The Rugby Football League has announced that an agreement has been reached with a consortium to create a new professional Rugby League club in Bradford.

Following a thorough review and consultation with potential owners throughout the week, the RFL Board approved a decision to offer membership of the League to a consortium that it believes offers an exciting and stable future for Rugby League in Bradford.

As previously stated, the new club will begin the 2017 season in the Kingstone Press Championship on minus 12 points.

The owners will arrive at Odsal early next week and will at that point speak with former players, staff and relevant stakeholders before holding a press conference to reveal their identity and outline their vision for the future.

RFL Director of Operations and Legal, Karen Moorhouse, said: “The last few weeks have been extremely difficult for all those involved, particularly the former players, staff and families of Bradford Bulls. They have conducted themselves with complete professionalism and integrity throughout this period.

“The RFL is confident that the consortium selected to run a new club in Bradford will provide an exciting and stable future for Rugby League in the city.

"They outlined a strong vision, have relevant and extensive experience and we are confident that they offer the best opportunity to take a new club forward. We have always said that the city of Bradford needs and deserves a Rugby League club that it can be proud of and we believe this new club can deliver that.”

The RFL said it would like to thank the administrators Gary Pettit and Howard Roberts for their support in the closing stages of what has been a very difficult process.

Meanwhile, speculation surrounding the identity of the consortium has been hotting up.

This afternoon, a new company under the Bradford Bulls name was registered with Company House.

Bradford Bulls 2017 Limited was registered today in what appears to be a joint registration by Andrew Chalmers and The Orcas Rugby League Limited, based in Wellington, New Zealand.  Chalmers is a British national, giving his country of residence as New Zealand.

On January 5, a company called Bradford Bulls Capital Limited was registered with Companies House by David Thorne, a New Zealand-born businessman who has had previous links with rugby union in the UK.

It is understood Mr Thorne led the final bid to buy the Bulls, which was eventually withdrawn before the club went into liquidation.

The Rugby Football League has said it expects to make a statement at around 5pm today in relation to four bids they are considering for the club.