Trouble yet again at Bolton Wanderers as it has emerged this afternoon that their friendly with Chester FC has had to be cancelled due to a player strike.
According to TheBoltonNews, the players have cited a “a lack of support from the club during the administration process and a lack of communication on the ongoing takeover as the reasons for boycotting the game.”
This however isn’t the first time that Bolton players have caused the postponement of a pre season friendly due to going on strike with the same situation occurring last season with the cancellation of a game against Scottish side St Mirren. Earlier this season, Bolton players even forced the postponement of a Sky Bet Championship game against Brentford due to off-field troubles, resulting in a 3-0 victory being automatically granted to The Bees.
Bolton fans have grown extremely agitated with the boardroom ongoings under Ken Anderson, who has been attempting to sell the club for a while now but to no avail, much to the dismay of the Wanderer’s faithful. In May of 2019, Bolton became the first EFL side since Aldershot Town in 2013 to enter administration, causing Bolton to start the new League One campaign with a 10 point deduction.
In a joint player statement, the players stated that “We were due to return to pre-season training on June 26 but this had to be delayed as the players’ insurance policies had not been paid and the facilities at the training ground were on lockdown. There were no changing or showering facilities, drinking water for training and insufficient medical supplies.”
One question on everybody’s mind is how has the EFL allowed the situation to escalate to such an extent where players were without basic essentials such as water? How was the EFL so uselessly condemned Anderson’s attitude without taking action to try and save the club from the grasp of such a careless man? Why is it that AFC Wimbledon’s “disrespectful and inappropriate” referral of MK Dons in their match day programs is more of an important issue to the EFL board than the complete mess of ownership of clubs such as Bolton, Bury, Charlton, Blackpool…?
