Ken Anderson - update.

Following on from all the speculation, I am pleased to confirm that the loan from Blu Marble Capital Ltd has been repaid.

I am also pleased to be able to confirm that the loans to both PBP (Michael James) and Brett Warburton have been extended on better terms for the club and I am extremely grateful for the continued support, help and assistance of Michael and Brett.

I was also able to reschedule and reduce a number of other club liabilities which in all have reduced future costs and liabilities by circa £1.5m and will be of great assistance to the club going forward.

As previously stated, I believe the club now has one of the lowest debt positions in the Championship.

I am also pleased to confirm that the club did not go into administration and there are no points deductions or embargo implications.

I fully appreciate and understand that the last couple of days have caused some consternation for you all, and I would like to apologise for that, but the whole process has been very complex and far from easy.

We can all now put this behind us and move onwards and get fully behind the team as they look to continue their excellent start to the campaign when they return to the University of Bolton Stadium on Saturday for the game against QPR.

I would like to thank you all for your patience and we can all look forward to a season of progress both on and off the pitch.

Kind regards,

Ken

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OK after three days away I got home last night to find out Eddie had died and the club came perilously close to going with him. Of course my thoughts and prayers are with Eddie's family and friends but I have a question about blumarble.

I remember them saying publicly that they'd agreed a proposal to repay the debt owed to them by Sportshield from Ken Anderson of 4million quid plus interest. So how come they were suddenly able to reject that and file this petition in the first place? And why did the court even grant them a hearing when they'd agreed a repayment structure already?

luckyPeterpiper wrote:OK after three days away I got home last night to find out Eddie had died and the club came perilously close to going with him. Of course my thoughts and prayers are with Eddie's family and friends but I have a question about blumarble.

I remember them saying publicly that they'd agreed a proposal to repay the debt owed to them by Sportshield from Ken Anderson of 4million quid plus interest. So how come they were suddenly able to reject that and file this petition in the first place? And why did the court even grant them a hearing when they'd agreed a repayment structure already?

I've answered your question here Peter -

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Sluffy wrote:

luckyPeterpiper wrote:OK after three days away I got home last night to find out Eddie had died and the club came perilously close to going with him. Of course my thoughts and prayers are with Eddie's family and friends but I have a question about blumarble.

I remember them saying publicly that they'd agreed a proposal to repay the debt owed to them by Sportshield from Ken Anderson of 4million quid plus interest. So how come they were suddenly able to reject that and file this petition in the first place? And why did the court even grant them a hearing when they'd agreed a repayment structure already?

I've answered your question here Peter -

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Seen it and responded thanks mate. It's my mistake, I thought I'd seen a statement from them on the Beeb a few weeks back but it turns out to be a re-print of Iles piece on Ken's statement.

Following on from the very sad news of the passing of Eddie Davies, football returns to the University of Bolton Stadium this Saturday when we face Queens Park Rangers.
I must admit it will seem strange without Eddie in the Directors’ Box, but his spirit lives on and I’m sure he’ll be looking down on us and cheering on the boys as they push for victory.
We will be opening a Book of Condolences in Bolton Central from Friday morning, whilst at the match we will be holding a minute’s applause to show our appreciation for all that he did for the club. I’m sure you will all want to pay your respects to Ed.
It would be fantastic if we had a good turnout for him at the game.

Saturday’s game is the first of three in a seven-day period, which makes it seem like the international break was a distant memory.
The games are once again coming thick and fast, and the trips to Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town will be a good test for the players, especially after Saturday’s fixture.
The players have been working tirelessly at the training ground so that they can maintain the momentum which has seen us get our campaign off to a fantastic start.

Since our last home game, we’ve brought in two additional players and I’d like to welcome both Christian Doidge and Joe Williams to the University of Bolton Stadium. I wish them both well with their careers at the club.
If you haven’t already got your tickets for Saturday’s game, you can book them online by clicking here and printing them at home.

Don’t forget, that season tickets are still available and represent the most cost effective way of watching Wanderers at the University of Bolton Stadium this season. More information can be found here.
Home, away and third choice kits are still available in Bolton Central so please wear your colours with pride and get behind the team home and away. Alternatively, you can order them online by clciking here.

