradford - Hello RFL, we have a bit of a cashflow problem at the end of the season. RFL: that's fine, we've often helped out lots of clubs like this. How much? Bradford: £800k should do it RFL: Inhales drink, that's a lot of money. How will you pay us back? Bradford: It's ok, we have a cunning plan. It's as cunning as a fox etc RFL: That's ok then, if it's that cunning, here is £800k. Can we keep this secret from the other clubs as there's obviously nothing wrong here, we would just prefer if Eamonn and Ken couldn't ask questions about this. Bradford: That's fine , thanks. I mean really?

Well, the other option is what the RFL called it - "Saving the stadium for the good of the game" from all the rapacious land investors out there. No mention of their secret unsecured loan then. How is that going for Salford? Have the RFL learnt any lessons yet?

This is all water under the bridge. It just challenges the RFL approved spin that their actions were purely to help the Bulls, to the fury of everyone else. With hindsight, the long term ramifications were not understood and caused significant harm to both the RFL and the Bulls. I just wish that at that first meeting, someone had said no. Either the Bulls chairman had not asked for a secret £800k loan, or the RFL had said no to the secret loan. They must have anticipated how it would play out. If that had happened, Bradford would have gone into administration then, still with their only main asset, without as much debt and crucially without having "gone to the fans" and blown all their goodwill. Instead, we got a 14 year car crash.

Land has value. It either appreciates or depreciates, depending on development opportunities, or lack thereof. When I talked to the administrator 6 months later, he was considering going after the RFL as in his opinion Bradford only had 2 assets of value he could leverage to get the best deal for creditors, one was a franchise spot in the SL, which was dependent on the SL clubs and the RFL and the other was the 140year lease which had been taken 6 months previously, in his opinion, to convert an unsecured loan and take the RFL out of the list of unsecured creditors but reducing the options available for him to get value for the creditors. The only actor with influence over both those assets was the RFL. Administrators, in their narrow field, have quite significant legal powers.

I've always assumed it was panic that forced the RFL's hand, because the £800k loan was kept secret for months before other SL clubs made it public, with criticism. At that time though, a smart and competent leader at the RFL could have taken it as an opportunity (this is where it falls down....). The RFL have always wanted a stadium they owned themselves, for Cup SF and internationals. They were looking at moving out of Red Hall, they had millions of government investment for the World Cup, they were looking for a permanent place for the RL museum. A visionary could have made a modern 25-30k stadium on that site, owned & controlled by the RFL and members, midway along the M62 with the HQ of the RFL there, along with the museum, possibly some other bits & pieces, hotel anchor for example. But instead we got incompetence, waste, running down of the stadium and selling it back at a cut price.

The bit in the story that the RFL spin always misses out is: Round about 2000, the lease was valued at £7m. Stupidly, for both parties, in 2011 the RFL gave Bradford an unsecured loan of £800k. Bradfords finances continued to fall and in a panic, the RFL bought the lease in 2012 for about £1.2m to convert their unsecured loan into a security, thereby asset stripping a distressed member club but saving face for themselves in the short term. Unfortunately, in the long term, this deal caused massive governance (with an impact on Sport England funding) and reputational damage to the RFL and to the consternation of various Administrators, stopped them from getting the holding company of Bradford Bulls into a stable ownership, resulting in liquidation.

They added an additional £400k to bring it up to £1.2m, forgave the loan, took the asset. They had an asset and no unsecured loan anymore.

Added in the other facts which provide context.

Pre 2008, they were ok. With all those things from about 2008 onwards, and central funding at £1.1m, Bradford were losing about £600k per year. As a creditor at the time , I saw the accounts. 1 year before central funding (Nigels super dooper Sky TV deal) went up to £1.8m, Bulls went bust and central funding dropped to £500k, and continued to fall. So the key question in 2011 is, could an increase in central funding of £700k cover a shortfall of £600k. People can use a calculator if needed. And Bradford were bloated administratively and with non-football expenses back then. I can assure you that every penny is accounted for now. No financial bloat. Maximum cloth cutting has taken place. The only question is have the directors done their sums correctly on Odsal?