WANDERERS had one eye on a return to Europe and their first FA Cup final since 1958 – five years on, their spectacular failure still smarts.

After 90 minutes now considered to be pivotal in the club’s downfall, the 5-0 defeat against Stoke City at Wembley remains the most remarkable collapse the new stadium has seen.

Owen Coyle’s side lacked the injured Stuart Holden but still packed in proven talent fans could only dream of possessing today: Kevin Davies, Fabrice Muamba, Ivan Klasnic, Chung-Yong Lee, Gary Cahill and Gretar Steinsson.

But what went wrong? How did a team that had been ticking along just fine in the Premier League, whitewashing West Ham the previous weekend, fail to turn up on the grandest stage of all?

Five years on, former captain Davies admits the preparation for the game was not up to scratch.

At Owen Coyle’s behest, the team had travelled down to London on Tuesday to walk around the new Wembley to acclimatise. It had worked for the former manager at Burnley and he was nothing if not a stickler for superstition.

Whether Coyle misjudged how much the venue would affect his players is up for debate. Many of them had played there before for club and country and unlike the Clarets at the time, were used to touring the Old Traffords, Emirates and White Hart Lanes.

The long trip and overnight stay were not popular with the squad.

“I didn’t agree with it,” Davies told The Bolton News. “I spoke with the manager at the time and suggested the time could be better used.

“We went down there for a walk round and then had some dinner with a couple of drinks.

“Whether that had an effect on the game, you can only really say with hindsight now. But I know from speaking with people like Danny Higginbotham, who was at Stoke at the time, that Tony Pulis had them in doing double sessions and working on shape to beat us.”

Whether the social aspect proved their undoing or not, the squad returned to the North West on Wednesday and trained Thursday and Friday alongside their press duties.

On the day itself, Wanderers were tactically outclassed. Holden’s absence had hit hard, while question marks over Mark Davies’s condition made him only ready for a place on the bench. Record signing Johan Elmander had been used in midfield against West Ham the previous weekend, which worked well, and so the Swede lined up in the same position again.

The Whites failed to get their wingers Martin Petrov or Chung-Yong into the game, or provide any ammunition for their front two.

“Stoke got it spot on,” Davies said. “I know they did a job on me. I don’t remember much about the game, or the goals, because I have blocked them from my memory. I certainly haven’t watched them back.

“It was a huge chance to reach an FA Cup final.”

Three down in 30 minutes through goals from Matt Etherington, Kenwyne Jones and Robert Huth, ex-Wanderer Jonathan Walters heaped salt on to the wounds after the break with two more.

Most Wanderers fans had left before the final whistle.

“The picture that stays with me is getting back late to Bolton, driving home and seeing a young kid of about five or six walking home with his parents, carrying a Bolton flag," recalled Davies.

“As well as letting my own family down I felt for the kid too.”