Cummins Takes on Bradford Bulls

Francis Cummins says he is ready to make the step up to the role of head coach after being appointed as the successor Mick Potter at Bradford Bulls.

Cummins, who was recommended for the job by Potter after he opted to return to Australia, was unveiled this morning at a press conference at Odsal hosted by new owner Omar Khan and honorary chairman Gerry Sutcliffe.

The former Leeds winger has been given a three-year contract and, at 35, he will become the youngest in Super League when Trent Robinson leaves Catalan Dragons at the end of next month.

The former Ireland and Great Britain international cut his coaching teeth as an assistant at Leeds before being appointed as Potter's number two at Odsal at the start of the 2010 season.

"I wouldn't be sat here if I didn't think I was ready," Cummins said. "To be honest, I've been ready for a couple of years.

"I had to leave Leeds to further my education. It's been great working with Mick but I've always known I'm ready to have my team.

"I'm really happy with how it's come about. We are the bottom of the hill and we need to work really hard but I know it can be done.

"We had a real tough year but it's definitely made us as a group and it definitely helped me in my education as a coach. When you've got everyone working the right way, it's amazing what you can do.

"I'm looking forward to take the next step.

Bradford sprung a surprise by handing Cummins a three-year deal, despite being given only a 12-month probational Super League licence, but the new coach is delighted to have the chance to build a long-term future.

"It's huge," he added. "I need three years to set out my stall. It's not going to happen next week, it's going to take time, and I need to be able to say to the players I'm in for the long run."

Cummins enjoyed a one-club career with Leeds, for whom he made 356 appearances from 1993 to 2005, and also won three caps for Great Britain, before retiring at the age of 29 to go into coaching.

Along with Potter, Cummins worked without pay for the last three months of the season after being made redundant by the administrator in early July.

Sutcliffe said: "Mick was our first choice but he didn't want to do it for honourable reasons and we had no hesitation in taking his recommendation to offer the job to Francis.

"We are delighted he has accepted our offer. He's a man with a fantastic track record as a player but also a coaching career alongside Mick Potter and we believe he has a great opportunity to develop this club in the way we want to develop it.

"As a former sports minister, it's great to have an English coach and hopefully that will augur well for the future of rugby league in England."

Related articles

• Bradford Bulls: Cummins is head coach material, says Potter
• Potter quits as coach of Bradford
• Live Sport Reports: Potter to leave Bulls
• National Sport: Bradford given Super League lifeline
• Bradford Bulls coach Mick Potter quits to return to Australia

Bradford Bulls Enter Administration

Bradford have just 10 working days to avoid being liquidated after entering administration.

Directors of the Bulls filed a notice of intention to enter administration on June 13 in order to buy them extra time, with HM Revenue & Customs threatening a winding up order over unpaid tax, but the moratorium expired by June 26.

With the Stobart Super League club failing to find new investment, Brendan Guilfoyle and Chris White, from insolvency firm The P&A Partnership, have now been appointed joint administrators.

It is understood Bradford currently owes £98,000 in PAYE tax from May and the same amount for June, plus an outstanding VAT bill of £250,000 from the sale of their Odsal Stadium lease to the Rugby Football League.

No funds

"The directors made every effort to try to save the club within the 14-day timescale issued by the courts but the moratorium ended yesterday without any potential buyer coming forward," Guilfoyle said.

"We now have just 10 working days to save the club from liquidation because there are no funds to carry on longer.

"If there is anyone interested in buying the Bulls then we need to hear from them right now because this is famous club is now on the brink of extinction."

Guilfoyle said he may have to listen to offers for players to bring in short-term cash.

"It's a crisis situation, and selling players and redundancies cannot be ruled out," he added.

"The situation is really quite grim in the sense that the directors have failed too get the investment they needed to keep the club going.

"I'm unfunded. I don't have very much money. I certainly don't have anywhere near enough to pay the wages for July.

"I suppose I'm lucky in that the June wages are paid but I need someone to come in and fund this club quickly.

"What we are hoping is that the administration will be seen as a positive development by someone who wants to buy the club."

Bradford are the third Super League club to enter administration in the last two years. Wrexham-based Crusaders suffered the same fate in 2010 and were liquidated at the end of the following season.

Wakefield also spent a week in the hands of an administrator before the start of the 2011 campaign and saw three players sold to pay off debts in that time - something that could now happen to the Bulls.

They are also certain to be hit with a four-point penalty for breaching the RFL's rules on insolvency; Mick Potter's side currently sit ninth in the table and are only outside the play-off positions on points difference.

Bulls Debts Fully Revealed

Bradford Bulls could be forced to go into administration within a fortnight after being hit by a winding-up order over unpaid tax.

The club owes HM Revenue & Customs £90,000 in payroll tax, plus £250,000 in VAT from the sale of the stadium.

The Bulls need more than £1m to survive to the end of the season, despite recently raising £500,000 through fan pledges, gate receipts and an auction.

It now has two weeks to raise funds or find new investment.

