Bolton Chairman Phil Gartside passes away aged sixty-three

Bolton long time chairman Phil Gartside passed away on Wednesday night after a short term battle with cancer.

He was chairman of The Whites for sixteen years. During that time, Gartside enjoyed an eleven year stay in the Premier League, which included two Uefa Cup campaigns.

As a Bolton fan, this has obviously hit all the fans hard, as he was a benefactor towards one of our most successful periods in the clubs history. However it was reported in Sam Allardyce’s autobiography that the club could’ve gone further in Europe, had it been for Gartside’s tentativeness to invest.

However in November 2015, Gartside’s health took a turn for the worse, when he had to pass his duties onto financial advisor Trevor Birch to sort out The Wanderers’ financial problems.

Players past and present commented on the passing. Current Bolton midfielder Josh Vela tweeted his thoughts on the passing, as well as recently retired and former Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden.