Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers was founded in 1874, originally named Christ Church FC. They were one of the original 12 founder members of the Football League. Having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton have spent more time in the top flight (FA Premier League/old First Division) than out of it.

Bolton reached two FA Cup finals on March 31, 1894 losing 4-1 to Notts County at Goodison Park and on April 23, 1904 losing 1-0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace before they won at their third attempt on April 28, 1923 beating West Ham United 2-0 in the first ever Wembley final. 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.

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.

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. 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.

Bolton reached the Premiership in 1995, under the management of Bruce Rioch, thanks to a victory over Reading in the Division One playoff final. After being 2–0 down at half time, two goals from Bolton in the final 15 minutes of the game forced extra time and they went on to win 4-3 and return to top division football after a 15-year exile. They had been on the losing side at Wembley a few weeks earlier, having lost 2-1 to Liverpool in the League Cup final.

Rioch left to take charge at Arsenal after the promotion success. He was replaced by Derby County manager Roy McFarland, who was joined by his former assistant Colin Todd. Bolton were bottom for virtually all of the 1995–96 Premiership campaign and despite several new signings, Bolton dismissed McFarland on New Year's Day 1996 and appointed Todd in his place. Todd was unable to save Bolton from relegation but the board kept faith in him. It is worth noting, however, that Bolton's form improved noticeably under Todd with 19 points from their last 16 games.

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.

Bolton were relegated on goal difference at the end of the 1997–98 Premiership campaign, going down to Division One with the previous season's other two promoted sides—Barnsley and Crystal Palace. Bolton reached the 1999 Division One playoff final but lost to Watford. Colin Todd resigned as manager soon after and was replaced by Notts County's Sam Allardyce.

1999–2000 brought disappointment for Bolton under their new manager, they lost in the semi finals of the Division One playoffs, the League Cup and the FA Cup. But in 2000–01 Sam Allardyce and his team got it right by beating Preston North End 3-0 in the Division One playoff final.

Bolton went top of the Premiership after winning their first three games of the 2001-02 season, but failed to keep up their winning ways and wallowed away to 16th place in the final table - just enough to secure their first-ever Premiership survival, and their first top flight survival since 1979.

Bolton struggled throughout 2002-03 but managed to stay up after winning their final game of the season and condemning West Ham United to relegation. In 2003-04, Bolton enjoyed their best season for some 50 years. They finished eighth in the Premiership and reached the League Cup final, losing 2-1 to Middlesbrough. But Bolton had finished much higher than most pundits had predicted them to finish when the season began.

Bolton's impressive progress continued in 2004-05 and they secured an impressive sixth place finish - equal on points with European champions Liverpool - and qualified for European competition (the UEFA Cup) for the first time in their history. Bolton's recent renaissance continued into 2005-06, and they achieved 8th place in the Premiership. Sam Allardyce was linked with the England manager's job when it was announced that Sven Goran Eriksson would step down after the 2006 World Cup, but the job went to Steve McClaren instead. He was also linked with the Newcastle manager's job until it was given to Glenn Roeder.