Anyone who paid to watch Saturday’s game against Cheltenham Town saw the ball in play for just under 45 per cent of the time.

The shocking stat underlines why so many Bolton Wanderers fans have voiced their displeasure at some of the timewasting tactics on display in League One – problems that also appear to be on the rise across football.

Data from Wyscout shows that the Cheltenham game had 52 minutes and 33 seconds of ‘dead time’ in which neither side had possession of the ball. Factoring in the nine minutes of additional time, it means there was less than 47 minutes of ‘in play’ action.

Ian Evatt remained measured in his assessment of a game won by Kyle Dempsey’s 80th minute strike, warning his team that they will encounter more opponents at the University of Bolton Stadium this season who take a similarly disruptive approach as the Robins.

He made reference to Cheltenham’s “shenanigans” but the end result potentially sweetened his view of an issue which has been brought up many times before.

Supporters have been less forgiving. And with the paying public in mind, should officials and the wider footballing authorities be cracking down harder on teams who, for all intent and purpose, are cheating them out of what they came to see?

The Athletic reported back in October that the average time the ball had been in-play during Premier League games to that point was 55 minutes and 45 seconds (61 per cent).

Sky Sports claim that the amount of in-play football has dropped by 2.5 per cent in the last 10 years, with this January’s average standing at 55.9 per cent. And the problem is not confined to England, with the Bundesliga (55.4), Serie A (55.3) and La Liga (54.5) all showing a slightly lower percentage of in-play football. The Scottish Premier League trails with just 52.5 per cent.

The introduction of VAR and on-field reviews has played a part in the delays at the top level – although not in League One – as has the introduction of five allowed substitutions. And the numbers have prompted high-ranking football figures like Arsene Wenger, now working with UEFA, to lobby for tighter controls.

Leeds United chief executive Angus Kinnear is another figure who has been vocal about change.

After a game in October between Crystal Palace and Leeds United, the ball was found to be in play for just 43 minutes and 46 seconds, or 43.2 per cent of the time.

“Attempting to influence the process or quality of decision making in the heat of the match is virtually futile, but there has been much more progressive subsequent dialogue with the PGMOL and the Premier League,” Kinnear wrote in an article for the Leeds United matchday programme.

“The fact that ‘ball in play time’ has reached a decade-low average of 55 minutes will hopefully create an impetus to address the systematic ‘game management’ that appears to be both increasingly pervasive and troublingly tolerated.”

The phrase ‘game management’ has crept into the footballing lexicon in the past decade to describe the process of changing the tempo of a game or breaking sustained pressure to aid a team’s cause. And it is probably true to say it has always been present in the sport in some form or another.

What Kinnear and others are claiming, however, is that more of the game’s dark arts are being more widely tolerated, which is also having a negative effect on the end product.

During the winter World Cup in Qatar, referees were instructed to take a much stronger view on timewasting, which resulted in some memorably-long periods of added time, including a massive 23 minutes for the England v Iran group game.

"People want to watch football, more football. And we have been asked to do something about it for years,” said FIFA referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina.

"The matter of matches lasting for even less than 50 minutes of active time is something that comes from quite a long time ago.

"So, already, in Russia (2018 World Cup), we asked referees to calculate the stoppage-time more accurately to be given at the end of each half."

On Saturday, fourth official Andy Haines held a board up indicating a minimum three minutes of added time in the first half, and five in the second. According to Wyscout data, the total time played was 99 minutes.

Considering a goal was scored and seven substitutions made, nine minutes may have been conservative. Evatt also made the point that having seen Cheltenham slow the game for so long, they actually benefitted from having extra time at the end to try and seek an equaliser.

Several potential solutions to the problem have been suggested, including shot-clocks, with a view to making each game a minimum of 60 minutes in-play.

There is also evidence at Premier League level that more cautions are being issued for timewasting than ever before. That approach has not been noticeable at EFL level, and on Saturday, one of the chief frustrations in the Bolton camp is that match referee Sunny Singh Gill did so little to discourage.

It took 31 minutes to issue a booking, initially to Cheltenham’s Ryan Broom for stopping a quick free kick being played near half way.

It then took another 28 minutes for Ben Williams to go into the referee’s book, after delaying a throw in, but presumably for an accumulation of similar offences.

Once Bolton had taken the lead, Conor Bradley was booked just four minutes later, his indiscretion being the slowing down of play at a throw in by tossing the ball back to team-mate Eoin Toal. Evatt later denied that this should have been categorised as timewasting.

To complete the set, visiting captain Sean Long also got booked for a foul on Dion Charles in the 86th minute.

Further illustrating the different approaches between Wanderers and Cheltenham on Saturday, we can also look at possession data.

Wade Elliott pointed to the fact his side had ‘more possession’ at the UniBol, with several sources putting the final stats at 48 to 52 per cent.

Breaking that down into in-play possession, however, tells a very different tale. Wyscout stats show that Bolton had nearly double the amount of time on the ball - 29 minutes and 17 seconds compared with 15 minutes and 10 seconds.

Those possessions also break down further into areas of the pitch, with Wanderers enjoying 18 per cent in the Cheltenham penalty area, compared with seven per cent, and 59 per cent in the opposition half, compared with the visitors’ 45.