Half of the twelve clubs that formed the Football League in 1888 were from the north-west of England. Along with the Midlands, it was the cradle of English football. No London clubs were among the original founders.
Half of the twelve clubs that formed the Football League in 1888 were from the north-west of England. Along with the Midlands, it was the cradle of English football. No London clubs were among the original founders.
Today, the West Midlands is threatened with being reduced to one representative in the top flight. In the 2010-11 season there were eight teams from the north-west in the Premier League: Blackpool (now in League One), Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Wigan Athletic. Just four of these clubs were still there at the start of the current season.
Historically, Bolton was a stronghold of the cotton industry. It was the town chosen as an exemplar of a northern, working class town for the first systematic participant observation study in England by Mass Observation before the Second World War. That study was recently recalled in a book called Worktown, although one of the curiousities of the original study was the relative lack of attention paid to Bolton Wanderers despite the key part it played in the life of (largely) men in the town.
Bolton has, of course, changed and has faced some difficult times. The club moved from Burnden Park to a modern stadum, now known as the Macron, near the motorway.
Between 2004 and 2007, when Sam Allardyce was in charge, Bolton finished between sixth and eighth in the Football League. Insiders think that Allardyce fostered an ‘all in it together’ family feeling in the club.
Bolton are now losing £1m a month. The first team playing squad are yet to receive their wages for November. Insolvency expert Trevor Birch has been brought in and there are even fears that the club could close, although I am sure that fate will be avoided for a club with a great history. The wage bill has been slashed from about £55m in the club’s last season in the Premier League to about £16m today, although that is probably one of the ten highest in the Championship.
Reclusive owner Eddie Davies lives on the Isle of Man and made his fortune out of kettle thermosats (I wish I knew his secret). He is prepared to write off £185m in loans to facilitate a sale. The asking price is said to be £20m. Given that Bolton own the stadium, the adjacent Whites Hotel and the training ground, that represents a bargain.
A number of buyers are in the frame. Former striker Dean Holdsworth is fronting a consortium that hopes to conclude a deal within days after weeks of talks in London. Another former player, Stelios (‘my name is too big for my shirt’) Giannakopoulos is in the frame with backing from a Greek investor and four Canadian businessmen. There are also said to be two other unknown investors interested.
In the long run, the weight of history decline and contemporary economic circumstances come into play. Lancashire’s big four, the Liverpool and Manchester clubs, dominate the football scene. Others have fallen behind badly, for example, Oldham Athletic, once in the Premiership, now in the relegation positions in League One.