Bolton Wanderers - Live

Bolton Live

Reverend John Farrall Wright founded Bolton Wanderers Football Club in 1874. Originally the Christ Church Football Club, they changed their name three years later to Bolton Wanderers. In 1888, they became one of the twelve founding members of the Football League. Bolton came close to winning the FA cup twice, once in 1894 and once in 1904 before securing their first league victory in 1923, when they defeated West Ham. That decade they won the FA cup two more times, defeating Manchester United in 1926 and annihilating Portsmouth in 1929.

The team played at the height of its power between 1935 and 1964, a time that fans refer to as a golden era. Lead by star play Nat Lofthouse, it seemed the Bolton Wanderers were unstoppable. Though the team has enjoyed stays in the top flight since this time, they have not won a major trophy since 1958. They were led in that game by Lofthouse, who made two goals against Manchester United ensuring their victory in front of a crowd of thousands at Wembley.

They returned to the top flight in 1978, but after two seasons, another steady period of decline hit the team. At the end of the 1986-87 season, the team was demoted to the Fourth Division for the first time since their formation. However, they were quickly back on track under the leadership of Phil Neal, who got them reinstated into the Third Division on their first try. The deciding game against Wrexem was won after Robbie Savage made a daring play for a 1-0 victory. During Neal’s reign as manager of the Wanderers, Lofthouse was appointed lifetime President of the football club for his excellent service to the Wanderers. In 1992, Neal handed over control to manager Bruce Rioch, who was responsible for two successive promotions with Middlesborough.

Under Rioch’s guidance, the team reached the Premiership in 1995. After this success, Rioch handed over the controls to Roy McFarland and Colin Todd. However, after an abysmal season in the 1996-97 season, which led to a demotion out of the Premiership, the team fired McFarland. Under Todd’s leadership the Bolton Wanderers won their promotion back by securing a Division One Championship. Bolton reached the League cup final once again in 2004 but lost to Middlesborough.