BOLTON’S LIFELINE

Wanderers given fortnight to seal ‘mystery buyer’ deal

Bolton Wanderers have been given a two-week stay of execution after telling a court they have found an unnamed buyer. the cash-strapped Championship club were granted a fortnight’s extension at the High Court yesterday, where a hearing to rule on a winding-up petition with more than £1million owed in tax was delayed until april 3. Bolton’s lawyer, Hilary stonefrost, told the court that a takeover deal had been agreed with a mystery purchaser. she added that when a sale goes through funds will be made available to settle debts. ‘the buyer is someone who already has a major stake in a high-level football club,’ said stonefrost, before asking for a two-week adjournment to allow the deal to be completed.

Sportsmail understands talks are ongoing with a number of parties. the deal put forward yesterday is thought to have been a successful move which was aimed at buying time. Insiders have disclosed that negotiations continue with interested parties from the UK and overseas. Controversial owner Ken anderson has been trying to sell Bolton, who look set to be relegated to league one, and saw a proposed deal collapse over the weekend. Payments have been made late to players and staff on a number of occasions under anderson’s watch. earlier this month, the club’s training ground was closed for a day owing to a lack of fuel and supplies and desperate staff — waiting for their latest wages — sought small handouts from the club to allow them to put petrol in their cars and food on the table. Bolton’s home fixture with Millwall on March 9 was also under threat before the club managed to convince the local council that they had the resources to ensure the match could be staged safely. anderson, who took over in 2016, paid himself £525,000 in his first year in charge. He had hoped to sell to the Football Ventures consortium, led by Parminder Basran and sharon Brittan, only to see the plan fall through with the clock ticking to yesterday’s date in london. that group is understood to have pulled out after finding that outstanding debts to creditors were higher than they had expected. the winding-up petition was brought by HMrC, who demanded more than £1m in tax payments. other creditors included Macron, the club’s kit manufacturers who say they are owed £194,753. should Bolton fail to find a buyer and slip into administration, they are likely to be hit with a 12-point penalty next season, rather than in the current campaign. the cut-off date for such a penalty to come into play for this season is March 28 — and a resolution before then is unlikely. a Bolton spokesman said: ‘We are pleased to get the adjournment which will allow the club to make progress with the interested party. no further comments will be made on the matter at this moment in time.’