London: Historic football club Bolton, one of the founders of the English Football League, avoided the fate of their historic rivals Bury from being expelled from the league when a takeover was finally approved on Wednesday.
Bolton had been under threat of suffering the same fate as fellow side Bury, who on Tuesday had become the first team to be expelled from the English Football League in over two decades. However, the four-time FA Cup winners staved off the imminent threat of extinction when long-time suitors Football Ventures Limited succeeded in buying the club. Bolton had been given a stay of execution late on Tuesday to find a buyer in 14 days. There was relief all-round in the north-west town that was once integral to textile industry but has fallen on hard times — the football club remaining as a focal point of the community and who until 2012 had enjoyed 11 unbroken years in the Premier League. (AFP)
