A SETTLEMENT has been reached between a group of former Bradford Bulls players and staff and the liquidated company that previously ran the club.

A confidential agreement has been drawn up between lawyers representing the claimants and the liquidators of Bradford Bulls Northern Limited – one of four parties against which the group brought their case.

The company was put into liquidation in January after an appropriate buyer could not be found to take the club on. The settlement was reached following a meeting held in October.

A tribunal between the former Bradford Bulls players and staff and the three remaining parties – Bradford Bulls 2017 Ltd (the new company running the club), the Rugby Football League and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – will start on Tuesday, January 23, at the Leeds Employment Tribunal in Albion Street.

Richard Cramer, solicitor for the claimants, said: “On behalf of the claimants we wish to thank [administrators] Gary Pettit, Gavin Bates and their lawyers for their co-operation over the last few weeks and for the cordial manner in which negotiations have reached a successful conclusion.

“The claimants are pleased with the overall outcome following those discussions.”

The case was first brought before the courts in July, when the RFL, rugby league’s governing body, attempted to have 39 out of the 46 claims made in the case thrown out for non-compliance with the ACAS Early Reconciliation Process, a move which was dismissed by Judge David Jones, who said the attempt was made on an “absurd technicality”.

The group of claimants includes a number of current and former Bulls players, including lead claimant Adam Sidlow, who now plays for Toronto Wolfpack, and other former players Alex Mellor and Adam O’Brien, and current players including Dane Chisholm and Liam Kirk.

The case came after Bradford Bulls Northern Ltd was put into administration in late 2016, and after a number of failed takeover attempts, into liquidation in January 2017.

A new company, Bradford Bulls 2017 Ltd, was founded by New Zealanders Graham Lowe and Andrew Chalmers, which took over the Bulls’ RFL licence and played in last year’s Championship starting with a 12-point points deduction, eventually being relegated to League 1, where the Bulls will play in 2018.