Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony believes the EFL may have opened themselves up to legal action if teams such as Town and Wycombe, who played Bolton Wanderers during the early stages of the season when they had a weakened squad, win promotion from League One by a point ahead of clubs like his own who didn’t.

The Trotters were forced to field very young sides in the opening weeks of the season, during which time the Blues won 5-0 at the University of Bolton Stadium and the Chairboys beat them 2-0 at Adams Park, before their takeover was completed and they were able to significantly strengthen prior to the closure of the transfer window.

“If Wycombe or Ipswich win promotion by a point over teams who didn’t play against Bolton’s youth team it will be wrong,” MacAnthony told the Peterborough Telegraph.

“The EFL have potentially opened themselves up to lawsuits. The Bolton team is now stronger, they will be well coached by a top manager [Keith Hill] and they will be backed by a brilliant fanbase. The league didn’t handle the situation well.”

At the end of last month, Posh manager Darren Ferguson was also critical of the situation, stating “if Ipswich and Wycombe hadn’t both played against Bolton’s youth team we might well have been top of the table”.

Town are currently top on goal difference from Wycombe with a game in hand on the Chairboys with Peterborough fourth, five points behind having played two games more than the Blues and one more than the Buckinghamshire club.

Bolton are still bottom of the table having been deducted 12 points at the beginning of the season but yesterday’s 1-0 victory over the MK Dons, courtesy of a last-gasp Daryl Murphy goal, saw them into positive points.

Wanderers, who now have one point and are 12 from safety, could face further deductions for failing to fulfil a fixture last season and postponing their home game with Doncaster earlier in this campaign.

Yesterday, Town were paired with Peterborough in the second round of the Leasing.com Trophy with the game set to play in the first week of December, probably on the Wednesday.

Photo: Action Images

midastouch added 15:54 - Nov 17 Be really funny if Bolton beat them when they play. If they were to turn them over just imagine the sour grapes then!
1

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:07 - Nov 17 Legal action? I doubt it. Ferguson's ”might” already sounds legally dodgy to me. How do you ”prove” our result would have been different if we'd played a different Bolton team. How do you even ”prove” that the youth team was any weaker. Maybe they were all fired up and just dying to show what they could do. Peterboro might well feel pissed off. But how do they ”prove” anything? I rest my case, M'lud.

0

IpswichT62OldBoy added 16:19 - Nov 17 Coventry couldn't beat Bolton.
0

Oldsmoker added 16:36 - Nov 17 Bolton fielded their strongest side they could muster against us so it was not a weakened team. The calibre of the team may have been weak compared to us but that is only an opinion and not the basis for a legal challenge.
3

BobbyPetta11 added 16:51 - Nov 17 heard him mention this about 8 weeks ago on talksport! He's becoming very boring.
0

Cheshire_Blue added 17:02 - Nov 17 Grow up ! He should be more worried about failing to beat Ipswich at home earlier in the season. There are 40 odd games in a season, not two.
0

Europablue added 18:09 - Nov 17 Why wait until the end of the season? If you are morally offended, it shouldn't matter whether it makes a difference. Also, does he have such lack of belief in his team that he has to prepare the excuses when the season isn't even half over?
1

TJS added 18:12 - Nov 17 Let's be in no doubt what the alternative was Mr McAnthony. It was that Bolton should have been expelled from the League. Why don't you just say this instead of talking about lawsuits over the results of individual matches.
1

Skip73 added 18:23 - Nov 17 Maybe he could take a lawsuit out against his own players after they threw away the lead against us in the last minute. If we go up by 1 point over them they would've been the points they needed. Bellend!
1

therein61 added 18:44 - Nov 17 What a baffoon this person is we are members of the football league and have to fulfill our fixtures which is what we have done and whatever we gained is in black and white, I wonder if he would be complaining if his side had the results early season that others have had(no of course he wouldn't) anyway it adds spice to our future meeting in the cup match coming up!! I always thought that Barry Fry had a big mouth but his owner is outdoing him with the same lack of common sense that all idiot's who love the sound of their own voice come out with.

1

gosblue added 19:19 - Nov 17 goals conceded Town - 10 Wycombe- 14 Peterborough-23 You could be top of the league if only you could defend.
2

Dissboyitfc added 19:24 - Nov 17 What next? Suing a player who injures another player in a tackle, weakening his team and given an advantage to any teams who play against the injured player's team? Embarrassing idiot, didn't really care too much about the leasing. . Com trophy 🏆 now I want us to beat Peterborough with our youths!
0

TR11BLU added 19:39 - Nov 17 Don't worry, you will be streets behind come May so stand your lawyer down you to$$er
0

Keaneish added 19:50 - Nov 17 Simple solution. Smash them at our place then there's no cause for argument then if they fail to take points fro the sides above them.
0

MickMillsTash added 23:27 - Nov 17 Understand his frustration - but its football We play Gillingham twice before the January transfer window opens - if they then sign Neymar and Mbappe on loan - should he sue Ipswich twice ? Or should he just shut up ?
0

lightingblue added 06:55 - Nov 18 Can I assume that this bloke has nothing better to do with his time considering how successful the club is with a top end stadium, sell out crowds week in week out. Oh I did forget the manager who goes down in British folklore for how well his done so far in both his managerial career and playing career. That even includes the time your daddy got rid of you because you were a failure!! The voice of football has spoken

0

BlueandTruesince82 added 08:03 - Nov 18 Already laying the groundwork in case they don't go up "it wasn't my fault guv it was them Bolton lads wot dun it"
0

Tufty added 10:40 - Nov 18 Gillingham, tranmere and Rochdale not bothered about those results then
0

roytheboy added 15:22 - Nov 18 What a very sad man, during a season lot's of teams experience advantages and disadvantages due to several things, including injured players, red cards, Internationals etc. his comments stink of very sour grapes.
0

HALLSJ added 21:52 - Nov 23 Same apply to Accrington after their 7-1 result today?
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls