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Bolton case shows need for more stringent tests for owners

The adequacy of the English Football League's fit and proper person tests has once again been called into question by recent events at Bolton Wanderers. Ken Anderson, who took over at Bolton in 2016, was previously disqualified from being a director for eight years.

Anderson, who bought Bolton for £1, was disqualified from being a company director in 2005 for transgressions relating to eight companies including diverting or seeking to divert company funds into a personal account, VAT discrepancies and failing to cooperate with receivers.

The Professional Footballers' Association had to provide a loan to the club in December to cover wages for that month and November. Bolton Whites Hotel Ltd., of which Anderson is the only director, is subject to an outstanding winding up petition from HMRC over unpaid taxes.

The accounts for Bolton's parent company, Burnden Leisure, show that Anderson was paid £525,000 in consultancy fees for the 2016/17 season. Burnden Leisure also paid £125,000 for consultancy services to Athos Group, which is 'owned by a family member of K Anderson'.

Bolton were in League One that season and £525,000 was significantly more than the amount paid to the director of any club in the league that season. 20 clubs in the Championship and eight in the Premier League paid their chief executive less than that.

Damian Collins, the chair of the Commons select committee that deals with sport, said that football owners' and directors' tests should take into account a person's track record, even if disqualifications had expired. He commented, 'The FA should have the power to make a subjective decision based on the track record of the director, as is the case in broadcasting.'

David Conn writes about Bolton's troubles here: Ken Anderson

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