Proud Trotters land in dire financial straits
News that Bolton Wanderers, currently rock bottom of the Championship, could not pay their players’ wages for November, reflects just how much this proud club has fallen on hard times. A recently appointed adviser has called Bolton’s position “increasingly perilous”.
Unless there is some kind of miracle, it looks like Bolton will be going the same way as their old rivals, Blackpool, currently floundering in a grim relegation battle down in League One.
How sad to think that in 1953 these two teams were responsible for arguably the best-ever FA Cup Final. Blackpool edged Bolton 4-3 in a thriller at Wembley, in what became known as the Matthews final.
Blackpool’s fall from grace, involving major internal disputes, has been well-documented, but little has been written about Bolton’s plight.
As their position in the Championship table indicates, the Trotters are in deep trouble, having won just one of their 18 league games. Their only source of optimism is that nine of these matches have been drawn, suggesting at least a certain stubbornness.
But it is off the field where their real troubles lie, with the club deep in debt.
After relegation following a commendable 11-year stint in the Premier League from 2001-12, the club has not been able to turn things around. They have suffered particularly with the high wage bill that was necessary to keep the players from the top flight days.
Now Eddie Davies, a local businessman who has bankrolled the club for many years, says he can’t handle it anymore. And the desperate financial situation is not being helped by the team’s poor performances. However, there is not much manager Neil Lennon can do about it, having been told there is no money available to buy new players.
Things have become so desperate former captain Kevin Davies said last week that “the club has lost its soul”.
To fully appreciate what all this means requires a brief look at the history of a club which was one of the founding members of the Football League.
The club began in 1874 as Christ Church Sunday School team run by a local vicar. They quickly dropped the vicar and adopted the name Bolton in 1877. In the first 20 years they didn’t have a permanent ground and because of this became known as Bolton Wanderers, a suffix they share with two other league clubs, Wolverhampton and Wycombe.
Bolton have an unwanted record in being the club with the highest number of seasons (73) in the top flight without having won the title. Their best finish was when they came third in the old Division One on three occasions, the most recent being 1924-25.
However, they have a pretty good FA Cup record, winning the trophy four times and being runner-up on three occasions. But even in the Cup, their most recent triumph was 57 years ago.
Three of their FA Cup Final appearances turned out to be memorable occasions, for widely different reasons.
In 1923, they won the first-ever Cup Final at Wembley, beating West Ham 2-0, with David Jack scoring the first-ever goal at the new stadium. However, the final was remembered more for the huge crowd that spilled on to the pitch amidst extraordinary scenes. Police estimated more than 200,000 people showed up at the stadium whose capacity at that time was 127,000.
Because of the crowds spilling over onto the touchline, the players could not get off the field at half-time. Wembley wisely introduced all-ticket finals after that fiasco.
Bolton were involved in two other FA Cup finals in the 1950s which were of a contrasting nature. There was the already mentioned 1953 final, with Bolton, despite losing, playing their full part in a wonderful match.
Five years later, in 1958, they triumphed, but it was their opponents Manchester United who took all the plaudits. It was the year of the Munich air crash when eight “Busby Babes” were among the 23 people killed in the February tragedy.
Miraculously, with a totally makeshift team and riding on a wave of emotion, United made it to Wembley. Their team in the final included four players who had survived the crash — Bobby Charlton, Dennis Violet, Harry Gregg and Billy Foulkes.
But there the fairytale ended. Two goals from Nat Lofthouse sunk United, the second a shocking decision by the referee after goalkeeper Gregg was bundled into the net. Bolton deserved their victory, but it was United who everyone talked about.
And that was the last time Bolton won a major trophy, although they have returned to Wembley on three occasions to win Championship play-offs.
Following their 1958 success, Bolton entered a long period of decline, the low point coming in 1987 when they were relegated to the old Fourth Division, although they were promoted the following year.
They returned to the top flight in 1995, but for a few years were up and down like a yo-yo. Then, in 2001 they won the play-off against Preston and were to remain in the Premier league for the next 11 years, a commendable achievement.
For four years running they finished in the top eight, in 2005 reaching sixth. Much of their success was due to the sterling efforts of manager Sam Allardyce from 1999-2007. But since Big Sam left it has been a downward spiral and now they are struggling for survival.
Perhaps a Bolton victory today at home to Cardiff City could be the spark of a much-needed revival. But it will take more than one win to sort out the club’s troubles.