The Sports Shield consortium, led by former Bolton striker Dean Holdsworth, completed their takeover of Championship club Bolton Wanderers on Thursday 10th March. Holdsworth will join the board of directors and former owner Eddie Davies will become honorary club president. Sports Shield and Inner Circle, owned by Ken Anderson, have taken control of Davies’ 94.5% controlling share following ratification by the Football League.
A winding-up petition against Bolton in the High Court was recently adjourned for a third time to give Holdsworth’s group more time, so confirmation of the deal being completed will come as a great relief to staff and fans alike. The club are next due in court on March 21st regarding an outstanding tax bill of over £2m, which presumably will now be paid on or before that date. The majority of the club’s eye-watering overall debt of more than £170m was owed to Davies, and the takeover will mean that much of that debt will now be written off.
Wanderers’ problems are not entirely removed; they have already sold their training ground and stadium car park to raise funds in recent months and are also under a transfer embargo for breaking Financial Fair Play regulations. On top of all this the team, at the time of reporting, are on the brink of relegation to League One – being ten points adrift of safety with ten matches remaining. Completion of the change of ownership will still, however, be seen as a big step forward for the beleaguered club.
Dean Holdsworth said: “We would like to thank the staff, fans and club sponsors for their continued support during what has been an incredibly difficult period for all involved.
Securing the club’s future was of paramount importance. We very much hope that we can build on the continued support of a club steeped in history for many years to come.
We will not give up the fight of maintaining our Championship status. We believe we have a group of excellent players to work with and we hope that today’s news will give everyone a lift, both on and off the pitch.”
Eddie Davies said “It has been an honour to have initially been on the board of directors and then majority shareholder of the club I have supported all of my life. Recently, we have gone through what has been a challenging period both on and off the field, but we now hope that we can once again move our great football club forward.
I of course wish Dean Holdsworth, Ken Anderson and the Sports Shield consortium all the very best and thank the supporters for their loyalty and continued backing of the club”.
P. Thompson ( photo credits: boltonnews)