Bolton Wanderers sold to Dean Holdsworth consortium
Tuesday 23 February 2016 11:17, UK
Bolton Wanderers have been sold for £7.5m to the Sport Shield Group Consortium.
The group, headed by former Bolton striker Dean Holdsworth, will take over ownership, pending ratification from the Football League.
A Winding Up order, due to be heard on Monday morning at the High Court in London, has been adjourned for 14 days.
Bolton owe an outstanding debt of around £3m to the HMRC, which is currently gaining interest of £175,000 a week.
The club still face the prospect of entering administration should this debt be unpaid at the end of the two-week deadline.
Bolton, who are currently second bottom in the Championship, would then be issued an automatic 12 point penalty - effectively sealing relegation to League One.
However, the advisor to the Bolton board, Trevor Birch, confirmed during the hearing on Monday that a Sales and Purchase agreement was now in place and the club was ready to move forward.
"Whilst this continues to be a challenging time for everyone at the club, we are confident that the adjournment will give us the necessary time to conclude a transfer of ownership of the club, subject to approval from the Football League," Birch said, in a statement released on Bolton's website.
Holdsworth, who made 158 appearances for the Trotters, is expected to become the club's new chairman.
"There's been a hell of a lot of work gone in behind the scenes," he told Sky Sports News HQ.
"We're still subject to Football League ratification. That's the key point to this - today was a poignant moment for the club because no one wants to see a club like Bolton go into administration.
"It's a great day in terms of saving that identity and it's an exciting day."
Holdsworth is hoping that news of the adjournment will help Bolton in the fight against relegation.
"It's definitely do-able, it's not mathematically impossible," he added.
"The team's results have picked up of late, they were very unlucky at the weekend. Where there's a will there's a way and you've got to believe you can do it as players.
"As a former player you always believe you're going into every game to win it. They were very unlucky on Saturday not to get the three points.
"That one point lifted the club of the bottom of the table which was good news, we've got another game tomorrow evening. I'm sure the players will want to be part of something that will be very special this year."
