Bolton - The game goes ahead

[drfchound]

Probably a good job these fixtures will be on a Tuesday. Can see there being crowd trouble especially at the rearranged game

Padge, I said this a couple of days ago.
However I do intend to be at the game if it is played and I hope we stuff them.

[Alan Southstand]

Look guys, let’s not refer to re-arranging anything until we have to. Bolton effectively forfeited that match so the 3 points should be ours. End of discussion, as far as I’m concerned. The Bolton lads are trying their level best to make something out of nothing, but, at the end of the day it boils down to the same thing - they cancelled a planned fixture. They knew from the start what they had to work with and I’m sure the EFL would have sought reassurances that they were in a position to fulfil their fixtures. If they were not, they wouldn’t even be having any discussions with us right now, they’d be wondering what league they’d be starting back into next August!

I don’t agree with docking them more points, either, as we’re the ones who were inconvenienced by their actions, not the rest of league 1.

It seems, after Saturday’s result, the argument about playing their youngsters is almost null and void, as I don’t recall them getting hammered 7-1.

[Filo]

As it stands the integrity of the competition has been compromised, the only way to restore integrity is to wipe all Boltons results from the competition, relegate them to L2 to start next season and not allow them to play until then 

[Frankie Rennie]

I don't need to look far for a Billy Big b*llocks, do I? A glance at the Bolton forum is enough.

Just answer me this. Are you lot posting on all the other L1 fan forums or is it just this one you're all over like a rash?

Your club's antics ain't just an inconvenience  to us, you know. You've jeapordised the entire competition by skewing points and goal differences that affect all other clubs based on when they were scheduled to meet them.

The so-called 'team' you put out in August was a joke. You werent ready and shoild never have been allowed to start if There was the slightest risk you could not fulfil your fixtures with a competitive team.

ALL games played before you were equipped to compete in this current season should be expunged from the records. Getting beat by fives and 7s so often is a joke, which would of course include our scheduled game.

Note sure if this link works but 1965 (just about living memory for a lot of fans) onwards hardly defines you as legendary superstars, does it? Even in the very best years you were known for your dogged, defensive, Allaryce style rather than free flowing enterprising play so there's no need to insult our remarkable achievement of 7th in tier two.

What you wouldn't give for that right now, eh? Plus we didn't break the bank to do it. We didnt exactly have a sugar daddy, did we and the team cost virtual pennies compared with the one that has got you relegated twice and put you into administration.

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoltonWanderersFC_League_Performance.svg#mw-jump-to-license

Donnybob, where have you got this ridiculous “Legendary Superstars” nonsense from, nobody on this thread has claimed to be anything other than a club that is lucky to still be in existence. I can’t speak for others but I enjoy discussions with other teams supporters on threads like this but I have to say that I’m surprised at the vitriol and bad feelings by some like yourselves. In fact the only posts I’ve seen on here concur with you that since we called off the game inadequately, you should have the points. Unfortunately we don’t make the decision and if it doesn’t suit you it’s hardly our fault but either way I don’t think there’s really any need for your insulting, derogatory and totally ill informed comments on BWFC. Yes we have some moron fans as all clubs do and some of the comments made are disgraceful but surely you can’t hold all of us responsible for that?

[Filo]

I hold BWFC totally responsible for the whole situation, how BWFC fans can come on here to justify the unjustifiable is mind boggling

[knockers]

I think Frankie actually talks some sense. However some of our supporters on this thread are quite frankly embarrassing

[roversdude]

Frankie I don’t think there is anything aimed at you personally. You come across as a very level headed genuine guy as I’m sure the majority of your long standing, long suffering fans are. I think most of the digs are born from frustration at EFL. You have consistently stated that we should be awarded the points and in my honest opinion the EFL could have sorted this the day after the fixture, the longer it drags on the more complex this will become.
Having worked at Lostock for a few years I know quite a few BWFC fans who share your viewpoint

[idler]

Had the EFL either awarded us the win or immediately deducted BWFC 3 points I don't think that we would be having this discussion.

[Frankie Rennie]

Totally agree guys, if the decision to award the game and points to Doncaster had been made at the time I don’t think anyone could have posed serious objections. Sadly we have an EFL board that isn’t fit for purpose and hopefully the MPs investigating it will come to the same conclusion and do something about it?

