Phil Gartside: Bolton Wanderers chairman who oversaw club's rise to the Premier League - and sharp decline

Phil Gartside presided over the most exciting years in the modern history of Bolton Wanderers, enjoying popularity with fans and respect from football's governing bodies. But like another high-profile chairman, Peter Ridsdale of Leeds United, he saw goodwill evaporate as Bolton's fortunes declined and debts burgeoned amid threats of winding-up orders and points deductions.

In an era when 13 of the 20 Premier League clubs are foreign-owned, Gartside, who has died aged 63 from cancer, was an old-school chairman. The Lancashire-born businessman had followed Wanderers since he attended grammar school in nearby Leigh, progressing from the terraces at their old Burnden Park home to a directorship in 1988.

Gartside became chairman in 1999 when Bolton were in the second tier, a position he held until illness forced him to relinquish day-to-day control last November. In tandem with Sam Allardyce, his first and most successful managerial appointment, he transformed them into a model for clubs aspiring to Premier League prosperity, despite an insubstantial fanbase.

In 2001, Bolton returned to the company of Manchester United, Arsenal and all – but even with a swish new out-of-town stadium, to which they moved in 1997, they struggled to draw crowds commensurate with their status. They contested the League Cup final in 2004 and finished sixth the following season. There were also two Uefa Cup campaigns, which brought Bayern Munich, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille and Atletico Madrid to town.

Gartside and Allardyce, bankrolled by the Isle of Man-based multi-millionaire Eddie Davies, combined to bring in exotic talents such as Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaeff, Ivan Campo, Fredi Bobic, Fernando Hierro and Nicolas Anelka. Bolton achieved four consecutive top-eight finishes before Allardyce resigned in 2007, soon joining Newcastle United.

As managers came and went, Bolton stayed in the Premier League a further four years without finishing in the top half. With hindsight, the £8.2m signing of Johan Elmander in 2008, on £45,000 per week, was a sign of Gartside over-reaching himself much as Ridsdale had done. Three years and 18 goals later, the Swede left on a free transfer.

During the years of plenty, Gartside's star rose to the extent that he was invited to become a director of the new Wembley Stadium and sat on the Football Association board. There he proposed a two-division, 36-club Premier League, to include Celtic and Rangers, in 2009. The plan encountered widespread opposition and was never formally discussed.

Bolton were relegated in 2012 and now languish in the lower reaches of the Championship. Their finances unravelled rapidly, with debts currently estimated at £173m. The players were unpaid in November and the club received a winding-up petition from HMRC. "Gartside Out" banners had appeared, along with a "Get Gartside Out Now" page on Facebook.

Philip Andrew Gartside, football administrator: born Leigh, Lancashire April 1952; married Carol (one daughter, one son); died Northwich, Cheshire 10 February 2016.