Silence At The Spireites As The Bolton War Erupts

Club owner Dave Allen has apparently ceased communication with the Board at Chesterfield, leaving the club with a growing debt and an admittance that they have to sell players to continue.

Company Secretary Ashley Carson told the club's AGM that £1.3million has been added to the existing debt pile and that players would have to go to try and balance the books. Company debt is somewhere around £10million with the sizable amount of money owed to Allen, but he is looking for a £15million return after storming out in November.

“We look at where we are at the moment in terms of cash forecast and we know what sort of figures we’ve got to realise in the summer from the sale of a player to keep things going into another year.”

That was Carson's ominous comment to the AGM. That the club could not effectively continue without selling a player and, with the £1.3million loss similar to the previous season, it's likely that is the sort of figure they are looking for.

Current chairman Mike Warner, Allen's replacement, told the press of his 'reluctance' to take the job and admitted the administration of the club had been a 'shambles'. Warner says Allen is considering his options but, with such a large price tag on a club losing huge sums in League One and facing relegation, he may have few available.

Over at Bolton, the Supporters Trust has told members that it would need to raise up to £30million to rescue the club. The latest much delayed financial figures cast significant doubt on the future of the club with the current structure hemorrhaging money, forcing the sale of star forward Zach Clough for £2.5million to keep the club running.

Owners Ken Anderson and Dean Holdsworth are now in public warfare after statement and counter statement in the press. Both have threatened each other with legal action, and Holdsworth says he is speaking to the League over the club's ownership.

The Trotters are in the promotion hunt in League One, largely due to their near Premier League wage bill, but run the risk of financial meltdown without agreement between the two parties, with the club having to reach settlement with their stadium catering partner over a £120,000 unpaid bill that saw a winding up petition offered.

Anderson has met with the Supporters Trust in an 'open, frank and meaningful meeting', and the Trust plans a similar meeting with Holdsworth as it tries to wade through the broken down relationship and media posturing.