I’M sure there would have been plenty of people wondering why a guy ran on to the pitch at Wanderers last week.

If they read The Bolton News on Monday they would have found out.

Nicholas Parton contacted me to give his reasons, and an interesting read it turned out to be.

So interesting that it got 10 times more views on our website than an average Wanderers story.

In a nutshell he said he felt it was the only option he had left to protest about the way the club was being run and the team was playing.

Whether you agree with him or not – and there will be plenty who don’t – it raises the question of what is the best way to protest against a club.

Running on to the pitch has always been a favourite of the angry football fan.

It always makes me laugh that they are called “pitch invaders” which paints a picture of a Viking warrior with a horned helmet charging onto the pitch to claim it as his territory.

In actual fact, all these people do is run on a piece of grass and hold a football match up for a minute or so, sparking emotional reactions from the rest of the crowd which vary from anger to amusement.

The other term used to describe what Mr Parton did last Saturday is “encroachment”, which gives the impression these people creep onto the pitch and take fairy footsteps around the field while trying to look invisible.

Basically, they just run on to the pitch.

It is also interesting how these people are dealt with legally compared with what the players are allowed to get away with.

The man in the street just runs around and he is up before the courts, but a player deliberately assaults someone (another player) causing actual bodily harm and the legal system turns a blind eye.

The reaction of fans to these two instances is also interesting: often the supporter who has not committed a violent act is booed while the footballer who has is cheered.

It all points to the suggestion that running on to the pitch is not the most effective way to protest about a football club’s woes.

So what is?

Chanting “(insert name here) OUT!” with fingers pointing in the direction of the manager’s dugout or director’s box is the most common. It’s easy, anyone can join in and it gets it off your chest.

The pitfall is that it is so clichéd the words often get lost in the wind and are instantly forgotten.

Gathering outside front entrances and shouting the same words towards a door are commonly the next port of call for the angry supporter.

I have never liked any of the aforementioned forms of protest. There’s just too much anger involved and football should be a happy place.

A march – now that’s more like it.

A couple of hundred people walking from one place, usually a common gathering spot a couple of miles away (you don’t want to walk too far, it can get tiring) to the ground where you hand a few leaflets out to other fans who didn’t bother with the march and then you all go in and watch the match.

It’s got organisation, effort and a bit of imagination, a better class of protest altogether.

And finally, there’s the boycott. Few people go down this road as it involves denying yourself the essence of being a fan – watching your team.