MPs keen to help Bulls (From Daily Echo)

MPs keen to help Bulls

12:35pm Wednesday 27th June 2012 in National Sport © Press Association 2013

Members of Parliament have joined the battle to save Bradford Bulls.

Local MPs George Galloway and Gerry Sutcliffe are to hold talks with Brendan Guilfoyle, the administrator now in charge of the beleaguered Super League club, and the All Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group have on Wednesday pledged their support.

Guilfoyle was brought in after the club's directors failed to find the necessary investment to fight a winding-up petition from Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs over an unpaid tax bill in excess of £300,000.

The Bulls are virtually penniless and Guilfoyle has warned he has just nine working days left to find a buyer or he will put the club into liquidation.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Group, Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland, said: "This is a sad day for Bradford Bulls and for rugby league. We urge all involved to find a way for Bradford to continue its proud history as a top-flight club.

"Members of the Parliamentary Rugby League Group are fans of the game as well as club representatives in Parliament and we have a singular remit - 'to support the sport of rugby league football'. The Group's offer of support to the club, the RFL and Bradford City Council remains open to deliver that promise."

The Group wrote to the chairman of RBS when the club was seeking to extend its overdraft period.

Sutcliffe, a former sports minister, said "Bradford Bulls is not only a professional rugby league club, it is a focal point for the community and has been since its creation. As both a Bulls fan and the club's MP, I know how people must be feeling about the current situation.

"The ongoing backing of colleagues within the Parliamentary Rugby League Group is welcomed and I and the Group will continue to do what I can to assist the Bulls."

If they survive, Bradford face an automatic points deduction and in the meantime are bracing themselves for the possible sale of their best players as the administrator seeks to raise funds to keep the club going in the short term.