Bolton Wanderers were founded by the Reverend John Farrall Wright 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. Having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton Wanderers have spent more time in the top flight (Premier League/old First Division) than out of it.
In 1894 Bolton Wanderers 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. On 28 April, 1923 Bolton Wanderers 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. Bolton Wanderers 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 Wanderers 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 Wanderers 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 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 Wanderers 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 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.
Bolton Wanderers 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 Wanderers 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 Wanderers 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 Wanderers 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 Wanderers 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. Bolton Wanderers 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, Bolton Wanderers went into an awful slump during the middle of the season and needed a Fredi Bobic hattrick 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 Wanderers 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 Wanderers 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 Wanderers 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. 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 Bolton are believed to have played during this time led them to be voted the seventh most-hated club in English football in a 2008 poll. [6]
Allardyce was replaced by his assistant Sammy Lee, who secured Bolton Wanderers' qualification for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. After gaining only one league win in eleven matches, Lee left Bolton in October 2007 and was replaced by Gary Megson.
Megson guided Bolton Wanderers 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, and broke Bolton Wanderers' record transfer fee with the signing of Johan Elmander from Toulouse for £8.2 million on 27 June 2008. |