MOD's last game myth

5:11pm Wednesday 6th June 2007

COMPLAINTS that Wanderers are always last on Match of the Day would appear to be wide of the mark.

Analysis of the 10 Saturday nights that Wanderers were on the BBC's highlights show from last January 22 until the end of the season show that, on average, the Whites feature halfway through the running order.

That's in stark contrast to the widely held perception in Bolton that Wanderers always occupy the programme's graveyard shift.

It has been a long held belief in the town that Wanderers are consistently under-represented on Match of the Day.

And it is not just held by fans who watch the show, but also by many who don't.

There are those in the town who have no interest in football and don't watch Match of the Day, but will say without fear of question that Bolton are always last match on.

Much of the reason stems from the image perpetuated down the years that Wanderers are perceived as "Litte Bolton" outside the town.

With the likes of Watford, Wigan, Reading, Portsmouth, Blackburn and Fulham in the Premiership last season, the feeling that people only see Bolton as a small town club has become a little outdated.

So is the belief that Wanderers are left to the last on Match of the Day, according to the facts. Of the 10 Premiership matches played every weekend, an average of eight take place on Saturday with all their highlights featured on the programme.

On average, Wanderers' matches were the fourth ones shown of those eight. Their highlights also lasted for an average of seven minutes and 52 seconds - which is far in excess of the minimum three minutes allowed for each game.

The games in which Wanderers were on for the longest, and highest up the running order, were predictably against Manchester United, when they were first on, and Chelsea, when they were second.

But some of their less attractive games were also given prominence, including the ones against Middlesbrough and West Ham, when they were the second game shown on each occasion.

Of the 10 games Wanderers were the last match on just twice, against Watford and Reading.

The Bolton News decided to monitor Wanderers' coverage on Match of the Day last January to discover whether it was fact or an urban myth that Wanderers are under-represented on Match of the Day.

The facts over the second half of last season suggest the latter to be the case.