She explains: “I was very clear on how I would run a Football Club, with the right people doing the right job in the right way, with ethics, morals, principles, trust and transparency at the heart of everything.

“You need people who are bought into the vision and the journey, because this is a business that is full of noise. We want the noise to be on the pitch, with peace and quiet off the pitch, so we can all get on with our jobs and have fun.

“Each and every component has to come together for success. One thing that is a guarantee is that there will be highs and there will be lows – we share them all as one.

“We’ve got a culture here. It sounds a bit of a cliché, but I feel that we have created a family at Bolton Wanderers Football Club. We certainly feel proud of it and a lot of people from within the football world and outside of the football world are talking about it, which is really positive.”

In 2019, Bolton Wanderers was in freefall, with a desperate financial situation, a disengaged fanbase and a detached relationship with its community.

Fast forward to the present, it’s a Club reborn, with a foundation in place to rise and rise. On and off the pitch, its future looks healthy.

Brittan recalls: “I will never forget the day I walked into this Football Club in August 2019. Devastation seems like a really powerful word, but it was devastation. People had not been paid. They were unable to pay their mortgages. They were unable to pay their rent. Their anxiety was heightened. Their mental health and wellbeing had suffered.

“I’m not sure that people ever realise quite how much goes on behind the scenes in the running of a Football Club – the amount of work is enormous. It’s a huge responsibility to own a Football Club and people need to be very, very clear on that before they do this.

“We know what happens when a Club gets into the wrong hands. Here, we’re responsible custodians and I know that the EFL, because I’ve worked closely with Rick Parry, are doing everything they can to ensure the owner’s fit and proper test is rigorous.”

Almost four years on from saving the Club’s existence – with the help and support of a key group of initial investors – Brittan is admired and adored by the Wanderers faithful. Win or lose, they know they’re on the right track with her at the helm.

She continues: “When I came here, people had lost faith – the staff, the fans, the stakeholders, the community, everybody had fallen out of love with this Football Club. We had to come in and start from the bottom, and that doesn’t happen quickly.

“I thought the only way I’m going to earn the trust of the fans and the community is by being visible. They need to see me, they need to know me, they need to understand me, they need to hear me. Being an invisible owner wouldn’t have worked for the journey that we want to take the Football Club on.

“I have a lot of communication with people in the community, with people at the university, with people at the Council. This is one of the largest towns in the UK and we should be singing from the same hymn sheet. I think the fans seem to be loving it now and we’re all proud of this journey.

“When I left Barnsley after the Play-Off Semi-Final Second Leg, I was waiting to be let out and our fans were leaving in the coaches and they were banging on the windows, shouting at me saying the most wonderful things – and we’d just lost! We weren’t going to play in the Final and they were still shouting messages of support. That’s really, really special.”

The financial sustainability of the game has been the focal point of discussions for a long period, with the Fan Led Review White Paper on Reforming Club Football Governance representing a once-in-a- generation opportunity to address the systemic issues that football has been unable to sort itself over the last 30 years.

Brittan has implemented her own measures to protect the future of the Greater Manchester Club.

“It’s really hard work to make a Football Club sustainable, but it’s our duty to run the Football Club in a smart way,” she admits. “I respect everybody’s money and I want people’s investment to be well spent. I think we’ve got a proven record of doing just that.

“Four years in, we are running a sustainable Football Club in an organised and responsible manner. Doing that avoids the scenario of having the huge highs and then when the owner funding stops, you collapse. That’s what can’t happen.

“I’ve talked to so many of our fans and I think they appreciate our approach. They’ve said to me, ‘Sharon, we want responsible owners – we don’t want the boom and bust’.

“I am a great believer, first and foremost, that while we’re on the pitch for 90 minutes, there is no-one more competitive than me. I really like to win. But outside of that, we should all be collaborating and working together to ensure the future stability of the pyramid.”

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In constructing her financial model, Brittan has been innovative in her methods to raise funds.

Wanderers launched an investment bond in May for supporters and other interested parties to support the future development of the Club. Within eight days, the funding target of £3.5 million had been achieved.

“When you do initiatives like the Wanderers Bond – in order to maintain our financial position and be competitive – it will only work if you’ve got trust around you,” she adds. “To have raised so much in such a short space of time just completely humbles me, and every single penny of that will go back into this Football Club, every single penny.

“My original four investors in 2019 – and our wonderful Swiss consortium who joined us in early 2022 – thought I was having a midlife crisis. However, thankfully, they bought into the idea that we were going to do things differently in football, alongside creating a platform to do good.

“Suddenly, we’ve got people coming to us with money, because they believe in what we’re doing and they want to be part of this movement and this journey. We’re fully funded for the season ahead, and it’s extraordinary from where we were.

“I think the fans know me well enough now to know that I’m very driven, I’m very determined and I know exactly where we want and need to be. I have enjoyed the last two seasons, but next season, we want to start in the right way and finish in the right way.”

On the pitch, the Trotters continue to go from strength to strength under the leadership of manager Ian Evatt.