The figures were passed to BBC Radio Leeds by Brendan Guilfoyle of The P&A Partnership, the company brought in by the club to review the state of its finances.

The club has offered to pay off the VAT debt, which has been outstanding since the end of January, at a rate of £50,000 a month, and director Stephen Coulby said the club remained intent on avoiding administration.

In April, fans responded to an urgent call to donate funds, raising about £500,000 and it was claimed another £500,000 would pay off current liabilities.

But Coulby said: "Had the actual position been as we understood it to be, that is to say a requirement for £1m, half of which had already been raised through the sterling efforts of supporters, it would not have been a problem.

"Regrettably, other matters have recently been brought to our attention which have widened the funding gap but we are still intent on avoiding administration and its consequences if at all possible."

Insolvency firm The P&A Partnership was brought in last month to review the club's finances.

Guilfoyle said: "HMRC [HM Revenue & Customs] is threatening to wind up Bradford Bulls Holdings Ltd and, under these circumstances, the directors have had no alternative but to file a notice of intention to appoint administrators to protect the club.

"This pro-active decision gives the club a breathing space to find partners to invest in the club.

"It doesn't mean that the club will necessarily enter administration. The club has two weeks to find additional funds - this may mean a number of investors coming together to save the club."

Purtell Recovers After Heart Scare

Bradford centre Adrian Purtell will spend the rest of the week in an English hospital after suffering what the player's mother reported to be a heart attack following a Super League match.

Fran Purtell told southern NSW newspaper the Border Mail that her son, 27, suffered a heart attack just hours after playing for the Bulls in their weekend derby defeat by Leeds in sweltering conditions at Manchester's Etihad Stadium.

The Bulls revealed on Sunday that the former Penrith and Canberra NRL outside back complained of feeling unwell on the journey back from Manchester and the bus stopped twice for the doctor to treat him.

He was admitted to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and later transferred to Leeds General Infirmary, where he is expected to spend the next few days recovering.

Bradford football manager Stuart Duffy, who was on the bus, said: "Adrian's condition was giving cause for concern and the club doctor Donald Young advised that he should be taken to hospital immediately.

"The bus went to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary where Adrian was detained and he was later transferred to the Leeds General Infirmary where he spent the night.

"Our thoughts are with Adrian at this time."

Leeds issued a statement, saying: "The Rhinos would like to echo those sentiments and hope that Adrian makes a speedy recovery."

Purtell is in his first season in Super League, having joined Bradford on a three-year deal from the Panthers last November.

Duffy said the Bulls were unable to confirm the exact nature of Purtell's illness due to patient confidentiality but the player's mother told the Border Mail that her son had suffered a heart attack.

Fran Purtell said she received a telephone call from the club doctor and immediately made plans to fly to England to be at her son's bedside.

"Adrian had a heart attack," she told the newspaper before boarding a flight to Manchester, via Sydney.

"He had a blockage to one of the main arteries to the heart but he's OK. He's in Leeds hospital and is in good care.

"It was very frightening this morning for everyone."

Purtell's health scare comes just two months after Bolton soccer player Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest during an English Premier League match at Tottenham.

Purtell, who started his professional career with the Raiders in 2006, missed a large chunk of the following season due to deep vein thrombosis after a blood clot was found in his lungs.

Purtell has been ordered to spend a minimum five days in hospital and, although a spokesperson declined to make any comment, he is believed to be in a stable condition.

His mother said her son had been feeling unwell for some time.

"He knew something was wrong," she added. "He said he had a sore chest a few weeks ago and was keeping an eye on it. He knew that something was amiss.

"It was hurting on the bus like it had been. The news for now is that he's OK. His heart didn't stop beating at that stage."

Brough Makes Splash at Bradford

Huddersfield Giants remained in top spot of the Stobart Super League with a battling 20-6 victory over Bradford Bulls at Odsal.

The Giants showed why they are still the Super League pacesetters as they overcame both the abysmal conditions and being reduced to 12 men for 10 minutes in the second half to record their fourth straight league win and stay two points clear of Wigan.

The Bulls, who themselves had won four of their last six matches despite their well-documented financial problems, battled hard but were eventually overpowered by the league leaders.

Giants stand-off Danny Brough had an exceptional game as he continually pegged the Bulls back with a succession of fine positional kicks and finished with 12 of the Giants' 20 points through a try and four well-taken goals.

In what was always likely to be a dour arm-wrestle in awful conditions referee Thierry Alibert awarded an early penalty on the advice of his touch judge and Danny Addy stepped up to give Bulls a two-point lead from just to the right of the posts.

Brough impact

But the hosts' advantage was short-lived as Huddersfield hit back when Brough shimmied into space from midfield and placed a perfectly weighted kick for Jermaine McGillvary to race onto and score.

Brough failed with the touchline conversion but Larne Patrick went close to extending the visiting side's lead after John Bateman spilled the slippery ball near his own line.

