I’m going to come right out with it and ask

“Are Bullbuilder/supporters interested in purchasing and running the Bulls?”

It appears there is now opportunity to look into this and if rumours are believed this would be a VERY favourable outcome in the RFL’s eyes.......

Already said that i'd help financially

Yes in my case but would suggest that if a SL place is the objective then the amounts involved would probably need some sort of consortium.

And to give the fans body a real voice and influence then you would think a mechanism such as fans join and donate to BB ( or ano body) - who then take a stake in the new club. That way you have a democratic fans body with a single sharehoiding and influence. And no the fans shouldn't be voting on the weekly team but backing proper skilled management - and you would hope any potential new shareholder would adopt the same approach.

I would think if SL was the objective you would need to at least match the pledge amount - and then need fans to stump up a realistic season ticket price soon after. But if you could mobilse several thousand supporters - which is a big ask in these times - then the individual contribution becomes more manageable. If you think fans gave nearly £0.5m on blind trust then who knows what you could raise with some clear aims and objectives?

I'm sure YOU could buy us mate!!!

Hope all is good with you and yours

BullBuilder has approximately 200 members. To achieve any kind of takeover, a mass-membership organisation would be required. To stay in SL, any such organisation would have to clear £1.5 million in debt, and obtain income at least to match the perceived shortfall of £100K per month that we have suffered. Bear in mind that if the supporters were contributing this, it would be on top of any season ticket payments. If we were to get it through commercial sources, there would have to be considerable expertise within the organisation to obtain this.

In lower divisions, obviously there would be less finance to raise, and other trust-run clubs suggest a possibility. However, people would need to come forward who have the time and expertise to carry out massive amounts of hard work.

In the meeting with BullBuilder, this did not seem to be high up Blake Solly's agenda - he seemed focused on, and confident about, attracting a buyer.

I feel the most practical solution would be to get involved with such a buyer and press for supporter representation and involvement, as Northern Relic suggests. This could come in a number of ways, and does not necessarily involve financial contribution from the fans: all that would depend on the profile of the buyer.

However, as indicated in other press releases, discussion of such involvement will be a high priority for BullBuilder when a new (permanent) ownership structure emerges.

Eh? How has this brand new organisation, which doesn't yet exist, got itself into £1.5m debt?

or has RFL/SLE made it plain that they won't sell unless someone reimburses them their deal with the administrator? If so, they may be looking a long time.


Well, anyone wanting to stay in business needs over a year to get in as much as they pay out, but income for a rugby club is erratic, and most of it is season tickets. There is no other income to speak of, save the Sky money which I should think is well in hock already, so in the interim some funding would definitely be required, and it would need to be raised in very short order.


... that would be at the same time as squadrons of pigs flew over Odsal




Exactly, either somehow you conjure up pots of money on an ongoing basis to pay highly paid people to run it, or you rely on skilled wellwishers who are prepared to give up their day job and do the jobs for nothing.


Yes, I find that strange. I live in hope, but personally can't see it happening.


That's good news, but surely a buyer, in the debatable event one acceptable to all parties now surfaces, will want to be an owner. Would they want to answer to a fans organisation in any significant way? Engaging with the fans is one thing, but giving them any real power or say would be another.

Giving fans power sounds brilliant, but as we all know 'fans' are not some homogenous group with a single idea, they are very diverse and have more views than you can shake a stick at. I think anyone looking at this board would soon realise that fans rarely agree on anything..

Better leaving the decision making to the experts, imo; though I'm just one fan and, of course other fans will, no doubt, disagree

Can't run any commercial organisation effectively by committee.

Anyone who says things to the effect of "Bullbuilder should..." or "Why aren't Bullbuilder..." should maybe first consider that "Bullbuilder" is run, on behalf of its members, by a small group of volunteers, all with (busy) day jobs and/or other responsibilities. On my own account, for example, I have been so busy with work that I am conscious that over the very busy recent days I have not been able to give my colleagues the level of input I would have liked - especially given the numerous meetings that have been held. We can all only do what we can, and the amount of work my colleagues have got through, and the progress made over the last few weeks - in their spare time or taking time out from work (which can have consequences) and much being behind the scenes - has been immense.

For those who believe Bullbuilder should be doing yet more at this time, speaking purely in a personal capacity I would firstly ask that you join, if you have not already done so, and then let the board know what you are in a position to do to help bring that about? Same as any voluntary organisatiuon, the more volunteers there are, the more it can achieve.

Alls good at moment, only bad thing is this mess with the bulls.

The RFL hasn't "made it plain" that they won't grant an SL deal to a buyer that doesn't honour old debts - but they certainly gave strong hints in that direction.


I was thinking of a situation in which fans undertake to stump up the shortfall by monthly subscription or similar. Some have suggested that there would be a mass appetite for this. I disagree, and was attempting to counsel caution with regard to that idea


I didn't suggest that "real power" was the only option on the agenda. There may be a wide spectrum of possibilities for engagement and representation, depending on the buyer, possibly including real power - but more likely not.

It seems to be that these are the two questions that need to be asked -

1. What is the total amount of money that Bulls fans would be prepared to put into Bullbuilder as a one-off sum?
2. What is the total amount that Bulls fans would be prepared to commit to paying to Bullbuilder each month.

I think these totals could be significant if Bullbuilder was able to use them to support and exercise influence on the club. Whether they would be enough to make this a practical option, I do not know.

Have Supporters Direct been contacted for advice?

Bullbuilder has been in regular dialogue and held meetings with the single SD official who has responsibility for the whole of RL.

SD themselves have a problem in that they have lost or are losing all their RL funding. That is a separate issue that RL supporters will need to address and lobby over.