Fast forward a few years. The latter end of 2015 saw our Club planted firmly at the foot of the Championship and reporting a debt of approaching £180m, a dramatic reversal of fortunes by any standards. The Club had been openly for sale for a period of time, but with little reported interest. Several times, sketchy reports surfaced of a potential deal with another new party expressing a level of interest in buying the Club. Nothing ever materialised. No reasons were given for the breakdown of any potential takeover. All the while, the Club was descending into further debt, fueled by lack of success on the field, falling gates and unaffordable running expenses. New owners were still being sought, but with little success. Supporters were becoming increasingly disconnected from their Club.

It was in this environment that several interested and concerned fans independently contacted Supporters Direct (now the Football Supporters Association) to investigate what was actually involved in setting up a Supporters’ Trust. Genuine concern for their beloved Club’s current plight, allied to the deteriorating situations both on and off the field, moved these concerned supporters to take some action. The individual supporters who made contact with Supporters Direct were put in touch with each other. A preliminary meeting was held with Supporters Direct and the wheels were put in motion to move things forward. At the time, the idea of a Supporters’ Trust was little more than that, an idea. The first step towards gaining the BWFC supporters a voice was to organise an open meeting to assess whether there was a fans desire to move forwards with a trust. Bearing in mind the failed attempt of some years previous, it was very much an unknown as to whether a mandate would be gained to move forwards.

On 15 January 2016, the Bolton Wanderers Supporters’ Trust formally came into being, when registration documents were issued by the FCA.

Development and Role of the Trust (2016-2019)

So, what has happened in the years since the BWFCST was formed? The simple answer is quite a lot!

Soon after the trust was formed, Sports Shield BWFC bought the club from Eddie Davies. The two new co-owners were Dean Holdsworth and Ken Anderson. The trust held discussions with both, but it became clear pretty quickly that the relationship between Holdsworth and Anderson was not working. This relationship deteriorated to the level that full control of BWFC was eventually acquired by Ken Anderson through his company, Inner Circle Investments. Holdsworth’s original acquisition company, Sports Shield BWFC was wound-up in Aug 2017. Anderson’s company bought Holdsworth’s 37% shareholding in Burnden Leisure from the liquidator, Quantuma, in September 2017 for the sum of £150,000.

One aspect that concerned the trust throughout this period was the situation regarding ownership and possible disposal of the stadium for reasons that would ultimately be to the detriment of the club, the supporters, the community and the town. This was the reason that an application was made to the local authority to list the stadium as an Asset of Community Value (ACV). Application was made in Dec 2016 and ACV status granted in Feb 2017. The concerns of the trust were realised when the listing was then appealed by Anderson. His appeal was thrown out and final confirmation of the listing of the stadium as an ACV registered in Oct ’17.

Throughout this period, it became clear that Ken Anderson saw the BWFCST as an adversary. This was referenced in his many posts on the club website in which he portrayed the trust in various guises from being obstructive, an irrelevance and a general hinderance to his “ambitions” for BWFC. However, a very insightful post from a trust member was penned in Nov 2018. Take a look here and assess the relevance of the trust in the eyes of a concerned supporter. Formal concerns were also expressed by the trust in an open letter to Anderson dated 30 Nov 2018, which can be viewed here.

Concern about the stability and the very future of our club continued to grow and a subsequent letter dated 06 Jan 2019 (3 years to the day since the BWFC supporters decision to form a trust) to the then CEO of the EFL, Shaun Harvey, can be viewed here. Take a look and bear in mind the events yet to unfold within 4 months of this the letter. An article by Martin Zeigler appeared in The Times on 08 Jan 2018 (view here) which is also worth a read, particularly in light of the Fan-Led Review recommendations of almost 4 years later regarding the still-current Owners and Directors Test.

An open letter from the trust board dated 01 April 2019 summarises the situation at that time, some 5 weeks before BWFC was placed into administration. The letter can be viewed here.

During this period, the BWFCST were effectively powerless to actually prevent the club owner, Ken Anderson, driving BWFC towards the cliff-edge. And despite attempts to encourage those who could actually do something (EFL please stand-up and be counted), all the trust could do, along with all other BWFC fans worldwide, was to watch by in a state of despair.

Administration and Football Ventures (Whites) Current Ownership

As all BWFC fans are well aware, the club was ultimately placed into administration with Paul Appleton and Asher Miller (both of David Rubin & Partners) being appointed as joint administrators on 13 May 2019.

In accordance with EFL regulations, the trust entered into dialogue with the administrators and were in the process of developing a community-based proposal for acquisition of the club. Contrary to some reports at the time, this would not have resulted in a fan-owned club, but would have brought about a stake in the club for the BWFC supporters and had a major community focus. As is the right of the administrator, he chose to name Football Ventures (Whites) Ltd as the preferred bidder and proceeded to move forward under exclusivity towards exit from administration. This process was far from straightforward though, as the situation regarding Bolton Whites Hotel being under the control of a separate administrator caused problems.

After several months of uncertainty, player strikes and the famous home game against Coventry City on 10 Aug 2019, Football Ventures (Whites) brought the club and the hotel out of administration and commenced their difficult task of stopping the slide and turning around the steady decline that started under Eddie Davies and continued under Ken Anderson.

Since the appointment of Neil Hart as CEO in July 2021, the relationship between the club and the trust is more stable and productive than it has been since our formation in Jan 2016.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Aug ’21 and we continue regular meetings with the club when the trust is consulted on various subjects including season ticket pricing, establishment of a new Fanzone and the ongoing situation of fan behaviour, stewarding and policing. Add in the Trust Affiliate programme and fans voices are now being heard by the club for the first time in many years.

Despite some early difficulties and the havoc created by the Covid-19 pandemic, with games played behind closed doors for a full season, we now stand ahead of season ‘22/’23 with an optimism about the club and the community that the journey is now in the right direction. For that, we thank Sharon Brittan and her board.

And as a Supporters’ Trust, we look forward to a brighter future for the club and would encourage all BWFC fans, wherever in the world you may be located, to join the trust and help our connection with the club to grow even stronger – all for the equivalent of 20p per week.

You can join here now – let’s do this together!