Finally, we are delighted to confirm that Rod Stewart will be performing at the University of Bolton Stadium next summer. This news follows on the back of the two successful concerts we staged this summer. But that’s not all. We shall shortly be announcing two more huge concerts, which will well and truly put our name back on the map as a top live music venue! Stay tuned!

Let's be loud, let’s be proud and let’s get behind the boys on Saturday!

Kind regards,
Ken

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After two tough games on the road it will be good to be finally back on home soil at the University of Bolton Stadium on Saturday.

I thought we were unlucky not to have got something out of our game at Middlesbrough, but Boro took full advantage of an unfortunate mistake on our part when they capitalised on a wayward backpass.

Mistakes happen in football and we will learn from it, but I believe we may have got something from the game if that hadn’t have happened. Their second goal, right at death, came about after we were trying to get back into the match.

All in all, it was a disappointing result but we cannot be too critical about our overall performance against a side that should be in contention for promotion to the Premier League in May.

Just three days later we had another long distance trip to Suffolk and with a bit more fortune I have no doubt that we might have picked up a victory.

All was going to plan until Marc Wilson was unfortunately sent off, meaning that we had to play the majority of the game with ten men. We firmly believe that it was a harsh decision to send off Marc – in my opinion, a caution would have sufficed – but after much deliberation, we reluctantly decided to accept the punishment and not to appeal the decision, and Marc will therefore miss out on Saturday’s game against Derby County.

His dismissal meant we had to alter our game plan much sooner than we had originally envisaged. Despite this, we were always in with a chance of grabbing the points. I thought we contained Ipswich very well and only restricted them to one shot on target, which Ben Alnwick saved spectacularly.

I suppose given the circumstances, a point away from home when you have had to play most of the game with ten men, is more than respectable.

Looking at the league table, not many points separate us from the play off positions and a couple of positive results will help boost our place. Indeed, if we can improve our goal difference that will help us move up the table and this is something the management team are working on.

Saturday’s opponents Derby County currently sit in sixth position having won five of their opening matches.

They will be a tough test for us but I am confident that we have what it takes to get a positive result.

Loud and passionate backing from our home fans will most definitely help and lift the players, and I hope you all do your utmost to make the atmosphere at the weekend as intimidating as possible. Believe me, it really does help and inspire the players.

If you haven’t already bought tickets for the game, please do so by clicking here. There are also a number of hospitality packages available so please call our Sales Team on 01204 673761 for more information.

On Monday, we announced the arrival of Lloyd Dyer who I am pleased to welcome to the club.

Lloyd is a very experienced and versatile player, who he will give us an extra dimension on the left hand side, particularly with Sammy Ameobi being on the sidelines. It also gives us different options, particularly when playing with three at the back. Lloyd’s goal scoring rate is excellent for a wing back having scored 15 in the last couple of seasons with seven of them being scored in the Championship last season.

Despite the transfer window closing, our recruitment team are always looking for the right player and if he becomes available and will add extra quality to our squad then we will be interested in bringing him to the club.

After this Saturday’s game we have another two games coming up in quick succession and it’s crucial that you continue to get behind the boys.

We make the journey to Stoke City on Tuesday and will be looking to continue our decent away record. Having dropped out of the Premier League last season, it is fair to say that Stoke have yet to find their feet in the Sky Bet Championship.

We will need to be at our best to get something from the game and I hope as many fans as possible can make the journey to the Bet365 Stadium.

Neighbours Blackburn Rovers will be our next visitors to the University of Bolton Stadium on Saturday 6 October and you can rest assured that they will bring a very large contingent of travelling fans for the short trip across Lancashire.

Looking at our recent match at Preston, we only need to look at the positive effect our own fans had on our performance.

We need to make sure that we don’t give the Rovers fans anything to cheer about and if they do we need to drown out their noise from the outset.

Tickets and hospitality for this match are now on sale and I urge you all to get down to the stadium for this Lancashire hotpot. Bring your friends, families and colleagues. Your support can make the difference. Tickets are available to purchase by clicking here.

