OPINION: EFL should be embarrassed by Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers' situations

Blackpool’s plight was given widespread coverage at the weekend thanks to the televised FA Cup tie against Arsenal.

The boycott of such a significant fixture and the club’s Oyston nightmare understandably attracted headlines from around the world, not just nationwide.

But a certain supporter climbing on top of Arsenal’s team bus might have just got more attention.

We’ve become accustomed to League chiefs simply ignoring the situation at Blackpool, we’ve long surpassed the time where they should have intervened.

But this week we also saw calls for the EFL to get involved at Bolton Wanderers, a club involved in their own nightmare with chairman Ken Anderson.

He was involved in a bizarre spat with Forest Green Rovers owner Dale Vince, who claimed Bolton had failed to honour a deal for striker Christian Doidge.

It is also understood Norwich City are owed a six-figure sum by Bolton for unpaid wages and loan fees.

Bolton have been plagued by financial problems during Anderson’s tenure, only avoiding administration in September after former owner Eddie Davies agreed a £5m loan four days before he died.

Bolton, like Blackpool, are in desperate need of some assistance. The EFL will complain they don’t have the power to do anything, which is debatable to begin with.

But even if it’s true, why not lobby the FA and/or the government to expand its powers? Surely they want to be able to do something about rogue owners?

It can’t reflect well on them to see clubs in such farcical states as Blackpool and Bolton.