Bradford Bulls: RFL has received 10 'serious expressions of interest' in saving club

The club was liquidated by administrators on Tuesday after years of financial trouble

Bradford have been told they can keep their place in the Championship (Getty)

The Rugby Football League says it has received around 10 serious expressions of interest in reviving the Bulls after the liquidation of the debt-ridden club by administrators on Tuesday.

The governing body has set a deadline of noon on Monday for bids and hopes its executive will be in a position to make a recommendation to the board by the end of next week.

Among the front-runners is expected to be former New Zealand Rugby League chairman Andrew Chalmers, whose bid to buy the club before Christmas was approved by the RFL before being rejected by the administrators.

London businessman Richard Lamb, who is chief executive of rugby union Championship club Rotherham, is another failed bidder who told the Press Association he intends to meet the deadline after speaking with RFL chief operating officer Ralph Rimmer.

"I had a long chat to Ralph this morning and I'm waiting for some guidelines to be sent over," Lamb said. "Then we can work out how we respond and what information they need. We've got until Monday lunchtime to respond."

Lamb, who is fronting a consortium that also includes former Cronulla Sharks chief executive Damian Irvine, failed in attempts to bring the Bulls out of their last two administrations but believes starting afresh will give the four-time Super League champions the best chance of restoring their fortunes.

"While it is a very painful experience for everyone involved with the club, I think you can recalibrate the club now and actually it's probably in the best place to go forward that it's ever been," Lamb said.

"Successive administrations have had to take on structures that were already in place and I'm not sure that structure is fit for where the club is currently in the Championship. Whatever happens, I think now the club will be in a better position than if someone had tried to take it out of administration with all the associated costs.

"I'll sit down with Damian and a couple of others and see where we take it from there. One would hope they are not going to be ridiculously onerous in terms of what they are going to request. The plan at the moment is that we put in a tender and hopefully take it from there."

If they are successful in re-forming as a new company, Bradford will have to contend with a 12-point deduction, effectively killing off hopes of winning promotion to Super League for 2018, and a reduction of around £100,000 in central funding.

The club are also expected to lose up to half a dozen of their leading players and have just a month to prepare for the new season, with the Bulls scheduled to start against Hull KR on February 5.

"I said a couple of weeks ago that I didn't think the administrator was going to find a buyer that was suitable to all parties and history proved me and other people correct," Lamb added.

"And now suddenly the time pressures are on. If you had another month, you'd be more confident. With four weeks to go - and now it's effectively three weeks because nothing is going to happen until next week - it's going to be tough."

Former sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe has applauded the decision of the RFL to give a new club the chance to continue in the Kingstone Press Championship rather than League 1.

"It's a great name in rugby league, the city has strong rugby league-related traditions and, obviously with having the museum in Bradford, you'd want a professional club to be there," said Sutcliffe, who was MP for Bradford South up to the last general election.

"Rugby league and the game needs all its constituents and Bradford is still a big name. Even with 4,000 supporters, they add value to the game and I think it's right that they start in the Championship."

Along with local businessman Omar Khan, Sutcliffe helped bring the Bulls out of their first administration in 2012 but they handed over the reins within 12 months.

He does not intend to get involved again though, and admits questions need to be asked over the management of the club over the last five years.

"I did my bit the last time around," Sutcliffe added. "It was very difficult at that time as well. It's a pity because there is a hard core of loyal fans that support the club. I think Judith Cummins, the local MP, is right to say that people should be asking questions about what happened and why it happened.

"It's a very sad situation that the club finds itself in. It's a club with a rich history but from time to time it's had these problems - 1964, 1985 and now again over these last few years so it's sad that it's turned out this way. But I hope new bidders can come in and try and resolve it as soon as possible."

PA