WANDERERS have confirmed the appointment of Neil Hart as their new chief executive.

The club had been looking for a long-term replacement for previous CEO Emma Beaugeard for nearly 12 months, with both Andrew Gartside and Scott Lindsay bringing the gap.

Hart previously worked in a similar role at Burnley, spending seven years at Turf Moor and also heading up their Football in the Community arm.

“As a founder member of the Football League, Bolton Wanderers has a rich heritage and history and it is an exciting time to be joining the club,” Hart said on his arrival at Bolton.

“With our ‘One Club, One Community, One Town’ vision, the club is at the very heart of our community. We should always remember our roots and what the club, and indeed football, means to the town of Bolton and our residents.

“I cannot wait to get started and I’m really looking forward to meeting our supporters and working with the staff, board, manager and all our local businesses and community partners.

"This opportunity to lead Bolton Wanderers into an exciting future feels right. There is a huge opportunity for everyone at the club to move it forward in a pragmatic way within a sound and sustainable financial framework.

“There is much hard work ahead and we are definitely up for that challenge - everyone at Bolton Wanderers will get 100 per cent from me every day.

“For me, it’s about the collective and as a family I'm certain the journey ahead for us all will be an exciting and positive one.”

Hart, originally from Rochdale, established Burnley FC in the Community as a high impact charitable organisation, building a highly competent team of people growing the charity to over 100 staff and driving multimillion-pound funding into the community programme which resulted in the acquisition and building of a number of community facilities in East Lancashire, with one being opened by former Prime Minister, Theresa May, in 2019.

The community programme delivered over 40 different projects engaging with over 33,000 individuals per annum. Neil then took on the Club CEO role in March 2019 and led the club through the challenges of the pandemic and supported with the ultimate takeover of Burnley FC in early 2021.

He left the role amicably after a takeover at Burnley by an American consortium.

Prior to his arrival in East Lancashire, Neil played a leading role in developing a successful and highly-regarded community engagement programme at Watford FC over eight years with the highlight securing a single government grant of £4.2 million to build a state of the art community facility and he was instrumental in developing a broader portfolio of successful community partnerships.

Wanderers chairman Sharon Brittan added: “Neil has over 20 years of working in professional football and with a very strong background in community programmes he was the ideal candidate to lead Bolton Wanderers Football Club into an exciting future.

“Neil’s experience at the top level of football from his time at Burnley will bring enormous benefits to our football club and will serve us well going forward.

“He inherits some talented and loyal staff who all remain extremely dedicated to our supporters and the local community.

“Following a thorough recruitment process, the Board and I are delighted that Neil has accepted our offer to become CEO and we all looking forward to working with him.”