Board index ‹ Super League ‹ Wakefield Trinity Wildcats ‹ Bulls edge closer to Administration

snowie wrote:

what did we get was it 4 or 6 points ?

We got 4, but I suspect that’s because Crusaders had already been given 4. I think at the time they did say it was the scale of the debt that decided what points you get deducted.

The RFL can take some of the blame, because of their insistence that clubs have so many "members", thus making teams like Bulls offer memberships at silly prices.

We shouldn't be too smug. Although our crowds are up, because of the leap in cheap season tickets, we might be making less through the gate than last year. As a business model, it probably works in our scenario, so that we can take a big crowd to a new ground, but we have had to follow a similar business strategy to the Bulls (apart from we don't spend a full salary cap!!).

Will one of the problems be that those who run the club will probably want to run it after administration? Surely it will look like a scam if company A owned by Joe Bloggs goes into admin to get rid of debts, and then company B steps in to run the same business and is still owned by Joe Bloggs?

I maintain that this was always the plan; the 'pledge' was just a way of removing the incumbent Directors personal guarantees and paving the way for them to go quietly.

They'll now go into admin, wipe out any remaining liabilities, and resurface the following day as a newco, which in all likelihood, has already been formed.

I can't think of anyone who comes out of this situation covered in glory, apart from the loyal and decent fans who put their hands in their pockets because they hoped they were being told the truth.

bren2k wrote:

I maintain that this was always the plan; the 'pledge' was just a way of removing the incumbent Directors personal guarantees and paving the way for them to go quietly.

They'll now go into admin, wipe out any remaining liabilities, and resurface the following day as a newco, which in all likelihood, has already been formed.

I can't think of anyone who comes out of this situation covered in glory, apart from the loyal and decent fans who put their hands in their pockets because they hoped they were being told the truth.

You may be right Bren, but if they went into admin and then the new people came forward, they could set out in their conditions that the previous BoD be removed prior to their "takeover".
However, with new people in place, they wouldn't then have been in a position to ask for pledges.
IMO, the pledge thing was to show thet the current BoD was doing "everything" to save the club.

You have to feel sorry for the fans, they did their all trying to raise the monies and probably some gave more than they could afford to save their beloved club. The monies would have been given blindly with no knowledge of the true financial picture. They would have been far better giving to their supporters Trust who could have amassed the funds and asked to see the true financial situation prior to handing over the monies. This is what the Supporters Trusts are there for : to help safeguard the club for the fans of today and the future.

feline wrote:

You have to feel sorry for the fans, they did their all trying to raise the monies and probably some gave more than they could afford to save their beloved club. The monies would have been given blindly with no knowledge of the true financial picture. They would have been far better giving to their supporters Trust who could have amassed the funds and asked to see the true financial situation prior to handing over the monies. This is what the Supporters Trusts are there for : to help safeguard the club for the fans of today and the future.

Absolutely spot on Feline, the fans appear to have been misled, when the dust settles on this one there will be some serious finger pointing.

The situation with the Bradford Bulls and Greece in the Euro gives me a sense of deja vu from just over a decade go. The Queen Mum and Thora Hird; you never knew which one was about to go first.

Sorry.

wrencat1873 wrote:

You may be right Bren, but if they went into admin and then the new people came forward, they could set out in their conditions that the previous BoD be removed prior to their "takeover".
However, with new people in place, they wouldn't then have been in a position to ask for pledges.
IMO, the pledge thing was to show thet the current BoD was doing "everything" to save the club.

They also have a very complicated share ownership situation, with several warring factions owning decent chunks of shares; administration will conveniently resolve that issue, enabling the new BoD to take full control.

bren2k wrote:

They also have a very complicated share ownership situation, with several warring factions owning decent chunks of shares; administration will conveniently resolve that issue, enabling the new BoD to take full control.

Yes, which makes you wonder why the didn't go into admin a few months ago, instead they went for the 500k pledge thing which will cause some bad feeling from the fans, should they then go into admin.
Some of this doesn't add up to a simple guy like me but, I guess it will all come out in the wash.

wrencat1873 wrote:

Yes, which makes you wonder why the didn't go into admin a few months ago, instead they went for the 500k pledge thing which will cause some bad feeling from the fans, should they then go into admin.
Some of this doesn't add up to a simple guy like me but, I guess it will all come out in the wash.

Isn't the Bulls predicament exactly the same as Wakey 12 months ago allbeit on a slightly higher scale of debt ?
Wakey had bills to pay or face Admin, Wakey rallied round the fans to make pledges to keep them going (which didn't go to plan), then went into administration and were deducted the 4 points.

Haven't Wakefield produced a model of how to survive and come out better from administration ? If you have - Bulls might just be looking at that very model.