CROWD figures at home games turned into the Great Reebok Debate by the end of the season.

From the chairman down to the fans, everyone had something to say about the size of Wanderers' attendances.

A familiar sentiment was that Wanderers deserved better backing than they got while the counter argument was that Bolton-based fans did not want to travel six miles out of town to The Reebok.

Wanderers' average attendance of 16,000 was only half-way in the league table of First Division support, a big disappointment for a club which was in the top three for most of the season and never out of the top six. In addition they have the best stadium and facilities in the division.

The situation is even more alarming when it is noted that even that average was bumped up by a handful of large crowds for the hardcore support was actually somewhere in the region of 12,000-13,000.

As Sam Allardyce said last week: "I dread to think what the average figure would have been if we hadn't had the £5-a- Seat and the Bring-a- Friend promotions for the Grimsby and Norwich matches."

The season started so well on the crowd front with 10,500 season ticket sales representing a handsome increase on the previous year and the opening two league games of the campaign against Burnley and Preston brought in bumper 20,000-plus crowds.

Six thousand fans suddenly disappeared for the next game against Portsmouth but they were back when Wanderers played host to leaders Fulham in their fourth Reebok outing in the league.

The next four weeks witnessed a decline which was to spark the discussions over where the fans had gone.

First there were 15,500 to see Wolves, then 13,000 for Forest, 12,800 for Palace and then a miserly 10,000 for the visit of QPR.

Promotion rivals

Apart from two big crowds at Christmas and another against automatic promotion rivals Blackburn and the aforementioned Grimsby and Norwich games, the rest of the season saw attendances stuck between the 12,000 and 15,000 mark.

Fans jumped on the fact that Wanderers got 24,000 against Grimsby - when all tickets cost just a fiver - to argue that the support is there but the cost is prohibitive.

As the debate over crowd sizes continued, some fans argued Wanderers would never get huge support from Bolton people because the stadium is too far from the centre of town and, while it is a wonderful looking stadium, the atmosphere is poor unless it is full.

Other fans criticised this viewpoint, labelling those who profess it "moaners" who should get behind the team when they are so close to achieving promotion to the Premiership on a limited budget.

The attendance figures were certainly uppermost in the minds of the top brass at The Reebok with both chairman Phil Gartside and manager Sam Allardyce baffled and disappointment by the low turnouts.

"We are averaging 16,000 in a 28,000 stadium," said Sam. "It is a telling factor because the players miss out on the extra adrenaline.

"When the crowds are there the players perform. It doesn't always mean you get the result you want but in most cases you get a higher level of performance from the team.

"I am not getting at the ones who come down because they have been absolutely fantastic. It is the ones who don't come who can give us that extra bit of help we need."

Biggest town

"When I saw the gate at Crystal Palace (16,268 on Easter Monday) it drove it home to me how poor our gates have been. We are the biggest town in the country and we should be pulling in bigger gates than we have.

"I will take some of the responsibility on my shoulders and the players will do the same but some responsibility must lie with the supporters who do not come down," he added.