About Me
Bolton Wanderers Football Club (also known as The Trotters) are an English professional football club based in the Borough of Bolton, Lancashire, North West England. They are currently in the Premier League.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 a Nat Lofthouse goal. 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. Bolton Wanderers moved to the No Atmosphere Reebok Stadium in 1997. Their former home was Burnden Park.The club was founded in 1874 as Christ Church FC, but changed its name to Bolton Wanderers in 1877. Bolton were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888.[2] 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.Bolton won the celebrated 1923 F.A. Cup Final.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 April 23, 1904.[3] On April 28, 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. They 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 throwing away 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 Nat 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 and they won promotion back to the Third Division at the first attempt. The deciding goal was scored by Robbie Savage in a 1-0 win at Wrexham. 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 that year before bowing out to Derby County. In 1994 Bolton beat FA Cup holders Arsenal 3-1 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 and Aston Villa that year.Burnden Park was and still is to many the home of English FA Premier League football team Bolton Wanderers F.C. between 1895 and 1997.
Situated in the Burnden area of Bolton, approximately one mile from the centre of the town - the ground served as the spiritual home of the town's football team for 102 years. In its place is now a large ASDA superstore. It also hosted the replay of the 1901 FA Cup final, in which Tottenham Hotspur beat Sheffield United 3-1Burnden Park hosting the 1901 FA Cup FinalThe Railway End of Burnden Park was seen in the 1962 film A Kind of Loving, starring Alan Bates and June Ritchie.Burnden Park was also the scene of the Burnden Park Disaster. On 9 March 1946, crowd congestion led to 33 Bolton Wanderers F.C. spectators losing their lives through asphyxiation and hundreds suffering injuries in a crowd estimated to be in excess of 85,000 people, whilst watching their team take on Stoke City F.C. in the Sixth Round second-leg of the FA Cup [2]. In terms of scale it was the worst disaster to hit British football stadia until the Ibrox disaster in 1971.The disaster led to the Moelwyn Hughes's official report, which recommended limitations on crowd sizesIn 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 terracing at the ground was sold off in 1986 to make way for a new Normid superstore (which later closed). The majority of the support was on the two wing stands: the Manchester (Manny) Road and Burnden terrace. From the Burnden Stand and Terrace the superstore was on the right and the stand was divided 75:25 between home and away supporters, until a temporary stand was erected for away supporters immediately in front of Normid in 1995, meaning that away fans were allocated the entire Embankment, along with this temporary stand, that ensured the entire Burnden Stand was reallocated to BWFC supporters only. The more vocal fans liked to sit and stand nearest the away fans to taunt them and occasionally the more sober-behaving Manchester Road fans, usually with the chant "Manny, Manny give us a wave! Give us a wave!". But the club's directors had decided by 1992 that it would be difficult to convert Burnden Park into an all-seater stadium.The last-ever Wanderers game played at the historic ground was against Charlton Athletic in April 1997. Bolton, who were already Division One champions, defeated Charlton 4-1 after being 1-0 down at half time. Whites' legend John McGinlay scored the final goal shortly before Bolton received their trophy and the crowd united in singing Auld Lang Syne.It was decided to build a new multi-million pound 27,000-seat stadium - the Reebok Stadium - at nearby Lostock and the relocation went ahead in 1997, despite the sadness of many fans. For some years, the site suffered. Travellers camped in the car park of the derelict Normid superstore and Burnden Park itself fell into disrepair. As one of the main routes into town, the site needed to be redeveloped.
