Struggling Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers has set up a secure email system to provide an audit trail of player contract negotiations in order to avoid fines and point deductions should the legality of future transfers ever be questioned.

The club was at the centre of a bung storm in 2006 when the BBC Panorama programme alleged that then club manager Sam Allardyce received illegal payments in connection with player transfers.

Dave Atkinson, IT manager at the club said the club needed to upgrade its email system. "My wish list included a the requirement for a resilient system with no single point of failure and true integrity which could be relied upon should it ever be contested."

"There is a very real threat of fines and points can even be deducted from any premiership club as a penalty for breaching the strict laws regarding new player signings. I was looking for a solution with a comprehensive, easily accessible record of all contractual discussions that would stand up in court as evidence if necessary."

In a statement the club says: "The vast majority of communications between staff are facilitated using email and this includes messages sent from talent scouts operating around the world, as well as vital contractual negotiations with lawyers and players, meaning email must be available on a 24x7 basis. Keeping an accurate record of these negotiations is also necessary as the Football Association has strict regulations and this information needs to be reliable and available instantaneously."

The club brought in local firm Network Defence which suggested an email management system from Mimecast which connected its Exchange server to the Mimecast system.