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(More) trouble at Bolton

Bolton’s friendly against Chester has been called off, seems like the players are effectively on strike, which since they’re still not being paid is fair enough.

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Comments

  • Statement from their players. Feels strange that we're favourites for that opening game.
  • I hate what the players and fans are going thru, especially since they’re looking at a healthy points deduction too, but it’s a great opportunity for us to get a great start to the season.

  • Not been paid for TWENTY weeks?!

    Amazing they haven't downed tools before?!

  • Its disgusting, the EFL need to get some cash down there asap be it as a loan to administrators or from their freeloaders summer conferences fund.

    Hope we are organising collections for their staff if it isn't all resolved by then.

  • Very sad. Looks extremely unlikely that we'll have a game on August 3rd at this rate.

  • Incredible comment in the response from Bolton's administrator to the players' statement. After partially dismissing it as "riddled with factual inaccuracies", it states "The fact they have not been paid would appear to have had a major impact on their collective mindset." Something of an understatement, I think.

  • I must say I feel that english football is emulating society at the moment in perfect simulation. The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. The premier league are getting all the funds and us bottom feeders are getting F all. The F.A surely need to wake up and smell the coffee. The English football league is currently an unsustainable model. Every one below premiership is feeling the pinch. Big clubs are disappearing. It can't carry on like this?!! Why are the F.A seemingly so oblivious to smaller clubs plights?
    Something needs to give. Something needs to change asap. Surely this is recognised at some level and they must be putting into place a massive over haul plan??!!

  • The biggest culprits in this are the television networks, they plough ridiculous sums of money into the premier league and constantly scream that it’s the best league in the world. What is the point of having the ‘best league in the world’ if it comes at a cost of the national team and the leagues below the premier league, this is capitalism at its finest. In my opinion the national team is suffering because of the lack of young English players that are allowed to flourish ( say what you want about our World Cup run but we had the easiest run out of everyone and lost all three games against top 10 opposition.), the drama of the premier league means that clubs are buying foreign players and managers often leaving the English talent behind. In terms of the lower leagues it creates a scramble to become part of the money train and clubs are all too often getting found out financially for their gamble, one has to wonder how many more seasons we are going to get before the structure in football league and below collapses.

  • edited July 2019

    It's not as if the writing wasn't on the wall years ago regarding Bolton. When Big Sam was manager, I remember them spending a ton of money & thinking, how the hell can they afford this, at the time. Since then, they have been an absolute basket case when it comes to financial housekeeping and it appears to be the norm outside of the top 10 of the premiere league. Ever since the conception of the "Greed is Good League", the whole pyramid has been eroding from the ground up & one day the foundations will collapse. The whole of football finances needs a dramatic change, (how, I don't know), but, I fear, it may take one or two of the former giants to go the way of Rushden & Diamonds and be wiped off the football scene with immediate effect, rather than a slow, long painful process over years until they drop down 6/7 leagues?

  • If the bookies were morbid enough to offer bets on League One being a 22 team competition this season, I wonder what odds you'd get right now.

  • @OxfordBlue said:
    If the bookies were morbid enough to offer bets on League One being a 22 team competition this season, I wonder what odds you'd get right now.

    Looks like it may be 23, Bury's CVA has been approved:

  • I'm pleased for their fans, I really am.

    But at the same time, its kind of unfair they spent in excess of £12 million they didn't have, and will only have to pay back around £4-5 million.

  • @fedup1980 said:
    . In my opinion the national team is suffering because of the lack of young English players that are allowed to flourish ( say what you want about our World Cup run but we had the easiest run out of everyone and lost all three games against top 10 opposition.), the drama of the premier league means that clubs are buying foreign players and managers often leaving the English talent behind. In terms of the lower leagues it creates a scramble to become part of the money train and clubs are all too often getting found out financially for their gamble, one has to wonder how many more seasons we are going to get before the structure in football league and below

    At risk of taking this off topic, protectionism (minimum quotas for English players etc) will make the national team worse. If it weren’t for the influence of foreign players and managers, the England team would be even further behind the likes of France, Spain and Brazil than we are now.

    The issue is that few English players leave the UK to develop, limiting their opportunities at first team football. .

