Bolton rescued as Bury demand appeal
Consortium finally seals Wanderers takeover Expelled club claiming late £7m bid was valid
Bolton Wanderers were dramatically rescued from the brink of collapse last night after a bittersweet 24 hours for the crisis-hit English Football League.
The Football Ventures consortium confirmed it had finally completed the “most complicated” purchase just two days after the administrator warned the 145-yearold club appeared doomed.
However, there were increasingly bitter recriminations yesterday over the EFL’S decision to expel League One neighbours Bury as it emerged a £7million rescue package was tabled. The Daily Telegraph understands a group of figures connected with Bury are now considering a High Court class action if the EFL ignores its pleas for appeal.
For Bolton, though, the League One season can continue. Debbie Jevans, the EFL executive chairman, confirmed the club were no longer in administration and a fortnight warning of expulsion “has been cancelled”.
“These past few months have been challenging and, at times, fraught and I would like to thank all parties for their efforts in achieving the desired outcome,” she said.
Ken Anderson, the businessman who took the club into administration, was believed to have wanted the deal to include indemnity from any possible civil action, but joint administrator Paul Appleton confirmed the deal had been rescued. “At times, some of the hurdles appeared insurmountable and the frustration felt has been immense,” he said.
The rescue should eventually safeguard 150 jobs. Appleton launched a blistering attack on Anderson for using “his position as a secured creditor to hamper and frustrate any deal that did not benefit him or suit his purposes.”
The EFL pulled the plug on Bury on Tuesday night to make them the first club to be expelled since Maidstone United in 1992. Jevans yesterday ruled out a reprieve, despite SJ Global International’s claims that it had transferred funds to buy the club by 9am yesterday. Jill Neville, the club secretary, reportedly took a call from the EFL late on Tuesday night telling her that £7million rescue funds had been rescinded.
Ivan Lewis, the local MP, is among a host of interested parties who have now signed a letter urging the EFL to reconsider in the wake of the offer. “The EFL has proof of funds from a credible global organisation which has agreed a purchase with Steve Dale,” Lewis said.
Sports lawyer Chris Farnell said SJ Global, with which he works, had agreed a rescue package with Dale, and was trying to ascertain from the EFL the best way to transfer funds to complete the takeover.
The offer to buy Bury came in late on Monday and the EFL was immediately contacted by Farnell, who, in discussions with them, he says, made it clear it appeared to meet all financial criteria. However, Jevans said earlier: “There’s no appeal process. It is within people’s rights to write to us. We await any correspondence, should it arrive.”
Jevans also refused to rule out whether the Serious Fraud Office could be called in to investigate the handling of the club which led to their collapse. Concerns, she said, had been raised by C&N Sporting Risk, another of the failed bidders.
Damian Collins, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, will now lead MPS in reviewing the crisis. “Once again, the football authorities, and the EFL in particular, seem powerless to stop bad owners running great clubs into the ground,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
Jevans said she was “devastated,
‘The authorities seem powerless to stop bad owners running great clubs into the ground’
sad, any number of adjectives” about Bury’s plight, and the league had done all it could to save them. The blame was laid entirely at the door of Bury’s owner. “It was his [Dale’s] choice not to sell,” she said.
Vysyble, the data firm which claims it warned the EFL of a potential crisis two years ago, said Bury’s expulsion could be just the start. “What we’ve experienced with Bury and with Bolton, we expect to happen again,” said John Purcell, the co-founder of Vysyble.”