Claim made on Bolton Wanderers future under current owners | OneFootball

FLW's Bolton fan pundit believes that the Football Ventures Consortium are the right people to take the club forward

Bolton Wanderers have been on quite the journey since they were last in the Championship, seven years ago.

The Trotters were relegated amidst financial difficulty in 2019, and the club entered administration off the back of it. Thus began a summer filled with uncertainty and worries over the possible expulsion from the EFL if they couldn't find a buyer.

Despite a breakthrough a month later with the Football Ventures consortium, things began to stall until a 14-day ultimatum was given to the club by the EFL, a day following Bury's expulsion.

Fortunately, the sale to Football Ventures went through at the 11th hour, meaning that Bolton avoided liquidation. But a 12-point deduction and a threadbare squad essentially ruled out anything other than relegation in their first year in charge, meaning they'd be building from League Two.

Ahead of the 2026/27 campaign, though, Bolton are back in the second tier, and a lot of it comes down to the leadership and backing of Sharon Brittan and the Football Ventures ownership.

Bolton Wanderers fan pundit waxes lyrical over owners — "You'd struggle to find a fan who doesn't trust them."

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Understandably, you wouldn't hold against any Bolton fans for having their backs up when it comes to ownership, after Ken Anderson's mismanagement of the club led to their administration in 2019.

Therefore, it's emphasised the good job that the Football Ventures consortium has done when FLW's Bolton fan pundit, Liam O'Meara, believes that you'd "struggle" to find a Trotters fan who distrusts the current regime.

"I don't think you'd find a Bolton fan who would say that the current ownership group can't take this club forward," he said.

"When they took over seven years ago, the club was essentially on its knees, and now it's returned to the Championship. They've connected with the town and brought the club back to life."

Under Ian Evatt, the Trotters secured immediate promotion back to League One in their first campaign back in the fourth tier in 2020/21 and would then finish in the third-tier play-offs in back-to-back years in 2022/23 and 2023/24.

It wouldn't be until they made the difficult decision to let Evatt go in favour of an experienced third-tier winner, Steven Schumacher, that their play-off drought ended, and they secured promotion back to the Championship.

Bolton were always a big fish in League One, so things may be different now they're back in the second tier. However, the fan pundit believes that the current ownership will do what's best to take the club closer to a Premier League return.

"There are wonders about us having the financial capacity to compete in the Championship," O'Meara admitted.

"But, in terms of trust, you'd struggle to find a Bolton fan who doesn't trust the Football Ventures group and, in particular, the chairwoman Sharron Brittan."

All eyes will be on whether Bolton Wanderers need investment in the Championship

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With a storied top-flight history, the goal at Bolton will be to return to the Premier League soon enough.

That won't be the aim this coming campaign, but there'll be an expectation of establishing themselves back in the second tier quickly, so they can begin a push towards the top flight for the first time since the 2011/12 term.

There's no discrediting the work done so far by the owners to put together a competitive squad on a good budget in the lower tiers, but all eyes will be on how they approach their first Championship campaign in seven years in terms of their finances.

It's becoming more and more apparent now that serious financial investment is needed to give a club the best chance possible at promotion, even with the increased number of play-off places. If anything, the six-team play-off is encouraging mid-table sides to invest and spend more.

Therefore, it may not be long before Bolton are crying out for further investment to reach that next level, or at least to ensure they don't begin to yo-yo between the second and third tier.