  • Couldn't disagree with you more @Glenactico
    The pool of English talent playing in the top flight isn't big enough to allow for us to get a big enough squad of international players once you take in to account the usual drop off due to injury, form etc.

    If the truelly big names in football were in the top division here then I could follow that part of the argument but they aren't and very few exceptions never have. We have stuffed our teams with over paid average foreign players.

    On the topic on hand I am shaking my head over how Bury's CVA has left them basically getting away with .millions of pounds of over spend. Local suppliers will suffer whilst football clubs and players don't. Basically Bury's promotion was paid for by suppliers who can't afford it. I don't want to see clubs fold but this kind of debt write off must come with bigger penalties. Otherwise there is no point doing things the right way.

  • Playing devils advocate here, but we didn't even qualify for the 74 and 78 World Cup when Liverpool, etc. were winning the European trophies, and the leagues were pretty much all English players.

  • @OxfordBlue said:
    I'm pleased for their fans, I really am.

    But at the same time, its kind of unfair they spent in excess of £12 million they didn't have, and will only have to pay back around £4-5 million.

    Does this mean they not only escape coughing up they escape a points deduction as well?

  • My sympathies are with both clubs for the way they have been mismanaged, but I cannot say I do not welcome TWO teams starting on -12! (Breathing space for us to get up to speed at least!)

  • I'm a bit sad about the lack of solidarity with fellow fans if I'm honest

  • @Wendoverman said:

    @OxfordBlue said:
    I'm pleased for their fans, I really am.

    But at the same time, its kind of unfair they spent in excess of £12 million they didn't have, and will only have to pay back around £4-5 million.

    Does this mean they not only escape coughing up they escape a points deduction as well?

    No, they got a 12 point deduction too.

  • @eric_plant said:
    I'm a bit sad about the lack of solidarity with fellow fans if I'm honest

    Maybe a bit of compassion fatigue creeping in perhaps? I remember donating to Brighton when they were in danger of going under and now they're living off the Premier League banquet and I wonder how many of their fans would care much about the plight of Bolton or Bury, or even us if things go awry. So many clubs have faced financial crises over the last 20 years and fans of most clubs are perhaps just hoping they're not next rather than thinking about the bigger picture. Just a thought.

  • @eric_plant said:
    I'm a bit sad about the lack of solidarity with fellow fans if I'm honest

    They will both survive it seems, Eric, Bolton have a takeover in place and Bury have had their debts cut with the CVA. I do feel for the fans actually, but on a Wycombe level I'm glad there are at least two clubs a little bit worse off than we are at the start of the season!

  • Bolton have had their -12 added on the BBC website now, looks like they're not sure about Bury yet:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/league-one/table

    Is this the first time we haven't started the season at the bottom of the table since York were a league club?

  • Bury will definitely be on -12 too, as the accepted CVA will equal administration.

    It is a really difficult situation, as none of the players or fans are to blame, and I feel for them - but it is also right (as stated above by @OxfordBlue) to feel for the local suppliers who will get shafted over unpaid bills.

    It is a mess all around, and the only people who appear to avoid any punishment or pain are the actual culprits (Premier League, FA, EFL and the corrupt and incompetent owners themselves).

  • Welcome to the world of being a Scottish football fan chaps! Been down and put for ages. Will I ever see another World Cup bid in my lifetime?

  • Bolton and Bury to both start the season on -12 points, and neither looks likely to be in any state to overcome that. Relegation zone effectively sliced in half before a ball's been kicked. It's gonna be a strange season.

  • Just hope they don’t both finish above us !

  • @micra said:
    Just hope they don’t both finish above us !

    Indeed. If there is one season Gareth needs to ensure we avoid the humiliation of relegation it is this one!! :smiley:

  • If Bury end up surviving as a club, that promotion saved them more than anything. If they had not been promoted, they would be -12 in League Two, and a Conference club next year. As it is, they gave themselves a buffer.

  • That season Hayes pulled that absolute boner on us, and left us scrabbling around in the Z bucket for players effectively killed the optimism and the hopes for the season.

    So you can only imagine how Bury feel, with a much worse situation.

    As bad as it is to say it though, we have to look at our own interests, and those two -12s really help our chances.

    Put a win in over Bolton first day, and you get a massive margin to play with from day 1.

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