45 years ago

FOUR successive defeats had plunged Bolton Wanderers deep into the Second Division danger zone – and manager Nat Lofthouse and his board of directors were coming under increasing pressure to prevent the club dropping into football’s third tier for the first time in their history.

The warning signs were there for all to see. For half the game against Oxford United at the Manor Ground, Wanderers looked capable of stopping the rot and coming home with a point.

But a terrible second-half performance in which they conceded a couple of soft goals, saw them crash to a 3-1 defeat that prompted the Bolton Evening News football correspondent Frank Booth to suggest: “The only hope of Wanderers avoiding relegation is for teams below them to keep losing.

“For they don’t seem capable of sorting out their own destiny.”

In those four successive defeats, Wanderers had conceded nine goals and scored just one, and with just a five-point cushion between them and the bottom two and with all four of the teams below them having games in hand, Lofthouse was desperately looking for ways to get them back on the winning trail in their final eight games.

And the big question was,whether he was prepared to soldier on with his experienced hands or throw his much-talked-about youngsters into the cauldron of the survival bid.

In the end, Nat plumped for experience as Wanderers prepared to host Norwich at Burnden Park, naming the side that had been beaten so comprehensively at Oxford.

While the Burnden directors were meeting to work out whether they could afford to buy reinforcements ahead of the transfer deadline, which was just two weeks away, and how to resolve the stand-off with club captain Gareth Williams, who had not figured in the first team since being suspended by the club for refusing to train, Nat gave his first XI what he thought was a timely vote of confidence.

“I have chosen the same side on the basis of that first-half spell,” he said, expressing his satisfaction with the performance in the opening 45 minutes at the Manor Ground.

“We made the chances but we missed them. I don’t believe we can miss chances like that again.

“I am trying to give the player a bit of confidence, but it’s up to them to do it out on the field. I am relying on them.”

But, typical of a season when events repeatedly appeared to conspire against him, Nat’s plans were thrown into disarray when the match was postponed on the Friday lunchtime because the pitch was snowbound – despite that night’s reserve game at Bury being given the go-ahead.

Bolton’s former World Cup referee Ken Dagnall gave the Burnden pitch a thorough inspection.

Wearing football boots he did sprints and turns as well as kicking a ball about – and fell several times before giving his verdict.

“No!” he said without hesitation. “Every time you turn sharply you are down. It looks fair enough on the surface but there is ice under the snow.

“The ball is picking up snow as well and in a match it would become a big snowball.”

Dagnall reported his findings to the Football League who immediately called the game off and informed Norwich to prevent them starting their long journey to the North West.

.......

30 years ago

A MONTH after Charlie Wright was made manager of Bolton Wanderers on the back of a five-match winning run as caretaker boss and on a wave of public opinion, he found himself facing a sit-down protest by fans who had supported his appointment.

Without a win in six games – none since Wright had been given the job on a permanent basis – Wanderers were looking over their shoulders at the Third Division drop zone.

And after a second successive heavy home defeat – beaten 4-1 by Bristol City just four days after losing 3-1 at home to Burnley – some sections of the Burnden Park crowd had had enough.

They chanted “What a load of rubbish” during the game and at the final whistle scores congregated on the Burnden forecourt to make their feelings known in a sit-down demonstration – to the players and, in particular, to chairman Neal Riley and his board of directors.

Wright, who had acknowledged the danger Wanderers were now in after the dramatic turn of events following his appointment and was so upset after this latest setback that he actually pointed the finger of blame at two of his experienced players Marc Came and Ray Deakin, called on the fans to show support rather than protest.

Admitting he understood their frustrations, the former Wanderers goalkeeper said: “The fans have been superb in their support and they have every right to give vent to their feelings.

“But they should be big enough to appreciate that things are not going too well for us at the moment and get behind the players.

“I’m realistic enough to be concerned. We’ve lost two games at home and we just aren’t doing it at the moment. But what else can I say?”

While they were having hard times on the pitch, Wanderers were tapping into loyalty and sterling service as they looked to the future.

Nat Lofthouse, Bolton’s number one sporting son who was in his 40th year in service to Wanderers, was appointed senior vice-president and president-elect.

And the plan was that when he eventually succeeded president Joe Battersby, he would become the club’s figurehead for life.

Announcing the latest chapter in the “Lofthouse Story”, chairman Riley said: “The board of directors have been considering for a long time how to reward the loyalty and dedication of Bolton's number one footballing son.

“We want to give him a more permanent future with the club. Eventually he will become president.”

That would see Nat, who was manager of the Burnden Executive Club and chairman of the Burnden Lifeline Society, share the distinction his old England team-mate and pal Tom Finney already held at Preston.

He said the honour was a credit to everyone he had been associated with in his days at Burnden Park.

“Going back a long time, many people have helped me,” he said.

“And while I feel extremely proud in being granted this special honour I would say it is everybody’s honour really.

“There has only ever been one club for me. I started at the bottom as a boot boy and I’ve done the lot. I even used to have to clean the toilets and the baths.

“But I’ve enjoyed every moment. To be honest I’d like to think I could start all over again.”

.......

5 years ago

THE number 13 might have been unlucky for some, but it was a joy to behold for Owen Coyle’s Wanderers.

That was the position in the Premier League they occupied after a 2-1 win at West Ham saw them leapfrog the Hammers and ease their relegation fears.

The win – courtesy of a bullet header from Kevin Davies and match-clinching strike from the impressive Jack Wilshere, who was making a name for himself on loan from Arsenal – came on the back of a 1-0 home victory over Wolves and put the Whites five-points clear of the relegation places.

But they were just two of the “four or five” Coyle had targeted in the last 10 games to secure their Premier League status.

“It pushes us on up the table but there is still a lot of work to be done,” the manager insisted after Wanderers recorded back-to-back league wins for the first time in a year.

“We are not the finished article by any means and there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us if we are to achieve our short-term aim and that is to make sure we are safe.”

It was not a total “good luck” story, though. While Wanderers were enjoying the fruits of their labours at Upton Park, they were weighing up the impact of losing Stuart Holden – the former Houston Dynamo midfielder who played an impressive role in the victory over Wolves – who broke his leg playing for the United States against Holland in a friendly international.

Nine days after making his debut against Spurs, the MLS import was ruled out for at least six weeks after fracturing his fibula in a challenge with Manchester City’s Nigel de Jong.

Coyle, who already had his top centre-half Gary Cahill sidelined with a blood clot in his arm, was looking on the bright side, predicting Holden would return stronger than ever and would be fit to play for the US in that summer’s World Cup.

“It’s a body blow for Stuart because he’s come in for the last two games and been terrific, which I knew he would,” the Wanderers boss said, confirming Holden’s contract had been extended through to the end of the season.

“The disappointing thing for him is that he was starting to establish himself in the team.

“But my primary concern is for Stuart and to know he will come back bigger and better for it. He will still have a few weeks, hopefully, to help us towards the end of the campaign and get himself fit for the World Cup.”

De Jong, who was booked for the tackle on Holden, insisted it was an accident.

“Such offences are part of football,” he said. “I went for the ball and got the opponent at the end.”