Bolton have been given 14 days to complete a sale of the club or be expelled from the English Football League by an EFL board which expressed its frustration with a drawn-out takeover process which fell apart at the weekend.

The EFL’s statement was issued at 11pm on Tuesday, at the same time as the expulsion of Bolton’s neighbours Bury was announced, demonstrating the very real threat facing Wanderers, one of the league’s founder members in 1888.

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The club’s administrator, Paul Appleton, had himself expressed his exasperation with the owner, Ken Anderson, naming him in a statement as the only party to the planned sale to Football Ventures who had not signed the deal on Friday. Appleton said that “devastatingly” the deal had collapsed on Saturday morning, understood to be over the terms of Anderson’s release from the club and any remaining borrowings, although Anderson denied that he was responsible for the delay.

While a further statement was issued on Tuesday before a 5pm deadline issued by the EFL, it said only that discussions were ongoing. Following a board meeting by telephone, which began at 5pm, the EFL issued the 14-day notice. “Despite further exchanges with the administrators over the course of the Bank Holiday weekend and right up until today’s deadline of 5pm, a resolution to the ongoing impasse in negotiations regarding a completion of sale at Bolton Wanderers has not yet been found,” the statement said.

Bolton have until 11:59pm on 12 September to conclude the sale, or show that it can be funded through a full season in administration – which Appleton himself has said is not practicable.

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In a further statement the EFL’s executive chair, Debbie Jevans, said: “Despite repeated assurances, we are extremely disappointed that we are still not in a position to reach a successful resolution with the sale of Bolton Wanderers and have therefore taken the decision to [issue the notice of withdrawal]. I again urge all parties to finalise the proposed takeover.”

Appleton had warned on Monday that a failure by Anderson and the other parties to agree a deal could lead to “the process of closing down the company” beginning on Wednesday. In response to the EFL’s 14-day notice, Appleton’s firm, David Rubin and partners, issued a statement on the club’s website which read: “All parties have been in continuous dialogue throughout the day and are working closely together this evening in order to bring a deal to completion. We will continue to work through the night if necessary.”