Bolton Wanderers in hot water over treatment of Christian Doidge

Photo Credit: Sky Sports

Forest Green Rovers chairman Dale Vince has launched an attack on Bolton Wanderers via social media, over the deal that involved forward Christian Doidge.

The striker had signed a loan deal at the Lancashire club in the summer and was expected to sign a permanent deal upon its expiration.

But Vince has claimed that his Bolton counterpart, Ken Anderson, refused to stay true to the agreement and has breached a contract between the two sides, which includes failing to pay Doidge for several months, as Forest Green picked up the bill. Dale Vince has expressed his intentions to pursue legal advice on this serious breach of contract.

Vince has also used his statement to call on the EFL to regulate clubs in situations like this, ensuring that they do not take advantage of those in the lower leagues.

Doidge now returns to Forest Green Rovers, and will see out the rest of the season with his parent club. The 26-year-old Welshman scored 20 goals for Forest Green in 39 League Two games last season, their first campaign in the football league pyramid.

[Dale Vince’s statement in full – Facebook]

From Monday morning, Christian Doidge is back with FGR. We’ve taken the decision to recall him after his loan agreement expired last week amid continual contractual breaches by Bolton Wanderers.

It became clear to us that Bolton entered into a contract to loan and then buy Christian last August without the means to honour it, and perhaps the intention to do so as well. They haven’t even paid his wages for the last four months (we have).

It’s not just FGR that have been let down badly by Bolton, but Christian too.

Bolton’s Chairman, Ken Anderson, made a lot of promises on the last day of the transfer window, both to Christian and FGR, and has kept none of them. This is all his work and from talking to Ken he feels immune from the consequences – but some of these promises are written in legally binding contracts, and we’ll be pursuing them.

When the dust settles, we’ll talk to the EFL about how they regulate clubs like Bolton. They already regulate the club to a degree, controlling all TV monies to make sure that football debts get paid. Hard not to wonder whether the league could also have a role in approving the terms of any contracts entered into – to make sure that they are actually within the means of the club. We had no way to know, but the EFL should have the inside view on that.

And finally (for now…) – Disappointing as it is to see this go pear shaped, both for FGR and Christian, I’m also excited by the prospect of the second half of the season with Christian back with us. I’m sure all FGR fans everywhere will join me in welcoming him back.