THOUGH the plan for sustainability proved unworkable, stability has been a legacy that Neil Hart can most certainly claim from his three years as Bolton Wanderers’ chief executive.
By his own admission, the crazy economy of football outside the Premier League has made balancing the books “near-on impossible” and the club is still very much reliant on funds being provided by the Football Ventures consortium and BMLL Limited for the time being.
Reducing that shortfall has been the task bestowed upon Hart and his staff over the last few years, and while there may have been some unpopular decisions made along the way, significant increases in commercial, retail and sponsorship revenues will see him leave the club in a much healthier state than he entered it in the summer of 2021.
The most recent set of accounts, published in March, showed a 26 per cent increase in gate receipts, a 67 per cent leap in merchandising and a whopping 211 per cent rise in corporate sales, all falling within a group-wide turnover increase from £13.4m to £19.4m.
Further increases are expected in the next set of accounts after investments made into hospitality and pitch-side advertising over the summer, and season ticket sales which match anything the club has produced since they dropped out of the Premier League in 2012.
Hart had joined Wanderers from Burnley, a club he described at the time as “well-oiled, and slick” but which had been making big changes behind the scenes after new ownership was installed.
“Bolton Wanderers are not there yet,” he added. “But they will be.”
Neil Hart joined Bolton Wanderers as CEO in the summer of 2021 (Image: BWFC)
Like so many football clubs, operations had been pared back during the pandemic. Emma Beaugard had left the CEO post in June 2020 with Andy Gartside and Scott Lindsay stepping in temporarily to see the club through their solitary season in League Two.
Rebuilding the club from the inside could only truly begin once the turnstiles starting moving again, and slowly but surely the empty rooms and offices inside the stadium started to fill once more and the Nightingale Court, installed to help clear the backlog of cases which mounted during the pandemic, was moved out, to allow Bolton to restore their full quota of hospitality suites on a matchday.
The return of supporters did lead to some disorder issues inside and outside the stadium and Wanderers dished out more than 30 banning orders inside Hart’s first 12 months at the helm. The club had been caught up in a national rise in football arrests, with only Birmingham City and Millwall registering more during 2021/22.
That led to the club’s decision to introduce a membership scheme, hurried in during October 2021 to mixed reviews from supporters.
The aim, said Hart and the club, was to understand better who was coming through the turnstiles and where they were in the ground. The changes were not met with universal approval, however, and there was some pushback from some who struggled to sign up.
And by the start of this year, reports of disorder within the stadium itself had dropped to practically nothing.
“I sit here two-and-a-bit years on, it feels more like 20, but we can see evidence of those polices and plans serving us well,” Hart said.
“We have eradicated – I don’t know what else to call them – but the idiots. We have dealt with it the right way.
“We’re really pleased with the work that the safety and stadium operations team has done and the stats show there has been a clear decrease in trouble.”
Hart experienced a similar level of complaints when the club introduced parking charges around the stadium and when they altered matchday bus services after it was claimed a drop in user numbers had made some routes unmanageable.
Wanderers found a lucrative new revenue stream in lockdown through the iFollow service and Hart – who has spoken openly about his vision for more games to be broadcast live – oversaw the creation of an in-house service last summer. Wanderers TV had to alter its service after a new broadcasting deal with Sky Sports and is now looking to find the right balance between satisfying the needs a large domestic fanbase with international viewers who can still watch every match live.
Though Hart has experienced some resistance with some of the moves he has helped through over the last three years, others were greeted warmly by the fanbase.
The Bolton Wanderers Supporters Trust quickly forged a good line of communication with the CEO on his arrival, agreeing to sign a Memorandum of Understanding which gave them a level of access which had been unimaginable under previous ownership.
Hart often used the Trust as a sounding board, and it was through their discussions that the idea for a Fanzone was resurrected, and eventually opened in August 2022. The venture has been a success, and the last set of accounts registered a £187,000 profit for the year ending June 2023.
For the last two seasons, supporters have also been offered the chance to vote on kit designs, which have led to a sharp increase in shirt sales, and this season the introduction of a specific women’s kit after the team was officially brought under the club’s umbrella and made semi-professional.
And, like the ownership, he has been a firm advocate for change in football finance and for a fairer distribution model in the EFL.
Described by Sharon Brittan as a “complete differentiator” when he was awarded League One’s CEO of the Year at the Football Business Awards last May, Hart was also given B class shares in the company alongside manager, Ian Evatt, in recognition of his service.
Though opinion on Hart may have been somewhat divided across the fanbase, it has been unequivocal in the boardroom. What happens now that one of Football Ventures’ trusted lieutenants has left the building will make for interesting viewing in the months ahead. As with most staffing changes, it may only be in the fullness of time that we can say with greater accuracy just how good a job Hart did at Bolton Wanderers.
A club knocking on the door to the Championship does at least now look ready to enter the room, if they can get it right on the pitch.
The chief executive job at Bolton had not looked a stable one since Allan Duckworth left the post more than a decade ago but Hart stepped up and communicated to supporters through the club’s official channels, the Trust and the local press, even if some folk did not always like what he had to say.
Maintaining that dialogue and ensuring that Wanderers remain prepared to take the next step is surely the number one priority however the club look to fill the spot he leaves.
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