Major News

Bantams for sale

Bradford City are in administration

Thursday 16 May, 2002

Bradford City have gone into administration for the second time in the twenty years after the failure of ITV Digital and return of Benito Carbone made the club assess debts of £13m and losses of £5m a year.

Geoffrey Richmond stated "I fully realise that our supporters will understandably be concerned at the news that Administrators have been appointed by the High Court today. On the positive side the Administrators have confirmed that they will be seeking to achieve a speedy sale of the club. As promised in my Statement at the end of last week I will be calling a supporters forum for this evening to be held in the Banqueting Suite to commence at 8.00pm where questions will be answered on a face to face basis."

The forum

Geoffrey Richmond addressed around 500 City fans and a number of members of the press at a fan's forum at Valley Parade on Thursday night. Briefly this is what was said.

GR's final quote "I would not have missed it for anything in the whole world. I have lived the unbelievable highs and the unbelievable lows. You cannot have the highs without the lows. Blackpool, Wembley, Hull City, QPR, Charlton Athletic, Wolves and Liverpool saw the highlights and there were of course lows but I do not know where the journey goes from here. The next few weeks would tell that but whatever happens if there is a new owner I would be in the stand watching Bradford City."

Kudos to Kieran Wilkinson for keeping much better notes that I did.

What GR has said about this

Geoffrey Richmond's comments on City suggested that his time at the club was coming to a close. He stated that he had loved every minute of his time at the club and that he did not regret getting involved with the Bantams.

Richmond stated that the administrators had told him they were "very, very confident" of selling the club before the July 10th deadline. He stated that the club had spent £12m on the stadium in recent years and that the 15,000 "loyal" support base makes City a very desirable property.

What the administrators

Kroll Buchler Phillips are the club's administrators. Briefly this is what they say: "Bradford City is a high profile club established in 1903 having recently been in the Premier League in 1999/2000 and 2000/2001. In recent years the stadium and the facilities have improved beyond all recognition. The support base, even in a very disappointing season on the field this last 12 months, still averaged over 15,000 and the Joint Administrators have no doubt that if success on the field is achieved, the average gate will significantly increase. The Joint Administrators appreciate that there have been a significant number of fans who have purchased both short term and long term season tickets and these fans will have obvious concerns as to their position. It is anticipated that any purchaser will honour these short and long term season tickets that have been purchased from the Club."

"The principal duty of the Administrators is to attempt to maximise returns for creditors of the Club and therefore, they will immediately market the Club for sale as a going concern... Although the administration can be funded, there is limited money available and unfortunately, it will therefore be necessary to terminate the contracts of many players."

"This is a good club. Well over £12 million has been invested on ground improvements in recent years and the club is blessed with a loyal fan base who have seen difficult times in the past. Its recent history does show that the supporters have always rallied around in times of crisis. It is for these reasons that the Joint Administrators believe that a purchaser will be found within the necessary timescale and the supporters can therefore look forward to what we hope will be a bright future in the 2002/2003 season."

Why is this happening?

City are reported to owe the tax man £400,000 and the directors are (reportedly) not keen on keeping paying bills for expensive players such as Benito Carbone, Peter Atherton and Ashley Ward. The situation has, it is said, been brought to a head when the boardroom split into factions that precipitated some action. As a result City have gone into what is known as "limited administration" which in effect, as far as I understand it, puts the club up for sale as a going concern but protects it from it's creditors issuing winding up orders.

In this sense this administration is more tactical than it is desperate. It is thought that what City are doing will be the blueprint for any number of clubs facing serious cash problems this summer.

Who would buy City?

Geoffrey Richmond could. There is much speculation and rumour that the Richmond clan and the Rhodes clan have not got along since the dot com crash wrecked the Rhodes fortune and that the Rhodes had prevented Richmond from backing the club financially (Double underlined that this is reported rumour, not necessarily fact).

Should this be the case then the club going to administration is Richmond's way of taking back the club from the Rhodes family and other directors.

Of course with City a first division club with a fine 22,000 stadium and a 13,000ish fan base the administrator may get interest from another source. May City fans would love to see Ken Morrison buy City and bankroll the club to success but such a situation is extremely doubtful with Morrison having next to no interest in football.

When Adam Pearson bought Hull City he stated that he felt that the Tigers were the last big City club available. City qualify as a big City club and so other Adam Pearson's could be interested.

The question of what City fans want from Mr Richmond or his replacement is addressed in Michael Wood's column What kind of chairman do we want anyway?

How will this effect Nicky Law and the transfer situation?

Rumours about transfer dealings continue aplenty and so far there has been no suggestion that Law will have to sell players or not buy during the summer, although there is no money at the club except the transfer fund built up by the sale of Robbie Blake.

If the club is to be sold as a going concern then it seems logical that transfer can continue. Whether a player would join a club with such an uncertain future is debateable and the suggestion that a couple of players, Paul Evans and Chris Greenacre to be precise, have already signed pre-contracts for City does suggest that this period in administration may be short and almost planned.

What if City cannot find a buyer, including Mr Richmond?

One scenario is that no one is interested in buying City as a going concern and so the administrator begins to sell off the club's assets to pay bills and try to reduce the asking price of the club hoping for a sale. Worst case is that the club is liquidated to pay off creditors and no longer exists.

What will happen if administration ends?

A new company will be formed to run the football club. Currently City are Bradford City Ltd 1983. That is the company that is in administration and would be replaced by, for example, Bradford City Ltd 2002.

Middlesborough are the most successful club who have come out of administration having done so in 1986 while in the old second division.

So what now?

The court appointed Administrator will be trying to sell Bradford City as a going concern and the creators will not be able to get at the Bantams. If the situation is not resolved by July the 10th, 2002 then as Justice Blackburn said when issuing the order, "It will be the end of the club".