Bolton Wanderers F.C.

Founder members of the Football League, Bolton were a successful cup side in the 1920s, winning the FA Cup three times. The club won the cup a fourth time in 1958 thanks to two Nat Lofthouse goals. A leaner spell followed, reaching a nadir in 1987 when the club spent a season in the Fourth Division. The club regained top-flight status in 1995 after a 15 year absence; their current spell in the top division started in 2001. In 2005–06 they participated in European competition for the first time, reaching the last 32 of the UEFA Cup. Bolton qualified for the 2007–08 tournament by finishing 7th in the 2006–07 Premier League season and this time they managed to reach the last 16 of the competition. Bolton Wanderers moved to the Reebok Stadium in 1997. Their former home was Burnden Park, where they played for 102 years until relocating to the Reebok Stadium.

Bolton have spent the highest number of seasons in the top flight without winning the title (the 2008–09 season was their 70th in the top flight).³

History

Early history

The club was founded by the Reverend John Farrall Wright in 1874 as Christ Church FC, but changed its name to Bolton Wanderers in 1877.

In 1887, Bolton Wanderers were involved in a protracted first round F.A. Cup match against Everton. Welsh international Bob Roberts scored the only goal of the initial match played on 15 October 1887, but the result was declared invalid as Bolton had fielded an ineligible player, Robert Struthers.⁴ There then followed two drawn matches (with Roberts again scoring in the first), before Everton won the second replay (the fourth match altogether) 2–1.⁵ This time, however, Everton were disqualified for fielding two professional players who had been registered as amateurs⁶, and the match was awarded to Bolton, who were then defeated 9–1 by Preston North End.⁴

Bolton were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888.⁷ Having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton have spent more time in the top flight (Premier League/old First Division) than out of it.

In 1894 Bolton reached the final of football's oldest competition, the FA Cup, for the first time, but lost 4–1 to Notts County at Goodison Park. A decade later they were runners-up a second time, losing 1–0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace on 23 April 1904.⁸ On 28 April 1923, Bolton won the cup at their third attempt to win their first major trophy, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first ever Wembley final. The match, famously known as The White Horse Final was played in front of over 127,000 supporters. Bolton's centre-forward, David Jack scored the first ever goal at Wembley Stadium. They became the most successful cup side of the twenties, also winning in 1926 and 1929, beating Manchester City and Portsmouth respectively.

From 1935 to 1964, Bolton enjoyed an uninterrupted stay in the top flight – regarded by fans as a golden era, spearheaded in the 1950s by Nat Lofthouse. The years of the Second World War saw most of the Wanderers' playing staff see action on the front, a rare occurrence within elite football, as top sportsmen were generally assigned to physical training assignments, away from enemy fire. As it is, no less than 15 Bolton professionals, led by their captain Harry Goslin, volunteered for active service in 1939, and were enlisted in the 53rd Bolton Artillery regiment. By the end of the war, 32 of the 35 pre-war pros would have seen action in the British forces. The sole fatality was Goslin, who had by then risen to the rank of Lieutenant and was killed by shrapnel on the Italian front shortly before Christmas 1943. 53rd Bolton Artillery took part in the battle of Dunkirk and also served in the campaigns of Egypt, Iraq and Italy. Remarkably, a number of these soldiers managed to carry on playing the game on these theatres of war, taking on as 'British XI' various scratch teams assembled by, among others, King Faruk of Egypt in Cairo and Polish forces in Baghdad ⁹. Bolton, relegated in 1964, would not return to the top flight until 1978, where they lasted but two seasons before a period of further decline set in. In 1953 Bolton played in one of the most famous FA Cup finals of all time - The Stanley Matthews Final of 1953. Bolton lost the game to Blackpool 4-3 after gaining a 3-1 lead. Blackpool were victorious thanks to the skills of Matthews and the goals of Stan Mortensen.

Bolton Wanderers have not won a major trophy since 1958, when two Lofthouse goals saw them overcome Manchester United in the FA Cup final in front of a 100,000 crowd at Wembley. The closest they have come to winning a major trophy since then is finishing runners-up in the League Cup, first in 1995 and again in 2004.

