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It was the day the ‘small minority’ showed the world what was happening at Wanderers.
Sky Sports cameras were pointed at the University of Bolton Stadium for a home game against West Brom in the full knowledge that things were far from stable.
January had been one PR disaster after another for then-owner Ken Anderson, as firstly he was taken publicly to task by Forest Green owner Dale Vince over unpaid money for striker Christian Doidge, then it emerged that Norwich City were owed a sizeable fee for the loans of Yanic Wildschut and Remi Matthews in the first half of the season.
The club was locked in an embargo for owing football creditors, received winding up petitions from HMRC, and had already paid players’ wages late in what was a glimpse of the more serious issues to come.
And on January 21, 2019, many supporters, young and old, gathered outside the stadium to announce that “enough was enough.”
Three major websites – the Lion of Vienna Suite, Burnden Aces and the Trotters Blog – had made the rallying call, echoed around other forums and social media. But it would be wrong to say the feeling was unanimous among supporters that a protest was the way to go.
The debate continued right up to the day itself. But if a push was needed to get it over the line, Anderson may have supplied it himself with a rather dismissive statement made shortly before the game.
“As previously stated I sincerely hope the planned protests being driven by a small minority on social media, some fans’ forums and the local media do not take place as I believe they could be a distraction to the team and won’t help the cause.
“Hopefully, the small minority taking part will see the negativity this protest will bring to the club and decide there are better ways to achieve their aims and at this time it would be far more beneficial to send positive messages to the players and management and get behind the team.”
Another factor which had pushed public opinion towards a protest had been the revoking of media privileges of club legend, John McGinlay, who had been prolific in his measured criticism of Anderson.
Though the Scot lent his support to the protest and turned up in person, doing a couple of interviews for Sky and BBC Radio Manchester, he had no part, nor inclination to actually organise the protest itself.
Likewise other interested parties like The Bolton News, and the Bolton Wanderers Supporters’ Trust, stopped short of ring-leading and stuck to publicising the fact the protest was going ahead, urging those involved to stay safe.
Perhaps for the first time in the club’s history such action had been engineered online. Wanderers’ social media community had collectively stated their reasons, appealed for calm, and pressed ahead with a lap of the stadium which passed off without any major hitches.
Once the game started a few minor problems did raise their head. Tennis balls were thrown on to the pitch to halt kick-off, and a banner which read: “Anderson Out” prompted a clash between a small group of fans and stewards.
Inside the Sky studio the message was also being driven home by another striker legend, Kevin Davies.
“Fans are not happy with the way Ken Anderson is running the football club,” he said. “He does try and defend himself a lot openly on the club website and it’s too often for me. You never used to hear from Eddie Davies or Phil Gartside, not very often at all.
“He’s out there defending himself and the fans just aren’t happy with the situation, they don’t know what’s coming next.
“They have got no real trust in it anymore, so something has to give.
“The fans continue to back the team, they travel in numbers, but they are running out of patience when they see people like John, or Marc, being treated in this way.
“It’s unsavoury and it’s unnecessary. People deserve to voice their opinions, there is a real concern for the club.”
Of course we now know that something did give. Anderson effectively withdrew his funding and failed to pay the players’ wages from February onward as effort to sell the club solvent amounted to nothing.
Fans did discuss further protests and smaller gatherings occurred. But their point had been made and, as such, the placards, the banners and the chants had achieved their objective.
Source
Sky Sports cameras were pointed at the University of Bolton Stadium for a home game against West Brom in the full knowledge that things were far from stable.
January had been one PR disaster after another for then-owner Ken Anderson, as firstly he was taken publicly to task by Forest Green owner Dale Vince over unpaid money for striker Christian Doidge, then it emerged that Norwich City were owed a sizeable fee for the loans of Yanic Wildschut and Remi Matthews in the first half of the season.
The club was locked in an embargo for owing football creditors, received winding up petitions from HMRC, and had already paid players’ wages late in what was a glimpse of the more serious issues to come.
And on January 21, 2019, many supporters, young and old, gathered outside the stadium to announce that “enough was enough.”
Three major websites – the Lion of Vienna Suite, Burnden Aces and the Trotters Blog – had made the rallying call, echoed around other forums and social media. But it would be wrong to say the feeling was unanimous among supporters that a protest was the way to go.
The debate continued right up to the day itself. But if a push was needed to get it over the line, Anderson may have supplied it himself with a rather dismissive statement made shortly before the game.
“As previously stated I sincerely hope the planned protests being driven by a small minority on social media, some fans’ forums and the local media do not take place as I believe they could be a distraction to the team and won’t help the cause.
“Hopefully, the small minority taking part will see the negativity this protest will bring to the club and decide there are better ways to achieve their aims and at this time it would be far more beneficial to send positive messages to the players and management and get behind the team.”
Another factor which had pushed public opinion towards a protest had been the revoking of media privileges of club legend, John McGinlay, who had been prolific in his measured criticism of Anderson.
Though the Scot lent his support to the protest and turned up in person, doing a couple of interviews for Sky and BBC Radio Manchester, he had no part, nor inclination to actually organise the protest itself.
Likewise other interested parties like The Bolton News, and the Bolton Wanderers Supporters’ Trust, stopped short of ring-leading and stuck to publicising the fact the protest was going ahead, urging those involved to stay safe.
Perhaps for the first time in the club’s history such action had been engineered online. Wanderers’ social media community had collectively stated their reasons, appealed for calm, and pressed ahead with a lap of the stadium which passed off without any major hitches.
Once the game started a few minor problems did raise their head. Tennis balls were thrown on to the pitch to halt kick-off, and a banner which read: “Anderson Out” prompted a clash between a small group of fans and stewards.
Inside the Sky studio the message was also being driven home by another striker legend, Kevin Davies.
“Fans are not happy with the way Ken Anderson is running the football club,” he said. “He does try and defend himself a lot openly on the club website and it’s too often for me. You never used to hear from Eddie Davies or Phil Gartside, not very often at all.
“He’s out there defending himself and the fans just aren’t happy with the situation, they don’t know what’s coming next.
“They have got no real trust in it anymore, so something has to give.
“The fans continue to back the team, they travel in numbers, but they are running out of patience when they see people like John, or Marc, being treated in this way.
“It’s unsavoury and it’s unnecessary. People deserve to voice their opinions, there is a real concern for the club.”
Of course we now know that something did give. Anderson effectively withdrew his funding and failed to pay the players’ wages from February onward as effort to sell the club solvent amounted to nothing.
Fans did discuss further protests and smaller gatherings occurred. But their point had been made and, as such, the placards, the banners and the chants had achieved their objective.
Source
