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Ian Evatt hopes financial assistance from the Premier League will reach clubs before another one falls by the wayside.
A £50million pandemic bailout was announced by the EFL last week for clubs in League One and Two – with another £100m understood to be on the table for the Championship.
There is some concern within football, however, that the data which has anchored talks was compiled much earlier this year and no longer represents the true extent of club’s problems.
Many were expecting a boost in October but a spike in the coronavirus figures meant the Government shelved plans for the phased reintroduction of supporters. That has left some clubs at the lower end of the EFL in major need of help.
The controversial Project Big Picture was knocked back in October, causing a further delay, and though the EFL pledged to fast-track the newly agreed payments as “quickly as possible” there is still doubt as to whether wage bills will be met at the end of this month in extreme cases.
Evatt described the bailout as a “huge boost” adding: “This is a game that belongs to everybody and it’s heartbreaking when communities lose football clubs and hopefully this will ensure that we don’t lose anymore football clubs.”
The Wanderers boss has been vocal on the subject of sustainability in football and is keen to see no more examples like Bury or Macclesfield Town, urging the EFL to tighten restrictions on who can own clubs.
“We are now in November and these discussions have been rumbling on since March-April when we first went into lockdown,” he said.
“This is a working-class game. This is a game for everyone. There is a enough money in football to be spread equally across all the divisions – it should not be the way that the rich gets richer and the poor get poorer. This is a sport everyone loves in this country and we have to make sure everyone stays in business.
“We can’t have anyone else going out of business. It’s not fair on communities or towns.
“You might say the way Bury was run wasn’t sustainable. So I say make sure we do better with the people who own the clubs, the fit and proper persons test. If someone comes into football then let’s make sure they are doing it for the right reasons.
“We are only custodians of this game, we have to make sure we leave it in a better place.
“At this club, myself, the owners, we’re just custodians. We have taken the job on at a really difficult and challenging time but we want to put it back where it belongs in the heart of the community.
“We want the fans to be proud again but we need help from the government to do it because at the moment football isn’t sustainable for everyone.
“We are very fortunate to have a huge fanbase that follow us, regardless of being able to get into the stadium and a group of owners who have backed the club from the start, took it on a day before it went out of business.
“That isn’t the same across the board. Some clubs need help, so let’s make sure we get it to them, ASAP.”
When Evatt came to Bolton in the summer, part of his remit had been to try and help mend some of the bridges that had been burned in the community by previous ownership.
A lack of success on the pitch in the last few years has not helped – and the Whites boss, who had helped boost support considerably during his time in charge of Barrow, accepts his own responsibility in trying to make the club prosperous once again.
“I have seen first-hand how a successful football team can change an entire community and town,” he said.
“This is what we want for Bolton. I want to see kids in Bolton shirts again – not United, City or Liverpool. “To do that in the current climate we will need help from the government but we also know we need to get our jobs right as well. And when we start having success the town will smile again and we’ll have young kids wanting to come and support us.
“That’s the dream and the goal but we need help to do it, every club does.”
Source
A £50million pandemic bailout was announced by the EFL last week for clubs in League One and Two – with another £100m understood to be on the table for the Championship.
There is some concern within football, however, that the data which has anchored talks was compiled much earlier this year and no longer represents the true extent of club’s problems.
Many were expecting a boost in October but a spike in the coronavirus figures meant the Government shelved plans for the phased reintroduction of supporters. That has left some clubs at the lower end of the EFL in major need of help.
The controversial Project Big Picture was knocked back in October, causing a further delay, and though the EFL pledged to fast-track the newly agreed payments as “quickly as possible” there is still doubt as to whether wage bills will be met at the end of this month in extreme cases.
Evatt described the bailout as a “huge boost” adding: “This is a game that belongs to everybody and it’s heartbreaking when communities lose football clubs and hopefully this will ensure that we don’t lose anymore football clubs.”
The Wanderers boss has been vocal on the subject of sustainability in football and is keen to see no more examples like Bury or Macclesfield Town, urging the EFL to tighten restrictions on who can own clubs.
“We are now in November and these discussions have been rumbling on since March-April when we first went into lockdown,” he said.
“This is a working-class game. This is a game for everyone. There is a enough money in football to be spread equally across all the divisions – it should not be the way that the rich gets richer and the poor get poorer. This is a sport everyone loves in this country and we have to make sure everyone stays in business.
“We can’t have anyone else going out of business. It’s not fair on communities or towns.
“You might say the way Bury was run wasn’t sustainable. So I say make sure we do better with the people who own the clubs, the fit and proper persons test. If someone comes into football then let’s make sure they are doing it for the right reasons.
“We are only custodians of this game, we have to make sure we leave it in a better place.
“At this club, myself, the owners, we’re just custodians. We have taken the job on at a really difficult and challenging time but we want to put it back where it belongs in the heart of the community.
“We want the fans to be proud again but we need help from the government to do it because at the moment football isn’t sustainable for everyone.
“We are very fortunate to have a huge fanbase that follow us, regardless of being able to get into the stadium and a group of owners who have backed the club from the start, took it on a day before it went out of business.
“That isn’t the same across the board. Some clubs need help, so let’s make sure we get it to them, ASAP.”
When Evatt came to Bolton in the summer, part of his remit had been to try and help mend some of the bridges that had been burned in the community by previous ownership.
A lack of success on the pitch in the last few years has not helped – and the Whites boss, who had helped boost support considerably during his time in charge of Barrow, accepts his own responsibility in trying to make the club prosperous once again.
“I have seen first-hand how a successful football team can change an entire community and town,” he said.
“This is what we want for Bolton. I want to see kids in Bolton shirts again – not United, City or Liverpool. “To do that in the current climate we will need help from the government but we also know we need to get our jobs right as well. And when we start having success the town will smile again and we’ll have young kids wanting to come and support us.
“That’s the dream and the goal but we need help to do it, every club does.”
Source
