I am delighted to welcome back Gary Madine and David Wheater to the club alongside Jem Karacan and Andrew Taylor who we announced last week.
All four made vital contributions last season during our promotion winning campaign and they will be integral for us in the Sky Bet Championship next season. We are hoping to re-sign more of our squad over the coming days as well as bringing in some new faces to boost the overall quality.
Please stay tuned to the club’s official communication channels to keep fully informed.
The manager mentioned recently about the requirement to stick within our agreed salary structure when recruiting players. Both Phil and I are working very astutely to maintain this model of prudence for the long-term benefit of the club and to avoid the financial mistakes of the past.
A good example for us to look at is the success of Huddersfield Town who achieved promotion to the Premier League with a sensible wage structure. They have proved that dreams really do come true and are an inspiration. Hopefully, we will achieve the same dream as them.
I am delighted to report that the Bolton Wanderers Academy has provisionally been granted Category 2 status following an extensive audit by the Premier League. This decision will be ratified in a couple of weeks.
The announcement follows on the back of the recent news which saw the Academy, managed by former Wanderers player Jimmy Phillips, ranked fourth out of all 92 clubs in relation to the productivity score of the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan.
The Academy, which is sponsored by Digital Bank, shares its facilities with the first team and also makes available its facilities for community use, which allows the club’s Community Trust the opportunity to provide programmes and assist in the development of their charitable aims of narrowing the gap of disadvantage, raising aspirations and getting the community more active.
The Academy is crucial to the development and future success of our football club and we will continue to invest in it to ensure we have the best facilities possible. Over £1m is being invested in the Academy.
I’d also like to thank the Bolton Wanderers Development Association for their continued support of the football club through their funding of capital projects, especially with their support of the Academy.
All Wanderers fans play their role in this funding by being part of the Lifeline and Goldline schemes as well as buying scratchcards and Golden Gamble tickets on match day.
Click here for more information on Lifeline and Goldline.
The success of our promotion campaign last season has seen an increase in the number of supporters who have purchased season tickets for the very first time.
With just over a week to go until the Early Purchase Deadline, we are on course to sell more season tickets for the Sky Bet Championship campaign than last term.
Around 10% of all sales so far are to supporters who haven’t held a season ticket in the past, proving that Bolton Wanderers Football Club is offering excellent value for money by becoming a season ticket holder instead of buying tickets on a match-by-match basis.
The Early Purchase Deadline ends on June 10 and we encourage all supporters to renew or purchase their season tickets ahead of this date to receive the best possible prices.
I cannot emphasise enough how important season ticket holders are to the club. By getting your season tickets early and backing the club, it allows us to directly invest in the squad and the facilities both at Macron Stadium and Lostock.
We’ve had some great momentum so far and it shows no signs of slowing down. If you haven’t already, please buy yours before June 10.
Click here to renew or purchase your season tickets today.
If you are a member of the club’s Lifeline scheme you will be also able to benefit from a 5% discount on your 2017/18 season ticket.
For more information, please email lifeline@bwfc.co.uk or 01204 673774.
Finally, we had some great news on Thursday evening when the club and hotel picked up three industry awards at the Stadium and Hospitality Awards which were held at Anfield.
We won the Gold Award (Medium Stadium) for our excellent matchday hospitality offering as well as picking up the Bronze Award in the overall category, which was judged alongside all the football and rugby stadia in the country. We fought off some fierce competition to get these accolades!
They were well earned and a deserved recognition for all the hard work and passion everybody at Bolton Wanderers Football Club and Bolton Whites puts into making us one of the top football clubs in the country.
A fantastic performance and effort from everyone at the Club, Hotel, Stewards and all Match Day Staff and I would like to thank each and every one of them.