[Donnybob]

Absolutely Idler.

This week's Football League Paper has Allardyce complaining that the EFL should not be appealing, that Bolton don't deserve punishing - unbelievable Jeff!

He also reckons it is nothing to do with the new owners.

When you buy a cheap banger because it failed it's MOT you still have to pay for the repairs or you can't put it on the road. You can't shrug your shoulders and blame the previous owner for the bald tyres.

Secondly, you buy the club, you apparently buy the history. This enables knobs to boast on other forums that you've spent x years - the majority of your existence in the top division so this actually makes you a special case and should be punished leniently.

Well if you own the past glories you must own the past failures. You can't have one without the other.

As far as I'm concerned the old Bolton died. Ended. A new Bolton began at the start of the 2019/20 season. The Brentford game? Gone. Over. History? Gone. Does not belong to you. Past glory? Gone.

August 2019. Clean slate. New kid on the block. You make promises, you keep them. The price for starting in L1 instead of some minor county league, a points handicap.

But if you disregard the rules, treat the EFL with contempt, disrespect a fellow club, then expect the very worst punishment and take it on the chin.

The very least punishment for your actions should be an instant 3 point deduction and the game, plus points, awarded to whoever was the opposition. If you did this unilaterally and failed to follow procedure and keep all parties informed then further punishment could and should apply. At no point should you be rewarded with match day income for a rearranged fixture.

My view would gave been just the same if that had benefited Rotherham, or Portsmouth, or whoever.

Bolton and Bury have undermined the integrity of this year's competition. The league table is a mess with some teams having only played 15 games whilst Rochdale have completed 19. Go from top to bottom looking for two teams in adjacent places that have played the same number of games. Ridiculous, eh?

And then there's the real Bolton or the kids factor, and the implications to points/goal differences.

It's a knockout had a joker that competing teams could play. We've got Bolton, except without the laughs.

Just wish they could accept that.

There will be massive congestion later in the season.

[Frankie Rennie]

I hold BWFC totally responsible for the whole situation, how BWFC fans can come on here to justify the unjustifiable is mind boggling

Filo, I don’t think any Bolton fan I’ve read on here has claimed we aren’t responsible and must face the penalty. What we have pointed out and is true is that the current owners, manager and fans had nothing to do with the decision to call off our game, which was carried out by our former manager Phil Parkinson, who knew he was leaving and the Administrator who were running the club at the time. Obviously the new ownership are now responsible for dealing with the effects of that decision but I’m sure none of us consider it was right to do it or that we shouldn’t face punishment for it. All we ask is that the penalty is proportionate and is fair to both sides.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Glad we can agree then that the decision was wrong, for Bolton, for Doncaster Rovers and for football as a whole. I don't think Bolton should be crucified but it has to be made clear that it is totally unacceptable for any club to fail to fulfil fixtures and it be categorically clear it should result in an immediate forfeit of the 3 points. If that is not clear in the rules now, then it needs to be.

[Frankie Rennie]

Absolutely Idler.

This week's Football League Paper has Allardyce complaining that the EFL should not be appealing, that Bolton don't deserve punishing - unbelievable Jeff!

He also reckons it is nothing to do with the new owners.

When you buy a cheap banger because it failed it's MOT you still have to pay for the repairs or you can't put it on the road. You can't shrug your shoulders and blame the previous owner for the bald tyres.

Secondly, you buy the club, you apparently buy the history. This enables knobs to boast on other forums that you've spent x years - the majority of your existence in the top division so this actually makes you a special case and should be punished leniently.

Well if you own the past glories you must own the past failures. You can't have one without the other.

As far as I'm concerned the old Bolton died. Ended. A new Bolton began at the start of the 2019/20 season. The Brentford game? Gone. Over. History? Gone. Does not belong to you. Past glory? Gone.

August 2019. Clean slate. New kid on the block. You make promises, you keep them. The price for starting in L1 instead of some minor county league, a points handicap.

But if you disregard the rules, treat the EFL with contempt, disrespect a fellow club, then expect the very worst punishment and take it on the chin.

