Bolton Wanderers' owners say they will pay £3.5m bill to avoid EFL penalties

Bolton Wanderers’ owners, Football Ventures, say they are on course to repay a £3.5million-plus creditor bill by next summer to avoid a potential 15-point penalty.

As part of the club’s takeover 12 months ago, the consortium is required by league regulations to reimburse 35 per cent of the money owed to unsecured creditors by next August, or face heavy sanctions.

A bill of more than £10m in unsecured creditors had been run up by the previous ownership, including many local companies, Bolton Council, energy firms and emergency services.

The administration process cost Bolton an instant 12-point penalty, hindering their chances of survival last season also placing them into a two-year EFL transfer embargo, which expires next summer.

Football Ventures have tackled football creditor debts, which included unpaid player wages, and struck a deal with administrators to pay their fees over a staggered length of time.

The arrangement with Quantuma, who oversaw the administration of the Bolton Whites Hotel, and David Rubin and Co, who undertook the football club administration, has been secured with club assets. It also included an agreement with Quantuma to defer some payments during lockdown while the hotel was not in operation, with the process set to resume shortly at a reported cost of £59,000 a month.

Responding to an inquiry by The Athletic, a club statement read: “Following the protracted administration process, we remain in dialogue with the joint liquidators of BWFC2019 Limited (old company) regarding the liquidation of Old Co and the obligation to settle the unsecured creditors.

“Significant progress has been made in this regard and several larger claims have been settled by mutual agreement.

“In accordance with the sale terms, all remaining claims will be settled before August 2021.

“As we have stated previously, agreements regarding the payment of associated professional fees have been reached and, notwithstanding some deferred payments which were agreed amicably as a result of the pandemic, those agreements have been fully adhered to.”

The club has also confirmed that the restructuring exercise of the academy and hotel businesses is likely to involve job losses.

It was revealed last month that Jimmy Phillips has stepped down from his role as head of academy and several coaching staff remain on furlough, including David Lee and Julian Darby.

“The club has previously announced that the academy would be changed from a category 2 to a category 3 academy,” the club statement read.

“Unfortunately, this inevitably means not all jobs can be retained.

“In addition, due to the effects of the pandemic on the hospitality industry, the hotel, like many other businesses, is going through a restructuring process.

“It would be inappropriate for the club/hotel to make any further comment whilst these processes continue.”

Source

The Athletic article.

It's one of those sites you have to subscribe to, so if anyone has would they mind copy and pasting it on here for the rest of us to see,

Thank you.

A new manager and squad has raised expectations on the pitch - but can Bolton Wanderers get back on an even keel financially? | @mjshrimper & @Simon_Hughes__ https://t.co/Smy5QWBerJ

— The Athletic UK (@TheAthleticUK) August 31, 2020

This seems to have taken some folk by surprise, Sluffy, whilst some don't seem to regard it as an issue at all. I think it is an issue that unsecured creditors should have to wait more than two years to get a third of what they are owed whilst 'football creditors' (e.g. overpaid footballers) get 100% almost immediately.

But it is also a timely reminder that FV haven't got money to burn. It is no criticism of FV at all, they are doing what they can, but there seems to be a  'Bouncy Castle Brigade' that assumes that there is a business plan that will mean they won't get their fingers burned. I hope there is but I'm afraid I'm still not seeing it.

The £10m figure will have grown between the date of the last audited balance sheet in 2017 to the date the administrators were appointed in May 2019 by approximately the losses incurred in the intervening period. That would amount to about £4m compared to a Championship average of £30m, mainly the result of Anderson's cost savings and the sale of Gary Madine.

But isn't it interesting that none of the professional or social media have noticed this and haven't noticed that, according to Rubins, BWFC debts went down over that nearly two year period? 

They didn't go down. That would have been virtually impossible but its only by drilling into the detail that a more complete picture emerges that helps explain why there were two administrators appointed and no little acrimony. 

Marc, 'Hargreaves funded the Reebok', Iles is at least consistent in never losing an opportunity to have a go at 'the previous regime'. If he's still around when the present regime is the previous regime don't be surprised to see the same again.

As you will know Bob many people live in blissful ignorance about many things that they don't want to know about or can't even comprehend exists.

I am exactly the same myself about many things, I know nothing at all about (or care little for) celebrities for instance, I don't know who the multitude of music or films stars are, who they are seeing and what scandals they are getting up to.  I have no interests in the many talent shows or 'strictly', or 'get me out of here', or anything like that.  I don't follow soaps, or 'bake off' 'gogglebox' 'millionaire', or all the other stuff - they all hold no interest for me - but I know I'm the one in the minority and most people do.

If people seem to be fascinated with the celebrities beyond the shows they make and into their social and private lives too but did the same with BWFC, then they would simply only be doing what you and I do - but they don't.

They simply watch the match (see the celebrity on the show on TV) and have no further interest or knowledge once the game is over (then show no interested in what the celebrity is up to off camera - code for who they are shagging or whatever other foibles they may have).

I don't understand it myself that they still choose to not even try to understand the finance of the club when they've seen first hand how directly it effects the team on the pitch they care so much about?

It's almost like being a lucky survivor from the Titanic and a year later set sail on Titanic II sailing the same route at the same time of year and not being in the least bit concerned about icebergs or the need to look out for them!

Each to their own I guess and high finance and company law is certainly not to everyone's taste but I'd want to know myself the best I could that we wouldn't be going through that all again, wouldn't everyone want to know that?

Clearly most still don't!

Fwiw even I with all my years in the profession I had, still can't see FV's business plan nor how they plan to deal with the loans to fund the club that are due for repayment in two years time, other for the loans (or replacement ones) to be extended.

The scenario I see is once again a club owner underwriting their business from their own wealth - at least for now.

It is completely wrong to have a category of what are really unsecured debtors having 100% of what they are owed repaid to them simply because it is football related - but those are the rules and the other unsecured debtors - many needing that money to keep their businesses afloat having to wait up to two years for 35p in the £ of what they are owed.

How can that be seen fair and equitable - they are ALL unsecured creditors?

As for Iles he's a complete waste of space in my opinion, he consistently backs the wrong horses - Holdsworth, the ST, Wheater/unofficial players strike v Anderson.  He has no comprehension of business - under Eddie we had the fourth biggest football club debt in the world - bigger than Man City, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, PSG, etc, etc - a small little provincial town club like us - yet he never questioned it.  He tweeted financial stuff that was clearly incorrect during Anderson's period - and in both cases he worked for a paper who had business correspondents who could if he had asked them given him some basic advise at least to understand and follow.

If all that isn't enough his sole reason for being in the job he's in is to report on the club and consecutive owners and directors from Eddie Davies right through and including FV have kept him at arms length and even banning him on occasions!  It's clear FV now do their own publicity - every signing so far as been interviewed on video by the club and all Iles can to is rehash those interviews for his own articles for the paper.

I have nothing personal against Iles and I know he has a family to support but outside of him reporting on actual games, I'm not sure what else he's good at in his job and in the way he professionally conducts himself particularly on social media.

Anyway the season is now on the horizon and despite the last two friendly setbacks I still expect good things ahead for us and we do for now seem to have again an owner willing to fund us from their pocket.

As they say let us travel hopefully for now and worry about what we will find nearer the time we are set to arrive!

Onwards and upwards.

The penny may have dropped with a few, Sluffy, but I still think that blissful ignorance of the ST's feckless futility and Iles' mischief-making mendacity remain the general rule.