FINANCIAL Fair Play has been an elephant in the room for Wanderers since the phrase first passed into football’s lexicon a few years ago.

A club effectively bankrolled by one man – Eddie Davies – for more than a decade was suddenly looking towards a future where that could no longer be completely the case.

Then the perfect storm. Relegated from the Premier League just as a new television deal made its riches all the more luxurious, bumper contracts dished out under Gary Megson and Owen Coyle in the final years of that glorious top-flight run were all of a sudden looking like a millstone around the neck.

To make matters worse, the transfer market outside the top flight dried up completely meaning many of the top earners – Martin Petrov, David Ngog, Sam Ricketts to name but a few – had to be given away, assuming a taker could be found.

Clubs had serious concerns over when, how or if FFP could be governed. But for a while it seemed just to be something Dougie Freedman talked about, to the point of obsession.

When Wanderers announced those eye-watering £50.3million losses 12 months ago, it seemed entirely likely the club would be sitting where Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United are right now – effectively unable to sign players until they can prove their house is in order.

But while concern was understandable at the time, much of the scaremongering about administration and transfer embargos was based on that balance sheet figure of £163.8m, and did not take into account how the “debt” was stacked up.

That is not to say there were no serious financial issues to address. Aside from the permitted losses of £8m, Davies could no longer come to Wanderers’ rescue as he had in the past.

Behind the scenes, difficult – downright brutal – decisions were being made which would make the club almost unrecognisable from the one which toppled out of the big time. Long-serving members of staff, on and off the field, were cut loose.

Freedman was especially incredulous about the incoming FFP rules.

As he toiled away with a one-in, one-out policy he was especially frustrated some of his rivals in the Championship were finding a way to spend.

“I didn’t make these rules up but I’m scratching my head to see what they are actually for because people like Nottingham Forest and QPR are going out and spending £2-3m at a time,” he seethed.

“It’s a state when you are trying to put your own house in order but that’s the only thing I can do.”

Bit by bit, costs came down. Not that the end result did much for Freedman or Gartside’s popularity.

Neil Lennon has already shown in his brief spell in charge the degree the squad were underperforming on the pitch but the cumulative effect of all the asset-stripping did take its toll on morale.

Speaking in October, Phil Gartside was confident this year’s accounts would reflect the massive effort made to get finances in order for FFP.

The wage bill had been trimmed from a flabby £50m to a lean £20m.

“We’re not a million miles off,” he told The Bolton News.

His words seem to suggest it was a close call. But by the time paperwork was handed in at the start of the month, there was a quiet confidence from within the Macron Stadium that the club would avoid punishment.

Even so, reports continued to claim Wanderers were “very likely” to be placed under embargo, causing more nerves among the supporters.

By the end of the week those jitters should be put completely to bed and fans may at least be able to put the miserable last couple of years on the pitch into some financial context.

There is a cautionary tale for the future, of course, and were the Whites to get back into the Premier League any time soon they would surely re-think their policy on contracts and investing in playing staff.

But with allowable losses increased to £13m from next season there is a glimmer of hope investment may now be back on the agenda, whether it is from the bank account of Davies or somewhere further afield.

The worst for Wanderers may well be over.