Seal takeovers now or go bust, Bolton and Bury warned by league
There were fresh fears last night that Bolton Wanderers and Bury would both go bust after the English Football League set the crisis clubs a new deadline of 5pm Tuesday to safeguard their futures.
The EFL warned that failure by Bolton to complete a long-awaited takeover or produce “credible plans” for them to continue the season in administration would put their membership of the league in jeopardy.
And despite granting Bury a stay of execution after owner Steve Dale agreed to sell to Rory Campbell – the son of former Downing Street spin doctor Alastair – and Henry Newman shortly before a deadline of midnight on Friday, it gave the pair less than one working day to conclude a deal.
Bolton had already been given weeks to do so after the EFL allowed them to start the season on the basis that a sale to the Sharon Brittan-led Football Ventures had been all but agreed.
But Friday produced the latest in a series of delays, prompting the league to issue an ultimatum late last night.
It said in a statement: “If a successful conclusion to a sale is not found or there are no credible plans for the club to continue the season in administration by the planned board meeting at 5pm on Tuesday Aug 27, then the EFL board will consider lifting the suspension on the Notice of Withdrawal of the club’s membership of the league, which was issued when the club entered into administration in May 2019.”
Bury, meanwhile, were told failure to meet the same deadline would result in automatic expulsion, with the EFL ignoring pleas from Campbell and Newman – the founders of sports data company C&N Sporting Risk – for an additional 24 hours due to tomorrow being a bank holiday.
C&N said in a statement: “It is disappointing the EFL has chosen to go for such a short extension, especially given this is a bank holiday weekend and our main legal adviser is unavailable until Wednesday.
“We will, however, seek to gain answers to the main outstanding questions in the short time available but this does make the task much more challenging.
“It would be a huge pity if the club were to fold because of lack of time to do the due diligence necessary for such a complicated scenario.”
The EFL said it granted an extension after “enough credible information was presented” to its board for it to “attempt to finalise the change of control and achieve a positive outcome for Bury FC”.
A source told The Sunday Telegraph the board disagreed that the three-day weekend meant a deal could not be done in time.
The Tuesday 5pm deadline was also consistent with previous cut-offs for the postponement of Bury’s Saturday fixtures this season, something the league said it would not allow to continue.
Sources told The Telegraph that Campbell and Newman had yet to provide necessary information to the EFL and that the pair themselves still had questions for Dale over the complex ownership of Bury’s home ground.
Dale, who bought the debt-ridden club for £1 and has had a Company Voluntary Arrangement controversially approved after they were promoted to League One last season, said yesterday a confidentiality agreement prevented him revealing how much any deal was worth.
The threat to Bury’s 134-year existence was sparked by his failure to provide the EFL with proof he had access to the £2.7 million it deemed necessary to fund the club for an entire season and fulfil their immediate obligations to creditors.
Campbell and Newman were facing the same demands and questions were raised yesterday about where their money was coming from, with the most recently-published accounts of C&N Sporting Risk showing it lost £215,000 last year.
Bury North MP James Frith, who has been liaising with the pair since June, said their “investment vehicle” was “not in the UK” but added that they had not shown him proof of funds.
The chairman of the Forever Bury supporters’ trust, Dave Gifford, said he thought there were “other people” involved in the takeover.
He said he had also seen no proof of funds from Campbell and Newman, who were introduced to him by Frith, but added: “We’ve every belief that they’ve got the funds and they’re ready to move it on.”
Campbell and Newman have been working in the professional game for a number of years, providing statistical expertise to clubs both in the transfer market and in their match analysis. The latter also previously coached at Barnet.
They were said yesterday to have shown an interest in buying Notts County earlier this summer, with Gifford revealing they had “done their homework” on the lower leagues.
Gifford and his fellow supporters descended on Gigg Lane yesterday following the EFL decision. He said: “It was either going to be a wake or a bit of a celebration and it’s somewhere in between.”