Bolton Wanderers receive winding-up order over unpaid VAT and PAYE
Friday 11 December 2015 09:05, UK
Bolton Wanderers have received a winding-up petition from HMRC in respect of unpaid PAYE and VAT for the month of November.
In a statement the struggling Championship club said: "Despite requests from the club to HMRC to give it further time to either conclude a sale or raise additional funds, HMRC has proceeded with due process and duly served a petition."
Trevor Birch, advisor to the board and owner at Bolton Wanderers, said: "Quite clearly the club remains in a critical financial position.
"We will continue to try and finalise a sale or alternatively raise some short-term funds needed to give the club a breathing space and time in which to consider its options."
Bolton, whose players have not received wages for November, owe in the region of £600,000 in unpaid taxes and reportedly need to find £900,000 in monthly running costs.
The club had hoped they could conclude a takeover this week after drafting in financial advisor Birch to help owner Eddie Davies sell the club.
But the takeover talks remain ongoing and HMRC's petition raises the possibility of administration for Neil Lennon's bottom-of-the-Championship side.
And the Trotters would have their entire total wiped out if they were to incur a 12-point deduction for going into administration.
Speaking about the possibility of going into administration at his Thursday press conference, Lennon said: "Trevor has a few plans in place to avoid that scenario.
"That may mean doing things around the stadium in terms of selling bits off, I don't know. He's confident that he can avoid that.
"That would mean we would be a League One team and we're just fulfilling fixtures for the rest of the season. What we need is someone to come up with the money, help the club out, and just get us through a difficult period to January.
"What we may have to do in January is sell some assets in terms of the football side of things as well. But if that means getting the club through stormy waters, that's what we'll have to do."