Having secured promotion from Sky Bet League Two at the first time of asking in 2020/21, Wanderers have made gradual progress in the third tier, finishing ninth and fifth, although Play- Off success evaded them in May.

“We were disappointed that we lost to Barnsley, but when we look back and reflect, we’re very happy with our progress,” Brittan notes. “Next season, I want us to have automatic promotion – that is our aim.

“I am very ambitious and I’d like to take this Club from the brink of liquidation back to the Premier League where it belongs. That’s the journey we’ve subscribed to and I, more than anyone, want to fulfil that.”

Although they fell short of promotion, Evatt’s side did deliver silverware in the form of the Papa Johns Trophy, with the comprehensive 4-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle at Wembley Stadium marking a significant milestone in the Club’s resurgent run.

“It was an utterly magical, perfect day,” Brittan recollects, gleefully. “It couldn’t have been scripted any better. It showcased Ian, the players, the fans, the Club, the togetherness, the journey. It was a day I will never forget.

“In my mind, I thought about what I saw when we arrived in 2019. Then, to see the number of fans there and the success we had on the pitch at Wembley, I was very, very emotional.”

The Club’s welcoming culture at the top has filtered down into the dressing room, with Brittan and Evatt sharing a close bond, while loan players like Conor Bradley and James Trafford have been able to flourish in a settled environment.

“I have a very close relationship with Ian Evatt,” she states. “Somebody gave me some advice very early on to not have a close relationship with the manager, because they’re transient and they come and go. I thought that’s the opposite of what I want to be.

“I don’t want our manager to feel that he’s transient and that it’s only a matter of time before he’s gone. I want our manager to feel that he’s part of a journey, and that’s where I think we are different.

“When you build a culture, you build relationships, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. We’ve built relationships with Liverpool, with Manchester City, with Manchester United. They know that this is a trusted place for their players to come to.

“We want them to progress here, so that when they leave, they’re in a much better place than when they arrived. I think that’s very clear to see with a few of the players we’ve had this season and that’s enhanced our relationship with those Clubs, so that we can talk again and hopefully they’ll see us as trusted custodians of their players.”

From the outset, Brittan made no secret of her desire to use the Football Club’s platform to do good in the local area.

In July 2021, she appointed Neil Hart as the new Chief Executive Officer, with his prior experience at Burnley FC in the Community viewed as a key factor in bringing community focus to the forefront of the Club’s priorities.

His efforts were recently recognised at the Football Business Awards, where he was named League One CEO of the Year.

Alongside Bolton Wanderers in the Community CEO Phil Mason, there is now significant collaboration between Club and Trust, adopting a ‘One Club, One Community, One Town’ identity.

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“I always felt that the Club and the Community Trust should work together and be intrinsically linked,” says Brittan. “The bigger the platform we can get, the more good that we can do, and the community side is equally as important to me as the football.

“There are a huge amount of initiatives that are delivered to appeal to everyone in the town – all ages, all genders, all faiths, all cultures. Everyone is welcomed and embraced through the doors of this Football Club.”

Keen to put her words into action, Brittan often attends community events and has spearheaded multiple charity walks that have raised funds that will be put towards a new Wellbeing Hub.

“I absolutely love the community activities – I love the walks and I love keeping fit,” she says. “We have this amazing interaction and I see the impact of the events and the programmes on the people in this town for their mental health and wellbeing, which is fabulous because people are struggling.

“It was hard before the pandemic and now everybody’s anxiety and mental health and wellbeing has been heightened. I think if we can provide a space which is safe for people to come to, it’s brilliant.

“I also had an evening with the Muslim community during Ramadan, where we broke the fast together and the tickets for the evening were taken up within 24 hours. More of the Muslim community are coming to games and engaging with the Club now – it’s brilliant.

“I also hear from supporters all the time who write to me or approach me to tell me their stories and explain what Bolton Wanderers means to them.

“It’s a regular occurrence that men and women alike will become incredibly emotional when they talk to me about what it means to see the place full of life again after coming so close to losing the Football Club they love so much.

“So many have gone from desperation to once again enjoying football with their families and friends. Their stories never cease to amaze me. Things like that are very rewarding and make the work we do worthwhile.”

In all aspects, the Bolton Wanderers model is a blueprint to follow.

A sustainable financial standing, a thriving community programme, an award-winning supporter engagement strategy – scooping the EFL Fan Engagement Award in April – and a successful team on the pitch, Sharon Brittan, along with her fellow board members and investors, has transformed a Club in turmoil into one primed to prosper.

“My ambition is to make a difference to people’s lives and to ensure that this Football Club is on a firm footing – because it’s going to be here a long time after me – and ensure that it never, ever finds itself in the place that it was in when I arrived,” she affirms.

“The next steps are to continue to progress, and that’s what we’re planning for. That’s what I’m working at with my team of incredible people. On the pitch, we want to get to the Championship. Off the pitch, we want to continue to make a difference to people’s lives who need help in various ways.

“Everything we’re doing is for a reason. We have 300,000 people living in Bolton and how this Club is run impacts on their lives. I will not let them down.”

This feature originally appeared in the summer 2023 edition of the EFL Magazine.


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