Back in March, group losses for the financial year ending June 2024 amounted to £11.2million in what was the fifth season of ownership under Football Ventures.
Since then, there has been further investment in the first team squad and an increase in the overall wage bill. Ultimately, that extra spending has not yet resulted in a push to the Championship.
While the current League One lull has been a frustration, both in the boardroom and around the terraces, the financial support from Sharon Brittan and the investment group shows no sign of ending any time soon.
Steven Schumacher has been backed with a competitive budget and this season, and with the recruitment policy shifted to target younger players on longer-term contracts, the club hopes to build more value into their playing squad than ever before.
The club has assured that all losses to this point have been managed, and with a longer-term strategy now at work, chief executive David Ray believes Wanderers can start to future-proof themselves against spending criteria which they expect to be introduced by the new independent football regulator.
“We have got a very clear plan now,” he told The Bolton News. “The independent regulator coming into football is going to want to see clubs taking action and moving to a more sustainable model. We know that from the conversations that Sharon Brittan has had, and the work she did with the Select Committee.
“We are very supportive of the work they are going to create a more sustainable football world.
“If you look at the history over the last five or six years, there has been a number of clubs that found themselves in a situation similar to the one this club was in not that long ago. And I think we all know within football that it has to change.
“We are not at risk of that because we have got the right support, the ownership group, and we are building towards a successful, sustainable model.”
Share capital worth more than £18million was issued in the summer by the existing shareholders of the club – i.e. Football Ventures (Whites) Limited and the Swiss consortium, comprised mainly of leading executives from the energy and minerals company Trafigura, and their families.
Since the end of last season there has also been a major shake-up of the management structure, with Wanderers installing Ray as the new CEO alongside a sporting director in Fergal Harkin, plus some key additions in the commercial department.
A chartered accountant by trade, Ray’s job is all about the bottom line – and he freely accepts that the more money which can be channelled towards the team on the pitch, the more likely that Bolton can clinch that elusive promotion.
He is confident, however, that the leadership team which has been established over the last six months can now contribute to a successful period for the club.
“The one thing I will say since I have been here is that Sharon (Brittan), Nick (Luckock) and Michael (James) are empowering people in the right places with the right experience to make the tough calls,” he said.
“They let Fergal make decisions, they let Steven Schumacher make decisions and they let me make decisions in the areas where we specialise. There is a trust, and they are backing the calls we make.
“Yes, they are backing everything financially still. And the losses we talk about, someone has to support that.
“And that continued support is there from them, whether it’s financial or in decision making. We’ve got the right governance processes in place where I report to them in a very structured way. And now, in the long run, all of those processes will result in the right decisions. The process pays off.”