We have a number of sponsorship packages available for the course of the season, including match day sponsorship opportunities as well suite and executive boxes packages available. Please contact our Sales Team on 01204 673761 for more information or click here to view the brochure.

Finally, I am personally delighted that Rod Stewart will be performing at the University of Bolton Stadium next summer. Tickets and hospitality packages are selling very well for this concert so please book early to ensure you don’t miss out on seeing and hearing this global star. I have seen him several times and cannot wait to experience another of his concerts again.

In the coming days we are hoping to bring you some more exciting concert related news so watch all the usual channels.

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BN saying EFL have got involved in the pay dispute over non payment of severance pay for Derik, Caracan, and Henry, and could put the blocks on registering any players until they are paid.

MartinBWFC wrote:BN saying EFL have got involved in the pay dispute over non payment of severance pay for Derik, Caracan, and Henry, and could put the blocks on registering any players until they are paid.

It's going to be a long season... filled with drama (as it has been already)!

MartinBWFC wrote:BN saying EFL have got involved in the pay dispute over non payment of severance pay for Derik, Caracan, and Henry, and could put the blocks on registering any players until they are paid.

It's fair enough.If Ken won't pay last season's players I can understand why the EFL won't let him sign new ones

Link to article in thread is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] guys.

MartinBWFC wrote:BN saying EFL have got involved in the pay dispute over non payment of severance pay for Derik, Caracan, and Henry, and could put the blocks on registering any players until they are paid.

Actually it doesn't say that.

It says EFL not obliged to get involved as this is a severance payment (with presumably strings attached, ie you look for work)  if player doesn't get fixed up.

This not a wage payment in a strict sense of the term.

BWFC going through cash flow problems as salaries still more than what's taken in.

Any ex Bolton school  on here? I've just discovered that one of the lads who travelled to Bolton away games with the chemistry teachers in the mid to late 1980s has become rather wealthy, well in the tens of £millions worth of shares in the company he is MD of.Its not based in the UK.
Anyone know who Im on about?
Give him a few more years and maybe...

Ken has a pop at Iles (and our Martin!) - and Pawel called up by Poland.

It was such a great feeling to return to the University of Bolton Stadium on Saturday and come off the pitch with three points against a good Derby County team.
Plenty had been written about Derby, especially after their cup victory against Manchester United, but I thought we stuck to our task perfectly well. We contained them throughout the match, caused them problems and we fully deserved our victory.
I thought the vociferous support from our fans was fantastic throughout and I have no doubt that this spurred the team on.

Perhaps my own personal highlight from the game was watching the passion with which Craig Noone celebrated the goal. It was a fantastic gesture to run straight over to Stephen Darby in the stands and cheer the goal with him. This encapsulates the wholehearted support Stephen has from his team mates and everybody at the football club.

It was fitting that the players wore Stephen’s name and number prior to kick off. These shirts have been signed by the players and will be auctioned with all proceeds going to the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Full details will be announced very soon on the club’s website so please bid for your chance to own one of these special shirts and to donate to a very worthwhile cause.

I have to say that although I thought that those who were in attendance on Saturday were in fine voice and I am very grateful for their support, I was a little disappointed with the total crowd figure of 14,096.

It’s even more disappointing considering the good start to the season the team has made in comparison to last season.

I really do hope that we can start to see the attendance figures increase, starting from this Saturday’s local derby against Blackburn Rovers.

For the first five games of this season, we are down by an average of approximately 2,000 fans per match compared to the opening five games of last season. Although it is important to put this into context given that last season Leeds United (4,832) and Middlesbrough (4,165) brought large travelling support with them.

We only have to look back at the attendance figures for the backend of our League One campaign a couple of seasons ago where we were getting crowds in excess of 20,000.

A lot has been mentioned in the local press about ‘off field financial problems’ which is getting increasingly frustrating. It seems to be repeated in every article at the moment yet they seem to forget where the club was financially two years ago.
The continuous negativity about the ‘financial problems’ and the manager’s perceived defensive style of play does not help anyone and hopefully the people concerned will move on and write about some of the positives going forward for a change.