The very least punishment for your actions should be an instant 3 point deduction and the game, plus points, awarded to whoever was the opposition. If you did this unilaterally and failed to follow procedure and keep all parties informed then further punishment could and should apply. At no point should you be rewarded with match day income for a rearranged fixture.

My view would gave been just the same if that had benefited Rotherham, or Portsmouth, or whoever.

Bolton and Bury have undermined the integrity of this year's competition. The league table is a mess with some teams having only played 15 games whilst Rochdale have completed 19. Go from top to bottom looking for two teams in adjacent places that have played the same number of games. Ridiculous, eh?

And then there's the real Bolton or the kids factor, and the implications to points/goal differences.

It's a knockout had a joker that competing teams could play. We've got Bolton, except without the laughs.

Just wish they could accept that.

There will be massive congestion later in the season.

Absolutely Idler.

This week's Football League Paper has Allardyce complaining that the EFL should not be appealing, that Bolton don't deserve punishing - unbelievable Jeff!

He also reckons it is nothing to do with the new owners.

When you buy a cheap banger because it failed it's MOT you still have to pay for the repairs or you can't put it on the road. You can't shrug your shoulders and blame the previous owner for the bald tyres.

Secondly, you buy the club, you apparently buy the history. This enables knobs to boast on other forums that you've spent x years - the majority of your existence in the top division so this actually makes you a special case and should be punished leniently.

Well if you own the past glories you must own the past failures. You can't have one without the other.

As far as I'm concerned the old Bolton died. Ended. A new Bolton began at the start of the 2019/20 season. The Brentford game? Gone. Over. History? Gone. Does not belong to you. Past glory? Gone.

August 2019. Clean slate. New kid on the block. You make promises, you keep them. The price for starting in L1 instead of some minor county league, a points handicap.

But if you disregard the rules, treat the EFL with contempt, disrespect a fellow club, then expect the very worst punishment and take it on the chin.

The very least punishment for your actions should be an instant 3 point deduction and the game, plus points, awarded to whoever was the opposition. If you did this unilaterally and failed to follow procedure and keep all parties informed then further punishment could and should apply. At no point should you be rewarded with match day income for a rearranged fixture.

My view would gave been just the same if that had benefited Rotherham, or Portsmouth, or whoever.

Bolton and Bury have undermined the integrity of this year's competition. The league table is a mess with some teams having only played 15 games whilst Rochdale have completed 19. Go from top to bottom looking for two teams in adjacent places that have played the same number of games. Ridiculous, eh?

And then there's the real Bolton or the kids factor, and the implications to points/goal differences.

It's a knockout had a joker that competing teams could play. We've got Bolton, except without the laughs.

Just wish they could accept that.

There will be massive congestion later in the season.

Absolutely Idler.

This week's Football League Paper has Allardyce complaining that the EFL should not be appealing, that Bolton don't deserve punishing - unbelievable Jeff!

He also reckons it is nothing to do with the new owners.

When you buy a cheap banger because it failed it's MOT you still have to pay for the repairs or you can't put it on the road. You can't shrug your shoulders and blame the previous owner for the bald tyres.

Secondly, you buy the club, you apparently buy the history. This enables knobs to boast on other forums that you've spent x years - the majority of your existence in the top division so this actually makes you a special case and should be punished leniently.

Well if you own the past glories you must own the past failures. You can't have one without the other.

As far as I'm concerned the old Bolton died. Ended. A new Bolton began at the start of the 2019/20 season. The Brentford game? Gone. Over. History? Gone. Does not belong to you. Past glory? Gone.

August 2019. Clean slate. New kid on the block. You make promises, you keep them. The price for starting in L1 instead of some minor county league, a points handicap.

But if you disregard the rules, treat the EFL with contempt, disrespect a fellow club, then expect the very worst punishment and take it on the chin.

The very least punishment for your actions should be an instant 3 point deduction and the game, plus points, awarded to whoever was the opposition. If you did this unilaterally and failed to follow procedure and keep all parties informed then further punishment could and should apply. At no point should you be rewarded with match day income for a rearranged fixture.

My view would gave been just the same if that had benefited Rotherham, or Portsmouth, or whoever.

Bolton and Bury have undermined the integrity of this year's competition. The league table is a mess with some teams having only played 15 games whilst Rochdale have completed 19. Go from top to bottom looking for two teams in adjacent places that have played the same number of games. Ridiculous, eh?

