THE headlines said it all: “Back where they belong”, “At last – and it’s a Worthy winner” and “Now let’s go for the title”.

Ian Greaves’ Wanderers made up for successive seasons of agonising near-misses by sealing promotion back to the First Division after 14 years in the wilderness.

It wasn’t so much third time lucky, though. The super Whites had been the stand-out team all season and three days later would deservedly clinch the Second Division title.

But that didn’t stop the many thousands of Bolton fans who took the short trip to Ewood feeling any less apprehensive.

They’d suffered bitter disappointment twice before and were taking nothing for granted.

But a night of nervous tension turned into a night of celebration with the flamboyant Frank Worthington – super hero of the Burnden terraces – the toast of the town as the partying went on well into the early hours.

Worthy, the Elvis-loving former England international with the playboy lifestyle, scored the only goal 33 minutes into that memorable match when he latched onto a gem of a pass from Roy Greaves before hitting a stunning left-footer across Rovers keeper John Butcher.

But the nail-biting continued right up to the final whistle. Wanderers survived a major scare early on when John Radford’s header beat Jim McDonagh and bounced back off the post, but they were much the better side and when the Bolton keeper held a Jack Lewis header from Radford’s cross in the dying minutes, the fans sensed this would, after all, be their night.

The tears and champagne flowed in almost equal measures in the visitors’ dressing room as emotion got to even the most experienced of the battle-hardened players.

Tony Dunne – a League Championship and European Cup winner with Manchester United – said: “I’ve never been more pleased in all my career. I can’t say I felt any better winning any other trophy – it’s a great feeling”

Sam Allardyce revealed: “I couldn’t stop crying when the final whistle went. I can’t describe the feeling but it’s a wonderful end to three years of trying.”

And Worthington, who quit First Division Leicester to join the Burnden bandwagon, rejoiced: “People said it was a gamble coming to a Second Division club, but I never thought of it that way. I just knew we were going to do it.”

Wanderers: McDonagh, Ritson, Dunne, Greaves, Walsh, Allardyce, Morgan (sub Gowling 20), Whatmore, Train, Reid, Worthington.

Rovers: Butcher, Hawkins, Bailey, Metcalfe, Keeley, Waddington, Taylor, Lewis, Radford, Parkes, Wagstaffe.

Attendance: 27,835.