At the end of the 1986-87 season, Bolton Wanderers suffered relegation to the Fourth Division for the first time in their history. But the board kept faith in manager Phil Neal (who was appointed in December 1985) and they won promotion back to the Third Division at the first attempt. The deciding goal was scored by Robbie Savage in a thrilling 1-0 win at Wrexham. Wrexham missed a penalty in the opening 30 minutes and both teams squandered a succession of chances. Bolton's Robbie Savage hit the post from a free kick before the ref blew the final whistle. It was during Neal's reign at manager that Nat Lofthouse was appointed lifetime President of the football club. Neal remained in charge until the summer of 1992 when he made way for Bruce Rioch, who a few years earlier had won two successive promotions with Middlesbrough.

In the early part of Rioch's tenure, Bolton gained a giantkilling reputation in cup competitions. In 1993 Bolton beat FA Cup holders Liverpool 2-0 in a third round replay thanks to goals from John McGinlay and Andy Walker. The club also defeated higher division opposition in the form of Wolves (2-1) that year before bowing out to Derby County (3-1). In 1994 Bolton beat FA Cup holders Arsenal 3-1 after extra time in a fourth round replay, and went on to reach the Quarter Finals, bowing out 1-0 at home to local rivals (and then Premier League) Oldham Athletic. Bolton also defeated top division opposition in the form of Everton (3-2) and Aston Villa (1-0) that year.

Recent history

Bolton reached the Premiership in 1995 under the management of Rioch, thanks to a victory over Reading in the Division One playoff final. Rioch left to take charge at Arsenal after the promotion success and was replaced by Roy McFarland, who was joined by Rioch's assistant Colin Todd as joint manager. Bolton were bottom for virtually all of the 1995–96 Premiership campaign and Bolton dismissed McFarland on New Year's Day 1996 and appointed Todd in his place. Todd was unable to save Bolton from relegation as they lost their penultimate game 1-0 to Southampton, but the Bolton board kept faith in him. The Bolton board's loyalty in Todd was rewarded when they won promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt thanks to a season in which they achieved 98 league points and 100 goals in the process of securing the Division One championship - the first time since 1978 that they had finished top of any division.

Bolton were relegated on goal difference at the end of the 1997–98 Premiership campaign. Bolton reached the 1999 Division One playoff final but lost 2-0 to Watford. Todd resigned as manager soon after and was replaced by Sam Allardyce. Bolton reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, Worthington Cup and play-offs but lost to Aston Villa, Tranmere Rovers and Ipswich Town respectively. In 2000–01 Bolton were promoted back to the Premier League after beating Preston North End in the play-off final.

Bolton struggled in the following two seasons, but survived in the Premier League. The 2001-02 season began with a shock as they destroyed Leicester 5-0 at Filbert Street to go top of the table. They won their next two games, including a narrow victory over Liverpool, and were suddenly the Premiership's pace setters. Despite a memorable 2-1 win away at Manchester United, they went into an awful slump during the middle of the season and needed a Fredi Bobic hat-trick against Ipswich Town to survive. 16th place was secured despite losing the final three games. The arrivals of experienced international players Bobic and Youri Djorkaeff proved vital, as did the emergence of Kevin Nolan and Michael Ricketts.

In the 2002-03 season Bolton made a poor start and, despite another win away at Manchester United, they were bottom until a vital and spectacular 4-2 win against Leeds at Elland Road. Despite suffering from a lack of consistency, Bolton ground out the results needed and secured survival in a final day 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough. The star of the season, Jay-Jay Okocha, was another high profile signing and would go on to be a legend at the Reebok Stadium.

Bolton reached the League Cup final in 2004, but lost to Middlesbrough. Nevertheless, Bolton finished eighth in the league, at the time their highest finish in their Premiership history. In 2005 Bolton finished sixth in the league, thus earning qualification for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. The following season, they reached the last 32 but were eliminated by French team Marseille as they lost 2-1 on aggragate. In April 2007, towards the end of 2006–07 season, manager Allardyce resigned.¹⁰ In his final four seasons at Bolton, Allardyce had recorded consecutive top ten finishes, a record of consistency bettered only by the big four of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. However, the style that the media branded Bolton as playing during this time led them to be voted the seventh most-hated club in English football in a 2008 poll.¹¹

Megson guided Bolton to survival with a 16th place finish, their safety being confirmed on the final day of the season, as they went on an unbeaten run for their final five games. The new manager broke Bolton's record transfer fee with the signing of Johan Elmander from Toulouse on 27 June 2008, in a deal which cost the club a reported £8.2 million and saw Norway striker Daniel Braaten head in the opposite direction. ¹⁵¹⁶ Bolton's season started slowly, winning their opening game against Stoke City 3-1 then going on a run of 5 games without a win. November was undoubtedly their best month with 4 wins from their 5 games losing only to Liverpool. January came around and saw former fan favourite Kevin Nolan leave the club to relegation bound Newcastle United in a £4million deal, with Mark Davies and Sébastien Puygrenier the only positive signings coming in. Mixed results across the rest of the season left Bolton flirting with relegation but they finally finished 13th on 41 points.