And then there's the real Bolton or the kids factor, and the implications to points/goal differences.

It's a knockout had a joker that competing teams could play. We've got Bolton, except without the laughs.

Just wish they could accept that.

There will be massive congestion later in the season.

Sincere apologies to all the genuine and sensible Rovers fans on here but try as I have to respond politely and factually to Donnybob its to no avail and I have to consider him a complete moron. We have one or two on our threads as well but we usually just ignore them which I will now do with him/her.

The game was cancelled/called off against current rules, however you want to describe it, by people representing BWFC at that time and for that reason Doncaster should in my mind receive the 3 points in the same way that Brentford did last year, despite the circumstances being different in that it was the EFL who decided to cancel that game.

We are not Billy big shoes, we are not beyond the rules and we don’t consider in any way that we are deserving of different rules because of our history.

I can’t say it any clearer than that and believe most Wanderers fans also hold that view, so I hope even the likes of Donnybob can understand and accept that.

[Donnybob]

And there's your reason why this game should NOT be rescheduled. Folks who claim they are reasonable, sensible and understanding running around calling other fans morons whilst saying there's an unreasonable element in his club's support. What could possibly go wrong?

[Noblot]

Absolutely Idler.

This week's Football League Paper has Allardyce complaining that the EFL should not be appealing, that Bolton don't deserve punishing - unbelievable Jeff!

He also reckons it is nothing to do with the new owners.

When you buy a cheap banger because it failed it's MOT you still have to pay for the repairs or you can't put it on the road. You can't shrug your shoulders and blame the previous owner for the bald tyres.

Secondly, you buy the club, you apparently buy the history. This enables knobs to boast on other forums that you've spent x years - the majority of your existence in the top division so this actually makes you a special case and should be punished leniently.

Well if you own the past glories you must own the past failures. You can't have one without the other.

As far as I'm concerned the old Bolton died. Ended. A new Bolton began at the start of the 2019/20 season. The Brentford game? Gone. Over. History? Gone. Does not belong to you. Past glory? Gone.

August 2019. Clean slate. New kid on the block. You make promises, you keep them. The price for starting in L1 instead of some minor county league, a points handicap.

Allardyce has no current connection to the club, so has no authority to speak on its behalf.

Also, we went into administration, not liquidation. The football club now is the same legal entity it's always been.

With regard to us having spent more seasons in the top flight than any other league, that was only mentioned because you stated otherwise. It gives us no divine right to play at that level, neither does it mean that, all things being equal, the top flight is our natural place in the league pyramid (to repeat, our natural place lies somewhere between the bottom half of the Championship and the top half of League One).

And it certainly doesn't give us any kind of special status that you seem to think we think we deserve.

[Donnybob]

Yawn....

[Catte]

I think DonnyBob needs to have a quiet drink and cool his jets.

Is it wrong to have followed a club for life be brought up on the stories of legendary players and to have pride in your history?

I have probably met less than 10 Bolton fans who think we have been heavily punished by the EFL, or that we should not have taken a 1-0 defeat for the Doncaster game and Doncaster have 3 more points today. We as fans would have not been surprised if the game had been awarded to Doncaster.
In fact it probably should have been.

Season Ticket does not have Doncaster in there as it was only launched at or after the Blackpool game as until around that time we had no owners, I am told or at least was told that the ticket I have for Doncaster will be honoured (Live too far away to just pop in to refund it).

We do not believe we are better than anyone based on our History (we remain proud of this History) we are incredibly grateful that we have a team to follow we were very close to being destroyed by one man.

The independent commission came to a decision, I was surprised and then not surprised that the EFL are appealing based on leniency. However Bolton new owners I assume will be monitoring this from a legal perspective I think this could run and run.

Not sure why having new owners means we are a new team with no History, would that not be the same for Doncaster and any other team that is taken over in dire straights or any team taken over. I know Celtic fans refer to the New Glasgow Rangers no cups or titles, but they were liquidated. I know when Stoke went bump they still maintain they are one of the oldest clubs in the league so I assume DonnyBob is trying to wind up the Wanderers fans on here.

I quite like this forum so I will probably stay most of the posters seem reasonable.