City saved after CVA is accepted

The greatest victory

The CVA is passed, what now for Bradford City?

Bradford City's creditors voted to pass the CVA that will allow the club continued existence in a meeting at Valley Parade this Thursday morning. City now have ten days to prepare for a season that many thought we would never see.

The next stop for City is a Football League meeting with eight chairmen, three of whom have been hostile to City over the summer, who will approve the Bantams membership of the league next season. With the creditors happy this should be a formality.

Geoffrey Richmond and the Rhodes family will officially return as chairman and the (slimmed down) board of Bradford City although under the terms of the CVA they will have the former administrators as appointed monitors who reserve the power to have the club liquidated should they feel that the creditors who agreed to the staggered payments of the CVA not be liable to receive payments agreed.

Those payments breakdown to 40p in the pound of debts that were paid at around 10p in the pound today should the club get promoted to the Premiership in the next five years and a further 40p should the club enjoy a second season in the top flight.

BfB editor Michael Wood offers some food for thought as City emerge for the misery of administration as he asks the question What kind of Bradford City do you want anyway?

What now for the squad?

City are expected to cut costs in the squad with £18,000 a week Ashley Ward looking like the first to go. Nicky Law will be given a remit of ridding the club of it's higher earners, who almost to a man do very little to justify those wage packets, and swelling the squad with talented youngsters such as Tom Kearney. Frankly, we should have been taking this approach years ago. Law may also be tempted to rid the club of the eight who decided not to play against Hull City on Tuesday night. Few Bantams fans would cry if he was to exile all those players not least of which would be our own Roland Harris who says Let's make sure we do it right this time.

How City was saved

There seems to have been two key agreements that saved Bradford City. The Benito Carbone deal, which came when Geoffrey Richmond reportedly begged the players to phone their team mate and ask him to move to Como to save the club, that took the costly Italian off the wage bill and the 11th hour deal that will see the administrators have more of a say in the club for the next three years and the sum of a £1m be paid to creditors. The latter deal, brokered when Geoffrey Richmond, will see the creditors get 70% of any settlement from ITV Digital.

Professor Rhodes speaks

Breaking the silence thathas marked his time involved with Bradford City Professor Rhodes spoke about his commitment to the Bantams "My personal wealth has dwindled somewhat to such an extent over the last few months that the pressure has come in several ways, Not only have we had to solve the residual problem left behind financially but also we had to fulfil the obligations of the C.V.A. I never intended when I invested in the club to see a return. I want the club to do well; the City of Bradford deserves a good club. What has been apparent over the last few months is there aren't many people who want to do anything about it. Not many people were willing to commit and I suppose without my input there would be no club."

Quote, Unquote

The Administrator said

Neil Brackenbury, joint administrator: "Today's meeting was an important step towards securing the future of Bradford City Football Club and we are very pleased that our proposal has gained the support of creditors. We were confident that the proposal would be approved as it provided the best returns to creditors and was the only way to secure the future of the club. Whilst there is still some way to go, today was a massive step towards ending the saga for Bradford City, its players and its fans. Our next step is to meet with the Board of Directors of the Football League next week to obtain its agreement that Bradford City remains a First Division Football League club. The Administrator and everyone involved have worked very hard to get to this point and we would like to thank everyone for the support and patience that they have shown us. In particular, we would like to thank the fans who have been forced to watch this saga unfurl from the sidelines. Today is a good day for Bradford City fans and also football in general."

The Chairman said

Geoffrey Richmond, Bradford City chairman: "We have effectively received 100 per cent support from the creditors and I am absolutely delighted that we have come through this. However, we still have to get the rubber stamp from the Football League so we should see what has happened today as part one of our campaign to save the club. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't get the league support but the champagne remains on ice at the moment."

Richmond continued "We can all have recriminations and arguments about the past but that will achieve absolutely nothing whatsoever. If that happens we will probably see the club blow up. This is a time to work together."

Speaking about manager Nicky Law Richmond said "At times he must have felt very low and wondered what was going to happen, but he has remained very, very positive throughout. He has been a breath of fresh air and one of the very few bright spots during what has been a really awful three months."

The manager said

Nicky Law, Bradford City manager: "Of course this is great news. We can now get on with our jobs which is preparing for the start of the season on August 11. I will be sending a full squad out tonight against Bradford Park Avenue as we get on with the serious business of playing football. I can now get back to my real job which is being the manager of a football team."

The Fans Representative said

John Dewhirst, BfB columnist and now fans' representative on a new three-person creditors' forum: "The next hurdle is to make this work over the next 24 months. We have to give a united front both as Bradford City supporters and as Bradfordians to secure the future of this football club. Today is the first hurdle and there are going to be many more. [Had the CVA not been passed] We would be taking another step towards taking Bradford off the map. It would have massive consequences."

The Fan's Man said

Dave Pendleton, former editor of the City Gent Fanzine: "Now I just want to get to the first game of the season and get back playing football."

The Council Leader said

Margaret Eaton, Bradford Council leader: "This is obviously very good news and I'm absolutely delighted, This presumably means that the club will be able to carry on and concentrate on getting on with the new season. It is something so positive. I think everyone has been hit with a sense of "watch this space" for the past few weeks and wishing that something could be resolved. Thankfully, it has and it is great news for the city itself and the Capital of Culture bid. The city of Bradford needs to have a professional football club."

The Football League said

A Football League spokesman: "The Football League board of directors will now consider Bradford's position at a meeting on Tuesday. The criteria they will take into account will be the full settlement of the club's footballing debts and their ability to fulfil their fixtures."

The Millwall chairman said

Theo Paphitis, Millwall chairman : "It's great news for football. It would have been strange to only have 23 teams in Division One this season. We look forward to playing them."

No money from ITV Digital

The Football League has failed to win any funds from ITV Digital in respect to the final two yeras of the defunct TV deal.