Remember Bolton Wanderers?
A team that once used to give a tough competition for top 6 finish in the PL now lies forgotten in the fourth tier. What exactly went wrong?
The current generation fans have a rather vivid exposure towards the world of football which educates them about major and minor leagues along with their teams and players. A decade and half ago, one might not have known of clubs like Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspurs, or even Manchester City! Now these 3 clubs are among the top clubs of the PL with fandom all around the world. In recent history, many football fans have witnessed money being poured onto the teams and their sponsorships fetching expensive signings, attracting new sets of fans altogether. Small clubs, that were being taken over by business tycoons who invested big bucks in the team, catapulting them to new heights are now making front page headlines almost every week. Manchester City is a relevant example of this scenario.
How money impacts a club: Manchester City
12 years ago, Manchester City had no recognition or fanbase; it was the “other Manchester club” that had no purpose of existence. Then an Arab billionaire stepped into the picture like a genie in a suit and success was bound to follow for the once tarnished club.
Manchester City’s value in 2008 was a mere £210 million. Yes, Cristiano Ronaldo was worth half the value of the entire club when he moved to Real Madrid! But this was the amount Sheikh Mansour paid when he bought the club. For a man whose personal wealth was an estimate of £17 billion, 210 million was perhaps infinitesimal. But what happened next is known to the world. From “the most relegated club in the PL” to the “Top contender for the PL title” every season, the club’s worth rose tenfold to approx £2 billion by the end of 2018. So by now you might have a fair idea of how money affects a football club. Its important to know the positive side of money as this blog focuses more on the negative side.
Bolton Wanderers:
Many of the young fans might not know the fight Bolton used to put up against the “Big 4” almost a decade and half ago. Bolton Wanderers were among the founding members of the Football League alongside the likes of Preston North End (the first ever league winners, first ever Invincibles), Aston Villa and Everton in 1888. In the early 2000's, they were a 4 star football club (according to FIFA 06, 07, and 08) with the likes of Nikolas Anelka, Gary Cahil, Jay-Jay Okocha, Johan Elmander (one of my favourites) and Youri Djorkaeff playing for the Whites. Their famous white Reebok jersey was just as captivating as the players on the pitch wearing it. As Bolton is a Manchester based club, they apparently became arch rivals of Alex Ferguson’s Man United and their match would be one of the most anticipated matches of their time in the PL.
Bolton Wanderers are a 5 time FA Cup winner and even played in the UEFA Cup two seasons in a row reaching as far as Last 32 and Last 16 respectively. They also have the record of spending the most seasons in the top flight without winning the league title (73).
A fairly decent club like Bolton should have maintained their PL status, one might think. So what exactly went wrong for the Trotters?
PL relegation in 2012 and aftermath:
While people around the world were wondering if the world would come to an end, it surely did for the club.
This is where things get complicated for the club, financially. Bolton Wanderers was owned by Burnden Leisure Ltd. It was a public company that traded in AIM Stock Exchange but after the company was taken over by Eddie Davies, he delisted the company in 2003. Burden Leisure had 100% ownership of the club with Eddie Davies holding 94.5% shares. Money never seemed to be a problem for the club until the 2011/12 season.
Bolton Wanderers were relegated from the Premier League by 1 point, finishing 18th. Following the match Eddie Davies revoked all the investments he made in the club which left them in a staggering £200 million debt. Let me put things into perspective; a team that plays in the Premier League finishes the season with an average payout of £105 million, no matter where it stands in the end. Whereas, a team that plays in the Championship league finishes the season with an average payout of just £6 million! Although, the winners of the Championship league are promoted to the Premier League, their payout apart from the league earnings is still far less than that of a club finishing last in the top flight.
So basically, Bolton Wanderers were left stranded in the Championship with a debt of £200 million and no easy way to recover it. In that very year, they also lost their kit manufacturer and shirt sponsor Reebok, who had been making their jerseys for almost 22 years. Bolton lost its major sponsors following the loss of Reebok, which all of a sudden put the club’s management under tremendous pressure. As a final act of loyalty, Eddie Davies promised to clear as much as £125 million of the debt for the Trotters (which significantly helped their financial crisis), but the debts continued to increase over the seasons as there was never a proper support from the owners. Under the administration of Ken Anderson, Bolton suffered a major financial setback as the players and the staff were not paid their salaries for months and also suffered backlash from the fans regarding the club’s ownership. The lack of financial support and experienced players led to Bolton’s relegation from the Championship to League 1. At this point, the club was unable to attract lucrative deals to raise funds given their poor status in the EFL.
Bolton on the brink of expulsion:
Bolton was put under administration by the EFL in the August of 2019, along with their turf rivals, Bury FC, which created an atmosphere of tension for both sets of fans as both the teams were given a month’s time to secure a new ownership deal that would take care of their finances. Should they fail to be acquired by a new owner before deadline, they would be expelled from the EFL as an active club, depriving them from any participation in any EFL competitions. As the Wanderers were in pursuit of a potential owner to save them from expulsion, their efforts finally bore the fruit on the last day of the deadline when the club was sold to Football Ventures (Whites) Ltd for a fee of around £10 million, despite Ken Anderson being against this decision. Following this deal, Bolton sold their stadium naming rights to the University of Bolton which ought to help them raise more funds.
After the world was plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic, many leagues decided to conclude the season including League 1 in which Bolton Wanderers were playing. Bolton faced a 12 point deduction for breaching EFL regulations and saw themselves lying at the bottom of the table before the league was suspended indefinitely. After the league ended, Bolton was relegated to the fourth tier, League 2, for the first time since 1988. This would mark their second ever spell in this league.
The story of Bolton Wanderers is nothing but a tragedy. A club that once rivaled giants like Manchester United is now gone and forgotten. Hopefully, someday we might witness a comeback from the Wanderers who would find their way back into the PL.
