Neil Lennon faces another fortnight of uncertainty as Bolton battle to pay off Her Majesty’s Revenue ans Customs.
The troubled football club were back in the High Court yesterday and were granted a 14 day reprieve to find the money to avoid administration. If HMRC are successful in their winding up petition the club will be plunged into administration and certain relegation.
Dean Holdsworth’s takeover has still to be given the approval of the Football League who are wary of the conditions attached to the shedding of £180m of debt.
Until that issue is resolved HMRC will go unpaid with a club statement last night explaining: “Bolton Wanderers can announce that the club has been granted a third and final adjournment of 14 days by the High Court in respect of the winding up petition in order to allow the owner to complete a sale of the controlling interest in the club.
“The club have received conditional approval to the transfer of ownership from the Football League.”
Realising the seriousness of the threat to their club the Bolton Supporters Trust has been launched to raise funds independent of the Holdsworth consortium.
In a statement yesterday the Trust announced: “The Bolton Wanderers Supporters’ Trust thanks the Court for granting this adjournment whilst the club seeks to resolve the current crisis and find a suitable buyer.
“It is fully understood that the outcome today could have been drastically different and that we may have witnessed the demise of our beloved club and over 130 years of fantastic BWFC history.
“We think it is vitally important for Mr. Davies and the Club to find a buyer who has access to sufficient funding to safeguard the rich heritage of our club and the critical football assets. It is also just as important that any prospective buyer has sufficient experience in business management to bring the Club out of the current stressed position and steady the ship through the implementation of prudent financial management policies.
“It is noted that The Football League have granted conditional approval of the transfer of ownership of the club and that we will be assessing any available detail of these conditions and how this may affect the future stability of the club.
“We will once again be contacting the club to offer our support in achieving this and to find ways in which the involvement of the Supporters’ Trust can help to re-engage the club with the BWFC supporters and the Bolton community. This vitally important aspect of the future stability of our club must not be underestimated nor disrespected.”