The Daily Telegraph - 01.08.2019

Club-by-club

guide to

League One

By Paul

Stevens

Accrington Stanley

Stanley, who thrive as underdogs, have

reason for hope after retaining Sean

McConville and Jordan Clark.

Verdict Bottom half

Coventry City

With home games in Birmingham, they

will hope an exciting crop of overseas

imports like Wesley Jobello inspire.

Verdict Play-off contenders

Bristol Rovers

Will look to put pressure on play-off

contenders, energised by the addition

of Victor Adeboyejo and Tyler Smith.

Verdict Mid-table

Gillingham

Steve Evans courts controversy but

11 signings suggests the Gills can look

up the league rather than down.

Verdict Mid-table

AFC Wimbledon

May need to summon “Crazy Gang”

attitude to survive following loss of

Deji Oshilaja and Toby Sibbick.

Verdict Relegation candidates

Bury

Beset by financial issues, a 12-point

deduction, a managerial departure and

player sales, the drop looks inevitable.

Verdict Relegation candidates

Bolton Wanderers

Crisis club must overcome a 12-point

deduction and mould a capable squad

as a takeover appears imminent.

Verdict Relegation candidates

Fleetwood Town

Joey Barton’s side look a smart

dark-horse bet and Harry Souttar

should play a key role.

Verdict Play-off contenders

Blackpool

Free of the Oystons, they can now

focus on on-field matters and eight

new signings signal a brighter future.

Verdict Play-off contenders

Doncaster Rovers

Darren Moore is at the helm but Donny

have not replaced last year’s influential

loanees Herbie Kane and Mallik Wilks.

Verdict Mid-table

Burton Albion

Mediocrity awaits unless the loss of

Marcus Harness and Jamie Allen can

be countered with new signings.

Verdict Mid-table

Ipswich Town

In the third tier for the first time since

1957 but signing Tranmere’s James

Norwood for free was smart business.

Verdict Promotion challengers

IPSWICH TOWN

FOOTBALL CLUB

Sport Football

Bolton’s plight... just seven player

One of English football’s grand old clubs has been given a

lifeline but first must restore pride, says one former player

A

sked what life has

been like for the

Bolton Wanderers

players as their club

has imploded around

them, Andrew Taylor

does not mince his words.

“Horrendous,” he says.

“Absolutely horrendous.”

On Monday, Bolton were cleared

by the Football League to play their

opening League One fixture at

Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.

Quite who will feature in the

Bolton line-up, however, is another

matter.

At the time of writing the club

has just seven senior players. And

two of those are goalkeepers.

Taylor is not among them. The

left-back’s contract expired in July.

He was hoping for a new deal, but

after what happened last season,

he knows that is unlikely.

Because last season the club went

into freefall. Like everyone

involved, Taylor has not been paid

since February. And five months

without any income whatsoever has

taken its toll. Not just on him, but

on his family.

“I’m not going to lie, I try to be

positive and not stress too much,

but it’s been a hard time,” he says,

as he sits over a cup of coffee near

his home in Hartlepool. “Harder for

my wife. She worries a lot more

than I do. It’s been top of the

conversation in our house for the

past few months: what the hell are

we going to do?”

Taylor signed for Bolton in 2017.

Even then he could sense trouble

ahead. “There were a couple of

times the lads were getting paid

late. It was just a day or two,

technical hold-ups we were told.

But maybe the signs were there.”

In his first season as a Bolton

player, however, promotion from

League One seemed to suggest the

club was on the up. It was an

illusion. By now it was in the hands

of a businessman, Ken Anderson,

who, despite having been banned

for seven years from becoming a

company director after crashing an

earlier venture, was deemed a fit

and proper owner by the EFL.

In 2017 he received a £550,000

consultancy fee. His staff were less

Giving his all:

Bolton left-back

Andrew Taylor

(right) goes into

a full-blooded

tackle against

Aston Villa’s John

McGinn (above);

Fans protest

against owner

Ken Anderson

at Nottingham

Forest on the

final day of

last season (left)

CHLOE KNOTT/DANEHOUSE/GETTY IMAGES

fortunate. The manager Phil

Parkinson, was contractually

entitled to a bonus for keeping the

club in the Championship. After

doing just that in 2018, he has yet to

receive a penny.

In February this year, however,

the financial issues hit the dressing

room: none of the players received

their wages.

“When the money didn’t come

you thought, oh well it will,” says

Taylor. “The longer it went, the

tension grew. And the anger. I think

there were people who would have

swung for Ken Anderson if he’d

come in the dressing room.”

Not that he was likely to.

Anderson, who had been a regular

visitor there during the promotion

year, disappeared from view,

ending direct communication.

Parkinson was caught in the middle.

“It was such a difficult position

for the gaffer,” says Taylor. “He was

getting fed things from above,

which he’d pass on to us and they

turned out to be not true. So that

makes you start to question him. He

was giving it: ‘Come on, lads, let’s

get out training, we’re getting paid

tomorrow.’ When we didn’t his

credibility was hammered.”

The Telegraph contacted Mr

Anderson to ask him about some of

the issues raised and he replied that

he would be happy to talk about

Bolton when any sale had been

completed, but until then he is

obliged to keep his counsel.

As weeks turned into months

without any sign of money, for the

players life became increasingly

tough. “Luckily I had a bit set aside.

So I could cushion,” says Taylor.

“Even so as a family we’ve had to be

really careful. I’ve got a wife and

two kids to look after, so you cut

back everywhere. But I’m lucky.

I’m at the end of my career, I’ve got

• well, I had – savings. The younger
  lads live right up to their means.”
  Taylor, who was the Professional
  Footballers’ Association
  representative at the club, became a
  sounding board for problems:
  mortgages were not being paid, car
  plans were not being met, one
  young player was evicted from his
  flat for failure to pay his rent.

“The thing is football

is a very macho

environment,” he says.

“It takes a brave

character to open up and

say: I am struggling. But I

know lads were stressing,

taking all this burden on.

It was shocking what was

happening. Family lives

were being ruined. We

have a players’ WhatsApp

group and it’s become a

sort of therapy session.”

Taylor, though, points

By Jim White

‘There was a food

bank set up for the

families of the hotel

staff. For a club like

ours it’s a disgrace’

8 *** Thursday 1 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph

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