Over the summer Megson signed Sean Davis, Lee Chung-Yong, Zat Knight, Paul Robinson (on-loan from West Brom) and Ivan Klasnić (on loan from Nantes). The 2009-2010 season started where the last one was headed, with only 3 wins from their opening 18 fixtures, notable losses including a 0-2 home loss to Blackburn and a 1-5 drubbing at home to Aston Villa and no clean sheets since May the Bolton fans were clearly unhappy, blaming results, negative football, poor tactics and numerous excuses from the manager. On the 30th December 2009 Bolton Wanderers FC announced that Gary Megson had been sacked by the club due to a run of poor performances. His last game in charge, the night before his sacking, was a 2-2 draw at home to Hull City after letting go of a 2-0 lead.¹⁷ On 8th January 2010, Owen Coyle was announced as Megson's replacement as manager.¹⁸ Coyle marked his first game in charge with a 0-2 loss to Arsenal but winning his next home match against former employers Burnley.

Colours and badge

Bolton Wanderers' home colours are white shirts with navy trim, worn with navy shorts and white socks. Their current away kit colours follow the design of the home kit, but the colour is a navy blue base with red trim. Their third-choice kit is black with turquoise trim. Bolton did not always wear the white kit they do today, in 1884 they wore white with red spots. Bolton's traditional colours are white shirts with navy blue shorts. The navy blue shorts were dispensed with in 2003, in favour of an all-white strip, but they returned in 2008. The club had previously experimented with an all-white kit in the 1970s.

The Bolton Wanderers club badge consists of the initials of the club in the shape of a ball, with red and blue ribbons beneath. The ribbons controversially replaced the Red Rose of Lancashire, coinciding with the club's move to the Reebok Stadium. The club's original badge was the town crest of Bolton.

Players

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Reserves and Academy squad

Former players

Player records

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Club Officials

Managerial History

Stadium

When the club was first founded, Christ Church had a nomadic existence, playing at a number of locations in the area. This "wandering" becoming part of the clubs new name. The club started playing regularly at Pike's Lane in 1881. Spending £150 on pitch improvements, season tickets cost a guinea. They played here for fourteen years until the tenancy expired and they moved to Burnden Park.²²

Situated in the Burnden area of Bolton, approximately one mile from the centre of the town, the ground served as the home of the town's football team for 102 years. In its heyday, Burnden Park could hold up to 60,000 supporters but this figure was dramatically reduced during the final 20 years of its life, mainly because of new legislation which saw virtually all English stadiums reduce their capacities for safety reasons. A section of The Embankment was sold off in 1986 to make way for a new Normid superstore. At this time, Bolton were in a dire position financially and were struggling in the Football League Third Division, so there was a low demand for tickets and the loss of part of the ground gave the Bolton directors good value for money.

By 1992 the club's directors had decided that it would be difficult to convert Burnden Park into an all-seater stadium for a club of Bolton's ambition. They were members of the then-new Division Two (the third tier of English football) but the club had ambitions to reach the top flight. A decision was made to build an out of town stadium in nearby Horwich. The stadium opened in 1997.

It is a modern, all-seater stadium with a capacity of 28,723. In recognition of the club's former ground the stadium stands on "Burnden Way". It has four stands: The sponsored "Woodford Group" Stand at the south end, the North Stand opposite, the West Stand at one side of the pitch and the "Nat Lofthouse" Stand at the other side. The Reebok Stadium is named for long-time team sponsor, Reebok. This was initially unpopular with many fans, as it was considered impersonal, and that too much emphasis was being placed on financial considerations. This opposition has considerably lessened since the stadium was built, however, as fans have grown accustomed to the name and since Reebok started off as a local company.

Honours

Memorable games

Shirt sponsors

Kit Manufacturer

Supporters' Association

In March 2002, BWSA celebrated its tenth anniversary as the official supporters' association of Bolton Wanderers Football Club. The Supporters' Association came into being in 1992, following an initiative by Wanderers fan, Peter Entwistle, who advertised in the Bolton Evening News, inviting all fans interested in forming a supporters' group to meet in the King William pub on Manchester Road, Bolton, opposite Burnden Park.

