Ken Anderson Acquires SSBWFC Shares - What Next for Bolton Wanderers?

Earlier tonight, Bolton Wanderers announced that chairman Ken Anderson had finally managed to get his hands on SSBWFC’s shares, taking his majority to approximately 95% and ending months of to-ing and fro-ing between Anderson and Dean Holdsworth, who represented the now-liquidated entity.

Some rejoiced, some sat back and wondered what this all meant, and some posted on social media with ‘KING KEN’ in big letters without really thinking about what they were actually doing.

So what does this mean for the club?

Well in the first instance, I would hope that it brings about the opportunity for Phil Parkinson to bring in some decent quality players ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. Is it too late for that? Maybe, but given our start to the season we have to live in hope. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Alex Bruce left Bury earlier today, for example.

Anderson has also managed to strike a deal with the now infamous BluMarble, who held the debt incurred by Holdsworth and SSBWFC. Logic would push you to expect that the SSBWFC/BM debt is now held by the football club, though I would hope to be on far more favourable terms than before.

What about Anderson himself? There has been word for the longest time that he has had his eye on two separate scenarios: one being where he brings in outside investment, relinquishing his own financial burden whilst remaining on salary as a well-paid chairman. The other is that he is looking to sell the club, cash in and take his money to League Two where he will purchase another club and begin the whole process again.

Today’s deal is in his favour, of that there is no doubt, and as I’ve said for the longest time when you have someone with such a vested interest working on your behalf it might well mean that you see things that don’t sit well, but at the end of the day it’s sometimes better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t.

What I hope for is some stability. I hate Anderson’s regular missives and the mudslinging that they sometimes contain. Whatever the off-pitch nonsense, it’s time for the club and supporters to band together and hope that we can bring about positive change, whether that be under the current regime or a new one.