Bradford City on the brink

[Yorkie]

I get lots of grief from Carlisle fans who came to support us at Fans United and then heard us singing "going down going down" to them at Withdean.

Based on anecdotal evidence, I suspect the attitude among many other fans is the same.

Every team in the First division sang that to us two years ago. That is just terrace banter.

I have no wish to see Bradford go under but the Bradford fans could do a lot more to help themselves instead of staying away because they got relegated.

They could take a leaf out of Sheff Wed's book who got relegated out of the Prem to div 1 and then div 2 but still had crowds of 24000.

 

[ditchy]

reckon we should share with palace then? come off it....

No not at all logistically dosent make sense ..what im saying is those clubs which are "next door" to each other it makes common sense to share... Im not advocating all clubs should share just those who are so close together geographically that it makes sense .. I would think it would benefit both Bristol clubs to move to a new all seater stadium rather than their present situation ..Both clubs have mentioned in the past that they would like to move or upgrade ...Even the two sheff clubs would benefit in my opinion also .

 

[Yorkie]

No not at all logistically dosent make sense ..what im saying is those clubs which are "next door" to each other it makes common sense to share... Im not advocating all clubs should share just those who are so close together geographically that it makes sense .. I would think it would benefit both Bristol clubs to move to a new all seater stadium rather than their present situation ..Both clubs have mentioned in the past that they would like to move or upgrade ...Even the two sheff clubs would benefit in my opinion also .

Believe you me, most Sheffield fans would rather see their own club die than ground share with the other pigs.

 

[ditchy]

Believe you me, most Sheffield fans would rather see their own club die than ground share with the other pigs.

even faced with closure if the fans had a vote do u think that would be the case ?...What would you vote if the albion had no choice but to ground share with palace or close .....didnt realise fans in sth yorks would be so hostile even to their own club

 

[Vicar!]

and yet BPA continue their rise upwards, and could be the senior club in the city again.

Vicar

 

[Brovion]

and yet BPA continue their rise upwards, and could be the senior club in the city again.

Vicar

Indeed! There is a mixed reaction among Avenue fans to City's plight. Some are openly antagonistic and want City to go bust, however most want them to survive. Avenue are only two divisons below City now, the closest the two clubs have been since 1970 and they dearly want to pass them fair and square and not be cheated by City going bust.

Yorkie, I'm confused. I know Bradford City as the 'Pigs', are there plans for them to share with Wednesday?

 

[Dave the OAP]

I would have thought Bradford could have shared with Hudds, but we hate the bastards with a passion so therefore that would not be a viable option.

I wouldn't like to see them go out of business though!


As they are in administration, do they start on -10 points?

 

[Ex Shelton Seagull]

It seems as if Bradford City have been shut down. All the staff will be released and all players told to find new clubs. Yet this still isn't the end. The club will keep going until the 8th July whilst the administrators continue to try and find new owners. If there are no people in charge come the 8th of July then Bradford City will be kicked out of the Football League and will then finally be dead.

I think Middlesbrough had something similar happen to them in 1986 so a rescue could still be possible. However, I don't think there is a Bradfordian Steve Gibson on the horizon. The rules regarding winding a club up have changed and it is no longer possible to simply start again as Bradford City AFC 2004. I think Bradford City has already been wound up once before in the 80's, so this will be their second death.

All this leaves Gordon Gibb with a piece of real-estate in Manningham for which he paid well over the odds (5 million quid!) and Julian Rhodes with 12.5 million pounds flushed down the toilet, and the city of Bradford without a league club.

 

[Ex Shelton Seagull]

Gordon Gibb really hasn't been doing himself any favours with his attitude. Bear in mind he made a speech a couple of months ago in which he declared "Bradford City will never be kicked out of Valley Parade."

Gordon Gibb spoke with anger at how he would not do a deal with Bradford City after being put under pressure with an 11th hour approach by the administrators. Said Gibb

"They have left negotiations until the 11th hour to put as much pressure as possible on me to accept a ridiculous request. I've been dealt with extremely badly and definitely won't be altering my decision making platform."

Gibb use of the term "decision making platform" may make him sound like an adolescent writing a sixth form essay - the fact that he is allowing a football club to go to the wall for a sake of a petulant argument would seem to suggest that the youngest chairman in City's history has more than a few childish qualities. Gibb made it clear that his refusal to budge was more personal than professional saying

"My conscience is clear. It's typical of the treatment I've had from Valley Parade over the past two and half years."

There is increasing talk that regardless of their need to avoid personal liability Kroll are considering a legal challenge that will force Gibb to allow them to use Valley Parade rent free and on this Gibb continued his "I'm so hard done to" approach saying

"It is not right that we should be blackmailed in these circumstances. We are not asking for anything outrageous, we are entitled to ask for rent. If the administrators carry out their threat then we would stand to lose £5m and we would own an almost worthless asset in the middle of an under-privileged part of Bradford."

It is nice to read Gordon Gibb describe the resting place of 54 Bradford City fans a two supporters of Lincoln City as "worthless"

Gibb concluded

"I wish I had never got involved with Bradford City. It is the worst mistake I have ever made, not simply because of this current situation but because of the pressure, the dirt, the mud-slinging and the back-biting from too many unsavoury characters in the game. I should have known better."

Reading back that final sentence one has to be amazed that even at this point where he stands to lose £5m and his reputation Gibb, as with Rhodes and his £12m, points the finger at other people without taking on board a personal failure to achieve with the club. Put simply as moribund as City might have been when he took over at Valley Parade a lack of leadership and business flair has been very obvious in the past two years and Gibb is in no small part responsible for that.

 

[fatbadger]

One thing that really pisses me off about things like these, is that any board members involved in the debacle can just up sticks and head off to another club, with no sanctions from the FA, the League or the Premiership (Ridsdale, Richmond). What can the fans do?

 

[Trigger]

Bradford have been given a stay of execution in their battle to avoid being closed down.

The Bantams, already in administration, are reportedly £30m in debt and will go out of business unless the club's landlord waives their rent next season.

"There's been activity (but), it would be unfair to make any decision until we've considered everything," said a statement from administrators Kroll.

"Therefore, we will be deferring our decision until further notice."

Bradford, who were relegated to the old Division Two last term, are believed to have a rent of around £300,000 per year.

Kroll had given landlord Gordon Gibb, a former chairman of the club whose pension fund owns the ground, until 1000 BST on Thursday to respond with a positive answer.

But the decision has been put back indefinitely as talks continue.

 

[Safeway]

Bradford have been given a stay of execution in their battle to avoid being closed down.

What a surprise.

 

[Trigger]

What a surprise.

Isn't it... All this shit has become f***ing tedious now.

 

[Ex Shelton Seagull]

The Administrators will make an announcement in the next 15 minutes about what will happen next. Gordon Gibb was seen entering Valley Parade at 10 this morning and the staff, who would have been dismissed and sent home if the rescue plan failed, are still working.

Looks like it's another last-minute escape for Bradford City. I think that makes it FOUR last minute escapes that Bradford City have pulled off in the last 20 years.

 

[Brovion]

...Looks like it's another last-minute escape for Bradford City. I think that makes it FOUR last minute escapes that Bradford City have pulled off in the last 20 years.

Correct. As the Bradford Park Avenue fans say, City have been wound up more times than a cuckoo clock.