Wolves report Bolton in 'poaching' row

Oct 7 2009 by Andy Walker, Birmingham Mail

WOLVES have lodged a formal complaint to the footballing authorities against their former academy supremo Chris Evans and his current club Bolton Wanderers.

The issue relates to the departure of 17-year-old Irish centre-back Mark Connolly to the Trotters on transfer deadline day.

Republic of Ireland under-19 international Connolly, who was a scholar at Wolves’ Academy, moved for an initial fee believed to be £400,000, rising to £1.25 million.

However, Wolves now believe there was a breach of Premier League and FA rules over unapproved communication with, and an illegal approach for, the player.

They have now made a complaint to the relevant bodies against Bolton and Evans, who already has a simmering feud with his former employers.

Evans, who became Gary Megson’s assistant at Bolton after 17 years at Molineux, angered Wolves officials last year with comments about 15-year-old wonderkid Zele Ismali.

The England Under-17 international, a son of immigrant asylum seekers from Serbia, was tipped to become the first £100 million footballer by Evans in October 2008. Wolves wanted to keep the hot prospect under wraps and felt Evans’ comments had put unnecessary pressure on Ismali.

In a statement regarding the Connolly case, Wolves’ chief executive Jez Moxey said: “We have lodged an official letter of complaint, supported by considerable amounts of documentary evidence, with both the Premier League and the FA.

“This complaint relates to Bolton Wanderers and their assistant manager Chris Evans, a former Wolves employee. We allege there has been a breach of the Premier League and FA rules in place to protect a club’s academy programme, maintain player contract stability and prevent illegal approaches of players. It is not an issue about money or the level of compensation we received for a player we did not want to leave; it is about the protection of the club’s academy programme.”