We are pleased to inform our members that the recent application to Bolton Council for renewal of the listing of the University of Bolton Stadium as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) has now been accepted. The BWFCST received notification in writing of acceptance in a letter (dated 30 November 2022) from Bolton Council Chief Executive’s Department (Legal Services). The ACV listing will now remain in place until 24 November 2027.

The UoB Stadium is now listed on the Bolton Council website under List of Assets of Community Value and can be viewed by clicking here .

The importance of having our stadium listed as an ACV has, once again, been emphasised by the eviction notice issued this week to Coventry City FC by their stadium owner, Mike Ashley’s Fraser Group. Coventry City has experienced several years of disruption and stress from current and previous owners of their stadium, having been forced to play their “home” games in other locations (Northampton and Birmingham).

The recent administration of Derby County FC was also made far more complicated and drawn out due to their stadium not being owned by the football club. Several other stadia in English football are not directly under the ownership of the associated football club, leaving those clubs at the mercy of the stadium owners.

Whilst there are examples of stadium ownership residing outside of the football club and operating in a satisfactory manner, we feel that our ACV listing of the UoB Stadium provides added security for our football club.

We wish to thank our current owners, Football Ventures, for their support and encouragement in our ACV relisting, which in turn is indicative of the positive relationship that now exists between the club and the trust.

If there are any queries arising from any of the above, please contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will be pleased to give more detail.

Let’s do this together!

BWFCST

07 Dec 2022