Bolton Wanderers crisis: Championship club set for winding-up order

The Trotters reached the last-16 of the Uefa Cup in 2008, but face the very real threat of administration in the coming months unless a takeover can be completed in time

The ghost of the Premier League is present wherever you look at the home of Bolton (Getty Images)

Championship bottom club Bolton Wanderers are expected to be issued with a winding-up petition from Revenue and Customs in the coming days.

The North West outfit, who reached the last-16 of the Uefa Cup in 2008, owe in the region of £600,000 in unpaid taxes and need to find £900,000 monthly running costs after failing to pay their players in November. Eddie Davies currently owns Bolton through company Burden Leisure PLC, which announced debts of £172.9m in April, after losses of £9.1m for 2014.

Takeover talks continue in earnest with four parties interested in striking a deal but the threat of administration and a subsequent 12-point deduction remains a real possibility.

Should that fate fall upon Neil Lennon’s side this season, they would be plunged into even deeper relegation mire - 16 points adrift of safety. The Trotters were relegated from the Premier League in 2012 after a golden era of success in the top flight.

Chairman Phil Gartside remains gravely ill and has requested privacy while financial adviser Trevor Birch, brought in by Davies to lead discussions, has described the situation as ‘increasingly perilous’.

“The club's position is increasingly perilous and new investment is needed quickly," said Birch. “We are continuing to negotiate with interested parties but unfortunately no one party has demonstrated all the requisite elements needed to conclude a deal.”

Neil Lennon said he hoped the club’s potential buyers were not ‘tyre-kickers’ but had money (Reuters)

Former Bolton and England striker Kevin Davies believes the club has been ‘totally mismanaged from the top’ and became ‘heavily reliant’ on one benefactor.

“They must have known this day was going to come,” he said.

“He's obviously not putting any money in now and there's no money anywhere else. You have to question who is doing the budgeting.”

Bolton have won just one match in 19 since the beginning of the current Championship campaign and most recently lost 3-2 at home to Cardiff City in front of just 13,241 spectators.