The EFL have this evening, Thursday 221 November, issued a statement confirming punishment for Bolton Wanderers after they failed to fulfill their fixture against Brentford last season. The Bees were due to face Bolton on Saturday 27 April but the game was called off the day before. It was never played and Brentford were awarded a 1-0 Sky Bet Championship win against the already-relegated Lancashire side.

An independent Disciplinary Commission, appointed under EFL Regulations, investigated the situation, as well as Bolton calling off a League One game against Doncaster Rovers in August. They have issued a punishment confirmed in a statement below. Brentford FC has no comment to make on the judgement.

An independent Disciplinary Commission, appointed under EFL Regulations, has ruled that Bolton Wanderers will be handed a sanction of five points, suspended for 18 months, and a financial penalty as a result of being deemed guilty of breaching EFL Regulations in failing to meet its fixture obligations.

The Commission’s findings follow the consideration of a series of charges in relation to Regulation 31 and the non-fulfilment of two fixtures over the course of two seasons with the first in reference to [Bolton's] failure to meet its requirements for the scheduled 2018/19 Championship fixture with Brentford, while further charges were issued in September 2019, after [Bolton] failed to fulfil its League One fixture against Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday 20 August 2019.

At a hearing on Thursday 14 November 2019, the Club pleaded guilty to the charges and, after hearing representations from both parties, the independent panel has ruled that Bolton Wanderers will be subject to a two point deduction for the fixture against Brentford and a further three points for the match against Doncaster Rovers. Both penalties are suspended for 18 months and will not be activated as long as the Club is not subject to a further misconduct charge for non-fulfilment of fixtures in that timeframe.

The financial penalty issued includes £20k and £50k fines handed out for the two respective fixtures, with half of the amounts due also suspended for 18 months.

The decision remains subject to appeal.

This season’s fixture with Doncaster Rovers will be rescheduled and details will be confirmed as soon as possible.