A Bolton Wanderers Championship match has been called off after its players went on strike.

The club was due to play Brentford at home Saturday afternoon but the English Football League took the decision to postpone the tie.

It said in a statement: "Following the failure of Bolton Wanderers to provide formal confirmation of its ability to meet its obligation to fulfil its Championship fixture against Brentford on Saturday, the game will not go ahead as planned.

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"Earlier on Friday, the playing staff at the club issued a collective statement confirming that they had decided not to fulfil the remaining fixtures of the season unless they received monies owed to them."

The EFL said the club would be considered to be guilty of misconduct and would be subject to future disciplinary proceedings.


The club's prospective new owner Laurence Bassini told Sky Sports News on Friday that he would make sure the players were paid, adding: "I'm going to get the game back on."

But the club has since hit back, saying: "Despite further promises made to both the team manager and senior representatives of the squad, no funding has been made available to allow payment to the staff or players."

In an interview with Sky Sports News, Bolton's prospective new owner Laurence Bassini showed he had paid one million pounds to pay the players' wages

Image: Bolton players have reportedly not been paid their March wages

Club director Ken Anderson is seeking advice on the club's funds.

The years after Bolton dropped out of the Premier League in 2012 have proved difficult for the club, which ended up millions of pounds in debt.

In February, Wanderers were issued with a winding up order by HM Revenue and Customs as the club's owners struggled to find a buyer.

Bolton was relegated to League One earlier this month and is currently second from bottom of the Championship with what would have been two matches to play.

As the club's financial woes deepened, the club stopped paying players and coaches four weeks ago.

On Friday, the entire first team squad released a statement saying they could not go on playing without being paid the wages they were owed.

They said the playing staff and five of the coaching team were yet to be paid for March.

Bolton "regrettably" confirmed the match had been called off and said they would "like to apologise for the inconvenience this will cause".