There is rarely just one reason why a football club finds itself on the verge of extinction. In Bury and Bolton's case, there are many.
Mismanagement, disinterested ownership and a lack of financial prudence are obvious but also, quite simply, football and society are just changing faster than some clubs can adapt to.
The Independent's Miguel Delaney joined Wednesday's Football Show to talk about the financial struggles of the English Football League (EFL) clubs and the fear that Bury and Bolton are just the first of a series of clubs to hit trouble.
While Delaney admitted there was a fortitude of reasons for the two clubs' demise, he said that he was beginning to put stock in the argument that football was becoming a microcosm for the inequality and problems of general society.
"It really is just a reflection of a wider problem which is the intense focus of wealth across all aspects of wider society and destroying the fabric of working-class culture."
"That sounds really pretentious but I actually agree with it."
"This is what it ultimately comes down to. These social institutions which were, I suppose to a degree, built from a Victorian age can't really cope in this world that is gone apace in a totally different direction and a global direction."
Delaney added that while the struggles of EFL clubs compared to the riches of the Premier League is emblematic of wider society the blame deserved to be put at the feet of a number of places, perhaps none more so than the EFL themselves.
"There is a complete lack of will for regulation.... they are the ones who can do something about this.
"They set the regulations of [Ken] Anderson and [Steve] Dale [taking over as Bolton and Bury owners respectively].
"Eight months on from the takeover he [Dale] hasn't been able to prove he has the funds to run a team of that level."
Delaney also explained that he fears for other clubs in the north-west of England where the hyper-interest in the region's top clubs are affecting the attendance and finance of the other long-standing lower level clubs.
"This is the cradle of civilisation in a football sense. This is where if the game wasn't first codified here it is where there was an explosion of clubs, there was a huge interest, where a majority of clubs came from when the football league was founded.
"And now it has come to a point where almost because of that and the size of the clubs – the way Manchester United, and you could even argue, the fact Manchester City have become so big – it has almost cannibalised everything else in the area.
"There are just so many clubs in that area and they will face problems, yeah."
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