From the forty or so fans who turned up, a Committee of eleven (with Pete as Chairman) was formed, and BWSA was born. It was decided that the organisation would be non-profit making and that all committee work would be undertaken on a completely voluntary basis. This remains the position today.

The first members' meeting was held in the Executive Suite at Burnden Park on Thursday 7 May 1992. Later that year the Directors of BWFC, satisfied that the Association had proven itself to be organised and responsible, officially recognised BWSA as the Club's supporters' group.

In 1997, shortly after the move from Burnden Park to the Reebok Stadium, BWSA accepted the Club's kind invitation to hold its monthly meetings at the Club's new home. The Reebok has continued to be their venue ever since.

Throughout the past decade, BWSA has continued to flourish. From the founding forty, we now have a membership numbering hundreds. Whilst the majority live locally in and around the town of Bolton, membership has spread across Europe and around the world.

In the year 2000, the Association expanded even further when its invitation to affiliate was accepted, not only by Bolton Wanderers supporters groups in other parts of Britain, but also by groups around the world. All of these foreign groups have come on board to become independent, but integral, parts of the official Bolton Wanderers supporters' family. Indeed, requests for affiliated status continue to be received regularly from other places around the world where Wanderers fans find themselves gathered together.

References

^ ^a ^b To check the club's full postal address, go to Royal Mail address finder and type: BL6 6JW. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
^ BWFC - About:World Soccer Profile^{not in citation given}
^ "All Time English Top Flight Table". The English Football Archive. http://www.the-english-football-archive.com/records/1st_level_table.htm. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
^ ^a ^b Collett, Mike (2003). The Complete Record of the FA Cup. Sports Books. pp. 279–280. ISBN 1-899807-19-5.
^ "Everton Season Statistics 1887-1888". Everton Stats. http://www.evertonfc.com/stats/?mode=season&era_id=1. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
^ Gibbons, Philip (2001). Association Football in Victorian England – A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900. Upfront Publishing. p. 97. ISBN 1-844260-35-6.
^ "In the Beginning - 1800s". Bolton Wanderers official website. http://www.bwfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/History/0,,1004~534169,00.html. Retrieved 24 June 2007.
^ James, Gary (2006). Manchester City - The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon. ISBN 1-85983-512-0. , p31
^ *Tim Purcell and Mike Gething (1996). Wartime Wanderers. Mainstream Sport. ISBN 1-84018-583-X.
^ Allardyce resigns as Bolton boss - BBC Sport
^ Bolton are seventh most-hated club. Manny Road, 10 August 2008.
^ Exclusive:New Boss Unveiled - BWFC Official Club Site
^ "Club Statement". Bolton Wanderers F.C. official website. 17 October 2007. http://www.bwfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/General/0,,1004~1145252,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
^ "Megson Takes Control At The Reebok". Bolton Wanderers FC. 25 October 2007. http://www.bwfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/General/0,,1004~1151668,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
^ "Wanderers land Swede". Bolton Wanderers F.C.. 27 June 2008. http://www.bwfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/General/0,,1004~1335286,00.html. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
^ "Bolton sign £10m-rated Elmander". BBC Sport. 27 June 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/bolton_wanderers/7478332.stm. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
^ "Bolton Wanderers sack manager Gary Megson". BBC Sport. 2009-12-30. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/bolton_wanderers/8434719.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
^ "Coyle Is Back". Bolton Wanderers F.C.. 2010-01-08. http://www.bwfc.co.uk/page/General/0,,1004~1926660,00.html. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
^ "Profiles". Bolton Wanderers F.C.. http://www.bwfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,1004,00.html. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
^ "Profiles". FootballSquads. http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/2009-2010/faprem/bolton.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
^ "Dale Loan Trotters Striker". rochdaleafc.co.uk (Rochdale A.F.C.). 30 January 2010. http://www.rochdaleafc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10441~1949668,00.html. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
^ "Wanderers always welcome". The Bolton News. http://archive.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk/2007/3/27/981527.html. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
^ Bolton Wanderers Sign Multi-Million Pound Sponsorship Deal - Bolton Wanderers official website. Retrieved on 25 October 2007.
^ Wanderers tie up new Reebok deal. The Bolton News, 2 July 2007.
^ 188bet announce sponsorship deal with Bolton Wanderers
^ club announce 188bet as new shirt sponsor

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