Sharon Brittan: Creating Sustainable Success at Bolton Wanderers
Caring, committed and courageous, Sharon Brittan is living proof that Football Clubs can achieve sustainable success under the right leadership.
Bolton Wanderers’ chairman has conviction in her beliefs and refuses to compromise in her pursuit of taking the Whites back to the top flight, while maintaining a stable economic structure.
She explains: “I was very clear on how I would run a Football Club, with the right people doing the right job in the right way, with ethics, morals, principles, trust and transparency at the heart of everything.
“You need people who are bought into the vision and the journey, because this is a business that is full of noise. We want the noise to be on the pitch, with peace and quiet off the pitch, so we can all get on with our jobs and have fun.
“Each and every component has to come together for success. One thing that is a guarantee is that there will be highs and there will be lows – we share them all as one.
“We've got a culture here. It sounds a bit of a cliché, but I feel that we have created a family at Bolton Wanderers Football Club. We certainly feel proud of it and a lot of people from within the football world and outside of the football world are talking about it, which is really positive.”
In 2019, Bolton Wanderers was in freefall, with a desperate financial situation, a disengaged fanbase and a detached relationship with its community.
Fast forward to the present, it’s a Club reborn, with a foundation in place to rise and rise. On and off the pitch, its future looks healthy.
Brittan recalls: “I will never forget the day I walked into this Football Club in August 2019. Devastation seems like a really powerful word, but it was devastation. People had not been paid. They were unable to pay their mortgages. They were unable to pay their rent. Their anxiety was heightened. Their mental health and wellbeing had suffered.
“I'm not sure that people ever realise quite how much goes on behind the scenes in the running of a Football Club – the amount of work is enormous. It’s a huge responsibility to own a Football Club and people need to be very, very clear on that before they do this.
“We know what happens when a Club gets into the wrong hands. Here, we’re responsible custodians and I know that the EFL, because I’ve worked closely with Rick Parry, are doing everything they can to ensure the owner’s fit and proper test is rigorous.”