Having absorbed an increasing amount of pressure the Bulls were finally allowed to clear their lines after the Giants conceded a penalty on the last tackle still deep in Bradford territory.

Bulls took full advantage and, after Sean Ainscough off-loaded as he was tackled near the line, Michael Platt found himself with enough room to squeeze in at the corner.

Again the touchline conversion was wayward and Huddersfield responded swiftly with stand-in full-back Aaron Murphy setting prolific winger Luke George free deep in his own half - the Giants leading scorer racing over 70 metres for his 13th try of the season.

Brough made it 12-6 when Bradford were penalised for holding down within four minutes of the start of the second half and the Giants then camped in the Bulls half of an ever-increasing quagmire.

Twice the home side were forced to restart from beneath their own posts before Brough took the opportunity to push his side two scores clear with another penalty from 40 metres out.

Tempers flared in the mud just after the hour when a mass brawl broke out and the Giants were reduced to 12 men when Luke O'Donnell was sin-binned for his part in the melee.

But the Galpharm Stadium outfit maintained their composure and enthusiastic defence kept their line intact until they were restored to a full compliment of 13.

Man of the match Brough sealed the win with barely four minutes to play when charging over from a Luke Robinson pass and then converting his own try.

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Bradford Bulls Fans Seek Clarity

Bradford Bulls fans have called on the club's directors to provide more clarity over the Bulls' financial meltdown.

The ailing Super League club have staved off the immediate threat of administration by reaching their initial target of £500,000 in pledges, which means they can pay this month's wages and a tax bill.

The Bulls still need another £500,000 to ensure their medium-term survival but are hopeful their current talks with local businessmen will bear fruit.

BullBuilder, a supporters' trust, threw its weight behind the club's initial quest for survival but is now demanding more information and assurances that the club will not find itself in a similar situation in the near future.

In a statement it said: "Following the achievement of ordinary Bulls fans, we are sure the board will agree that it is now time to fulfil their part of the bargain and to deliver the rest of the investment required to secure the Bulls' financial stability for the foreseeable future.

"However, we also believe that the club owes a further debt of openness to the supporters who have handed over half a million pounds of their own money.

"Specifically, we would ask the club to undertake the following:

• Give assurances that the pledge has only been called in because the club is confident that administration can be avoided.

• Provide assurances that the money contributed will not be wasted and that no further appeal for pledges will follow; disclose details of further investment as soon as financial prudence and commercial confidentiality allow; confirm that they take full responsibility for the future financial well-being of the club, including consequences for any mishandling of affairs.

• Engage more fully with supporters via a formal mechanism to take account of their views and concerns, ideally including some form of supporter representation at the highest level."

The Bulls have had no access to cash following a tightening of restrictions by their bank.

A bumper 20,000-plus crowd for the Good Friday derby with Leeds at Odsal, where an additional £13,500 was raised by a bucket collection, helped take them to their initial target.

Bradford's chief executive Ryan Duckett says the club are hoping they will not need to ask supporters for more cash and that the money can be raised from the business community. "We have a number of positive conversations going on with regard to commercial opportunities and also one or two people who are interested in getting more involved with the club," he said.

"Those will progress over the next couple of days and weeks. We've got a few different plans and it depends how some of those conversations go over the next few days. Certainly the aim is to get to our next target through some commercial opportunities and one or two individuals."

BullBuilder's spokesman Mike Farren said: "We appreciate that there are pressing actions required from the club in terms of gathering pledges, meeting immediate financial demands and negotiating further investment.

"However, once the future of the club is assured, we will seek answers to these questions urgently, given the moral right that we believe supporters have more than earned by their recent efforts.

"Should the structure of the club's executive change significantly as a result of new investment or any other action, we will press these questions just as urgently to any new board."

Bulls Hope Fans Can Save Club

Bradford Bulls director Andrew Bennett has warned that the club is at "death's door" due to crippling debts.

The Bulls, who have struggled financially for the past few seasons, need to raise around £1million - and at least £500,000 in the next few weeks - if they are to avoid going bust.

And as it stands, the Good Friday clash with Leeds Rhinos could be their last-ever game at Odsal.

Bennett told the Telegraph and Argus:: "We're at death's door. We can stay alive for about two-and-a-half weeks. We could just about, at this moment in time, put the Leeds game on.

"But that could be the last-ever game at Odsal unless money comes in quickly."

Serious

The club have been left on the brink of extinction after a double blow.

Firstly the club had to use the money from the sale-lease of Odsal to the RFL to pay off their long-term liabilities, while the Royal Bank of Scotland has informed the Bulls that their overdraft facility has been significantly reduced.

Chairman Peter Hood added: "I don't think the situation could be more critical. Without the oxygen of cash in our bloodstream we cannot operate.

"We've got to generate a significant sum to survive and we're doing everything we can to achieve that.

"If we haven't got cash then we can't stay alive and if we can't stay alive then we can't fulfil our fixtures. It's that serious."

Bradford are hoping to receive at least £500,000 in pledges from supporters by 5pm on April 6.