BOLTON Wanderers owner Sharon Brittan has spoken for the first time about last season’s disappointments, the factors that led to the departure of manager Ian Evatt and sporting director Chris Markham, and why she is confident the club is now in its best position yet to escape League One.
Ms Brittan, speaking exclusively to The Bolton News, stated that she and the board were willing to support Evatt until the end of the 2024/25 season, despite his rocky start.
Wanderers had struggled to lift the spirit following their play-off final defeat to Oxford United in May 2024, with Evatt and his players facing criticism for failing to fulfill their promotion ambitions.
On reflection, Ms Brittan concedes that reforming the football department, which has accelerated since the appointment of highly regarded Steven Schumacher as head coach, should have occurred sooner.
Nonetheless, she believes that with a new head coach, the expertise of former Standard Liege sporting director Fergal Harkin, and head of recruiting Jimmy Dickinson, the hierarchy is strong enough to deal with the challenges and expectations that will accompany the new season.
“Last season, post-Wembley, was a very difficult period,” she told our reporters. “As a board, we decided to support a squad that had improved season after season over the preceding four and a half years. Some will argue that the path from League Two to League One, up to ninth place, then play-offs, and finally the final, was not as swift as it could have been.
“But we wanted to show our devotion to a manager who had been approached by other teams but refused to meet with them, and we were aware of how things had evolved. We were aware of the enormous amount of effort required to reconstruct a fully damaged club.
“The board simply felt that we needed to support Ian and Chris (Markham) going into 2024/25.”
“And hindsight is a wonderful thing. Looking back, we can see that it was clearly the incorrect move. We should have made changes following the Wembley setback.
“When the August transfer window and, later, the January window were insufficient, and Ian resigned in January, we recognized we had a chance to restructure the entire department.
“I think what we have now is something which can really work and bring the success that we all want.”
Wanderers hired Chris Markham as their technical performance director in early 2021 as they sought to exit League Two, and his collaboration with Evatt helped secure promotion, consolidation, and two successive play-off campaigns.
Recruitment in the last few transfer windows has been heavily criticised, and some cash signings have failed to meet the requisite criteria, putting a strain on relationships inside the club.
Ms Brittan had discussed a “root and branch review” in the weeks following the play-off final, but admits that she and the board might have gone further in attempting to rejuvenate a group whose pride had been severely harmed.
“One thing that is very clear to me now after the six years I’ve spent at this football club is that there are so many different layers which all have to work to bring success,” according to her.
“Obviously, there is a head coach or manager, but the function of sporting director is also extremely important. That person is in charge of the entire football department, including sports science, medical, recruitment, and coaching.
“The manager’s work is quite difficult, and in hindsight, I believe Ian was doing too much. He was becoming involved with everything.
“I realise now that you need a very experienced, accomplished sporting director to take the pressure off the manager and head coach, so they can focus on what they need to do on a daily basis, and then the two of them working together is critical for success on the field.
“When things don’t go as planned, I always go internally rather than outward, so I spent last season focusing on myself. I understood that, in my job as chairman of this football club, and with the responsibility that comes with it, I had made mistakes; I should have restructured the football department immediately after Wembley.
“That has now been done thoroughly from top to bottom, and I do believe with Fergal and with the new staff that we’ve brought in, that we’re in a very strong position going forward for the 25-26 season.”
Evatt has stated that he took the final decision to leave Bolton in January following a 2-1 home defeat to Charlton Athletic, which ended his four-and-a-half-year tenure.
Though his connection with the fans had deteriorated by the end, and there were visible protests from both those who stayed away from the stadium and those who attended games, Ms Brittan says she and other members of the Football Ventures board were happy to postpone a decision until the summer.
“I would have supported Ian to the end of the season, 100 per cent,” she informed me. “I was always extremely upfront about my opinions. I think he’s an excellent manager; nevertheless, I believe we did not enough assist him, and I accept responsibility for this.
“I believe he was tremendously devoted; he loved this football club to the bone, and he was probably overly loyal to people himself.
“I believe he has gone away, acknowledged what he did correctly, and identified areas where he should have altered sooner. But what I do know is that he was completely committed to this project, loved everything about Bolton Wanderers Football Club, and chose to step aside when he thought it was no longer in the best interests of the football club to have him here.
“I don’t think the recruitment in the 2024 summer window was where it should have been, and I believe that carried over into the January 2025 window.
“I wish Ian all the best for the future. I believe he is an excellent manager who will demonstrate his abilities provided he is supported by the proper football squad.
“I think he’s an honest man, and he’ll confess there are places – Ian wears his heart on his sleeve, as you and I both know – where he can learn and improve.
“It was only his second managing role, and I believe there are areas where he will advance. But I believe he will continue to be a tremendously successful manager, and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had him here in 2020 when things were awful.
“He didn’t just get us promoted and leave, he got us promoted and he stayed, and I’ve got a lot of respect for that.”
Though 2024/25 was a challenging year for the first team, other aspects of the club thrived, and Ms Brittan voiced her satisfaction at seeing the women’s team win silverware alongside the Under-18s and B Team.
“Honestly, I can only say how proud I am of them,” she told me. “It was a tremendous season for the women’s squad, their first since returning to club operations, and collecting the trophy at the Toughsheet Stadium was a memorable experience.
“The academy also had a fantastic season, and to see some of those players come through and play for us in the last few weeks is the dream, isn’t it?”
“We understand how important this club is to the community; people from all walks of life and backgrounds are united by their devotion for this team.
“And I can promise at every level I feel incredibly positive about this season and what is in store for us all.”
Leave a Reply