Bolton Wanderers’ fixture with Brentford will not be played next week and the Bees have been awarded a 1-0 victory, the EFL has announced.
Originally scheduled to be played last weekend, Bolton’s players announced a strike ahead of the game which led to the fixture being postponed and it was announced on Thursday the game would be played on Tuesday May 7.
However, the situation has changed significantly since that statement as Bolton then announced that Laurence Bassini’s takeover was off after the deadline for a deal passed - although the former Watford owner remarkably claimed on Friday that his purchase had gone ahead.
That throws up further uncertainty about the club’s future ahead of their relegation to League One and a Prohibition Notice was issued preventing Tuesday’s rescheduled fixture taking place and, subsequently, Brentford have been awarded a 1-0 win.
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As a result, the Bees move to 12th in the table, leapfrogging Blackburn Rovers, Hull City and Preston North End - the latter of whom they lock horns with on Sunday on the Championship’s final day.
The EFL issued a statement on the matter, which read:
“Following the decision taken by Bolton Wanderers’ Safety Advisory Group (SAG) to issue a Prohibition Notice preventing Tuesday’s rearranged Sky Bet Championship fixture with Brentford from taking place, the EFL will not be asking that the game is played at a future date.
“There is no provision under EFL Regulations to direct Clubs to play at a later date than four days past the conclusion of the season and, as a result, it has been determined that Brentford will be awarded the three points on the basis of a 1-0 victory.
“As a consequence, Bolton Wanderers is now deemed to be guilty of misconduct by the EFL which will result in disciplinary proceedings against the Club being taken at an appropriate time.
“The decision to award the victory to Brentford is taken under Regulation 33.2 and is independent of the proceedings referred to above.”
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