Bradford survive

Tuesday 15th August.

The long awaited (?) statement from club owner Barry Rubery was issued today. It was a long rambling pronouncement that didn't really say anything the fans wanted to hear, and the upshot of it all is that the cupboard is most decidedly bare.

Allegedly, £5 million has been spent on players over the last 18 months, the wage bill is running at £5 million per annum, and the suggestion is that his personal input has been around £10 million. This seems to ignore the £3 million or so received from outgoing transfers (Marcus Stewart and Wayne Allison), season ticket revenues, to say nothing of club sponsors, TV money, merchandise etc etc.

He made a point of praising the 12,000 or so regular attendees at the McAlpine, but he must think that we are all stupid. It is claimed that the club were on the brink of financial collapse when he took over, and the inference is that he stepped in like some benign philanthropist to pull us out of the mire. Cobblers! Barry Rubery is, and always has been, a businessman. He loves making money and I cannot believe that he bought a football club that was in such a financial mess without knowing what he was getting into, he is far too astute.

The fact of the matter is that the 12,000 who were praised in his statement have been misled. Why not reveal this dire financial predicament prior to the season ticket deadline? He knows that the average fan is stupid, habitually turning up to support the team they love no matter how they are treated, but then again love is a very irrational emotion..

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