Bolton’s Championship match with Brentford called off over wages dispute

Bolton’s troubled season hit its lowest point after Saturday’s Championship match at home to Brentford was called off, with Wanderers players refusing to play in protest at unpaid wages.

The club, relegated to League One last week, are in the process of completing a takeover, but that has yet to be ratified by the Football League.

The EFL announced it had been forced to suspend Saturday’s match and the club were now guilty of misconduct.

The club said in a statement: “Bolton Wanderers Football Club regrettably confirms that Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship fixture against Brentford has been called off. The club would like to apologise for the inconvenience this will cause. A further update will be released in due course.”

The Bolton players have not been paid for March, and with the April wages due early next week made it clear they would not play again until they are paid by the club.

The EFL issued a statement confirming the game would not go ahead and which also said Bolton would be referred to an Independent Disciplinary Commission for being “guilty of misconduct”.

The statement said: “Following the failure of Bolton Wanderers to provide formal confirmation of its ability to meet its obligation to fulfil its Championship fixture against Brentford FC on Saturday (27 April), the game will not go ahead as planned.

“Earlier on Friday, the playing staff at the club issued a collective statement confirming that they had decided not to fulfil the remaining fixtures of the season unless they received monies owed to them.

“As a result of these disappointing developments, the league has been forced to suspend Saturday’s fixture and under EFL Regulations, the club is now deemed to be guilty of misconduct and will be referred to an Independent Disciplinary Commission.

“The EFL Board will now consider the matter of determining whether the fixture will be played or not. No further comment will be made at this time.”

“The long-running financial crisis at our club has been well-documented,” a statement from the playing squad read. “As has the fact that we, the playing staff have yet to receive our March salaries. Five of our coaching staff are also yet to be paid for March. We have endeavoured to continue our training and playing commitments during this extremely difficult time, with seemingly no resolution in sight.

“We thought that the prospective takeover of the club would provide a solution but difficulties in its completion have left us no further forward. “This situation is creating mounting mental, emotional and financial burdens for people through no fault of their own.”

Ken Anderson, the Bolton owner, also failed to pay his squad their February salary on time. This month players did not train for 48 hours because of the missing March wage, an action that came following a lack of information regarding the situation.

While staff have now been paid for last month, the players have still not so to effectively go on strike for the penultimate game of the season was deemed the logical next step for the side.

In January the Professional Footballers Association was forced to loan the club money to source salaries for November and December, a sum that has since been paid back.

Anderson continues to try to complete the sale of the club. The former Watford owner Laurence Bassini was announced as a buyer yet his proposed deal is still to be ratified by the Football League.

“We worked very, very hard to get the deal done. It was very close to going to administration this morning. At the 11th hour we did it, going through the night,” Bassini told BBC Radio Manchester last week.

source: theguardian.com