What happened on this week in Bolton Wanderers history

On this week in Wanderers history…

1927: Wanderers were progressing well in the FA Cup but the patrons of Burnden Park were not happy. A 2-0 defeat on February 12, 1927 left the chances of the league title floundering and hundreds of supporters stayed after the final whistle to voice their disappointment that the club was not taking the league seriously.

1959: The post-war record crowd at Burnden Park was set with a massive 58,692 packing in to see an FA Cup fourth round tie against Preston North End. Wanderers eventually won through on a replay.

1963: The snow had decimated the English football programme and Wanderers hadn’t played a single game since December 8, 1962. To help matters the club decided to organise a friendly in Cork, Ireland, against Manchester United – which the Reds won 4-2.

1987: Floodlights on the Embankment at Burnden Park were dismantled and new pylons put up to accommodate the new Normid Superstore. Matching pylons were then constructed at the Great Lever End the following summer.

Flashback pictures

This stunning picture was taken before Bolton Wanderers faced Manchester United at the Reebok in February 2003. A crowd of 27,409 watched the two sides draw 1-1 with Sam Allardyce’s side denied victory in the final minute of the game. Bruno NGotty scored the Bolton goal – but can you remember who stole the point for United right at the death?

The year was 1983 and football had not exactly embraced sports science – but down at Highfield Road they were trying something different to get their players limber.

Eagle-eyed readers will see a certain Sam Allardyce smirking his way through a ballet routine with dancer Stella Mae, who was putting the team through their paces ahead of a Division One game against Notts County.

Whether Allardyce took this into his own managerial career, we can’t be sure, but the image of Kevin Davies, Bruno N’Gotty, Radhi Jaidi and Jussi Jaaskelainen doing plies to the tune of the Nutcracker is a thought that might bring a smile to your face like Sam’s!

Mystery man

This week’s mystery man competition is more of a ‘mystery men’. We have two former Bolton Wanderers players to identify in this picture, which was taken in April 2001. The only hint we’ll give is that the man in yellow is best known for his goalscoring exploits in recent years while the other is much more of a defensive type.