With Wanderers travelling to Sunderland on Saturday, Gordon Sharrock looks back on a previous visit to the Stadium of Light that proved a landmark game in the club’s long and distinguished history.

March 15, 2003

FA Premier League

Sunderland 0 Wanderers 2

IT was as significant a result as it was a historic occasion.

For the first time in their 125-year history, Bolton Wanderers fielded a starting line-up comprised entirely of foreign players.

There was not a single Englishman in sight until Kevin Nolan replaced Youri Djorkaeff two minutes from time. By then, Wanderers had secured a victory that lifted them two points clear of the Premiership relegation zone and condemned Sunderland to almost certain relegation.

Jay Jay Okocha was the star of the show, capping a magical performance by putting Sam Allardyce’s Foreign legion ahead five minutes into the second half. But it was Henrik Pedersen who emerged as the wounded hero.

Nursing a painful shoulder injury, the dashing Dane should not have started the game but he gave it a go and produced a performance above and beyond the call of duty. Heavily strapped, Pedersen soldiered on gamely and was rewarded for his bravery when he pounced on Thomas Sorensen’s fumble to score Wanderers’ second.

With Allardyce’s starting line-up featuring four Frenchmen, two Danes, and one each from Finland, Iceland, Jamaica, Spain and Nigeria, there was fuel for the cynics who poured scorn on an English manager selecting no home grown players to fly the town’s flag.

But no all-England Xl could have worked harder for the cause or played better to secure such an important result.

Delighted skipper Gudni Bergsson – an adopted Boltonian after spending eight years in the town – answered the critics by declaring: “We have the right attitude. We are mostly seasoned professionals and we know what’s required.

“We want to play for each other, play for the manager, play for the team and play for the supporters.”

Wanderers: Jaaskelainen; N’Gotty, Bergsson, Laville, Gardner; Frandsen, Campo, Okocha, Mendy, Pedersen (Ballesta 80); Djorkaeff (Nolan 88).

Sunderland: Sorensen; Wright (Arca 46), Bjorklund, El Karkouri, McCartney; Proctor (Kyle 80), Williams, Thornton, Gray; Flo (Stewart 66), Phillips.

Attendance: 42,124.