I do accept the media’s right to be an independent voice but I do not understand certain individuals’ apparent need to regularly repeat the same negativity on an almost daily basis both in print and on social media.

There has been a great deal of comments recently in the media and on TV about the great job that Phil has done and l would be the first to agree with this as l think it’s fully justified. l clearly showed this when he had my full support throughout last season when there were constant calls for me to dismiss him.

However, what I don’t agree with are the comments about there having been no money made available as l believe our current  player costs are up there with mid-table teams and the club have financially supported Phil and his management team to the best of its abilities since l have been at the club.

As l have repeatedly said, l think this season’s squad is the strongest since l have been at the club and generally speaking we have cover and options for every position, the game set-up and formation that we can play and with three games coming thick and fast again, the recruitment and investment in the squad during the summer is paying dividends.

We all have to accept that we do not have the financial resources of the recently relegated teams with parachute payments, or the financially better off and better supported teams like Leeds, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol City, Derby County and Nottingham Forest to name just a few.

It’s essential though that if we are to compete both on the field and financially with these teams that we need to increase our revenues from increased  attendances, sponsorship, hospitality, merchandise and events and l hope that everyone will get behind the club to make this possible.

For example, off the field, Suzanne Speak and her team in the hotel have arranged a number of events over the past few days which have seen over 3,000 people attend the venue. The International Football Programme is also proving to be increasingly successful and just this week alone we are welcoming five teams from South Africa, Australia and the United States.
Well done and a huge thank you to Suzanne and her incredible team for the continuous efforts and hard work they put in every day, week in and week out.
This income is crucial for us to sustain and drive the business going forward.
On the field, we’ve got a really good opportunity to get ourselves back in a commanding position in the upper reaches of the Sky Bet Championship table with two crucial games before the international break.
Tomorrow we travel to Stoke which will be another difficult and competitive game and I’m confident that we will continue our strong performances on the road, while it would be fantastic to see a large turnout for our local derby against Blackburn at the University of Bolton Stadium.
It is crucial that we continue to take nothing for granted in any game, as we have all seen there are no easy games in the Championship this season.
You can buy your tickets for this game now by clicking here or why not try some of our fantastic hospitality packages which can be bought by calling our Sales Team on 01204 673761.

Finally, I would like to congratulate Pawel Olkowski on earning an international recall with Poland, for their forthcoming international fixtures against Italy and Portugal. Pawel has taken to life in England really well and has been a fantastic player for us during these opening months of the campaign. His call-up is well deserved.
Let’s be loud, let’s be proud and let’s get behind the boys!

Best wishes,

Ken

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He really is an amateur when it comes to running a football club. No understanding of the fanbase and our disposable income especially if he thinks we can provide all the funding required to move the club forward without the requisite speculation from serious money which he has failed or refused to engage. As regards PR does he honestly think that in trying to make the fans feel guilty about not giving enough money to him/the club that it will work as a strategy? Naive at best.
At least we've got a team that looks like it can compete for survival in this league - but he should be using that as a lure for serious money instead of trying to consolidate a fiefdom based on the idea that Bolton fans will pay for the considerable investment required to progress to the next level - because they can't.
Trying to make the fans feel bad about not giving enough just shows where he's at.

‘Off field financial problems’ is a factual statement, how else would you describe almost going into admin and public rows over unpaid bills?

KA needs to stop going on about attendances, this 20K mark he's after is not going to happen on a regular basis. We were struggling to get 20K in the last years of the Prem so why would we suddenly start getting that amount now? 
Lots of fans on facebook moaning about ticket prices as well as Blackburn prices are £36 and it seems Blackburn fans aren't willing to pay it and have only sold 1000 tickets.

I remember when this game was pretty much a sell out.

£30 behind the goal and £32 in nob head corner (plus £1 booking fee) seems a bit pricey for this game TBH.

What worries me is the thought that Anderson's business plan to retain control is based on selling 20k + tickets every home game, because if it is the creditors will be queuing up again very shortly indeed and there aren't that many assets left for him to cash in.

"manager’s perceived defensive style of play"   I knew I was imagining it all along. I stand corrected.