The Bolton Wanderers fans' survey 2022: What you think about your football club

The club skipper polled 32.7 per cent of the votes from fans who filled in our online survey last week, beating Marlon Fossey (18.3 per cent) and Dapo Afolayan (16.4) into second and third place, respectively.

Santos was unfortunate to have his season ended prematurely by a hamstring injury but still racked up 43 appearances at centre-back, taking on the captain’s role after the departure of Antoni Sarcevic to Stockport County in October.

More than 2,000 people filled in our survey, which detailed every aspect of life at the University of Bolton Stadium, from player performance and recruitment to club finances and ambitions for next season in League One.

Rate the board and boss

We asked how fans rated the job being done by manager Ian Evatt and his coaching staff and the club’s owners, Football Ventures, with scope to mark them anywhere from one out of 10, to 10 out of 10.

The response was extremely positive, with Evatt and his coaching staff averaging a mark of 8.15 out of 10, and Football Ventures receiving a whopping 8.86.

Of those who marked the question, 79 per cent of people marked Evatt and his coaching staff’s performance between an eight and 10, while 90 per cent did the same for Football Ventures.

Fans' experience

We broke down some of the individual aspects of life at the club and found the responses were again, overwhelmingly positive.

On player recruitment, 14.7 per cent of people ranked it as ‘excellent,’ 57.9 per cent as ‘very good,’ and 21 per cent as ‘above average’. Just 6.4 per cent of votes were made for the rankings ‘fair, poor or very poor.’ Asked to rate the matchday experience – i.e. how much supporters enjoy the services laid on by the club at the game – there could be some scope for improvement.

While just over 73 per cent of people said the matchday experience was either above average, very good or excellent, there was a noticeable swing towards the more negative categories with 22 per cent rating it ‘fair’ and five per cent split between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’.

Season ticket prices got a thumbs up. More than half (55 per cent) of people who answered the question rated the prices as ‘excellent,’ with 31.8 per cent as very good. Just 5.1 per cent of people answered ‘fair’ and one per cent for poor or very poor.

Board communication was also generally well received with 17 per cent ranking it as excellent, very good (39.5), above average (25.1), fair (14.3), poor (2.8) and very poor (1.3).

Style of football

We decided to ask supporters whether they enjoyed the style of football which has been employed by Wanderers this season using a scale, with one side reflecting the most positive score and the other the most negative. Though the timing of the survey will always play a part in the success of these questions, and this one was launched a couple of days after a 1-1 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday, the trend showed supporters were either content or in favour of the way Bolton play.

Receiving a NPS (Net Promotion Score) of +31, 40.5 per cent of the voters were described as ‘promoters’ for the style of play, 49.5 of the scores were described as ‘passive’ and 10 per cent as detractors.

Relationship with club

The mood around Wanderers over the weekend, where more than 19,000 home fans turned up for the Family Fun Day and a 3-1 win against Accrington Stanley, is widely accepted to be as good as it has been for some time.

We decided to put that to the test, asking supporters how they rated their relationship with the club compared to recent years.

A massive 69 per cent of people polled said their relationship with Bolton Wanderers was stronger than ever.

A further 26 per cent said their relationship was the same as before, four per cent said it was weaker than in past years and one per cent said weaker than ever.

Hopes for next season

Looking towards next season, we wanted to know how Wanderers fans felt the club would fare if they could retain the same quality of squad.

The likes of Ricardo Santos and Dapo Afolayan have been monitored by clubs in the Championship, while loanees like Marlon Fossey and James Trafford have been strongly tipped to return to the UniBol next season but have not yet signed on the dotted line.

Wanderers look in a good position to secure a top 10 finish on their return to League One but hopes are clearly higher for next season, with 17 per cent of people polled tipping the Whites to get automatic promotion.

The majority (63 per cent) believe a top six spot is the aim, although 18 per cent predict the current squad would be capable of a mid-table finish.

Rounding up the outliers, two per cent of people believe a relegation battle or outright relegation would be the aim – with 98 per cent of those votes also scoring the lowest possible mark on at least two other categories.

Which positions need strengthening?

We asked fans what position they felt was most in need of strengthening in the summer, and the resounding response was that Ian Evatt needs more depth at centre-half.

A total 32.5 per cent of fans said the position was in need of significant improvement, with goalkeeper (16.6) and left-back (11.5) the other two positions deemed most in need of immediate attention.

Your favourite game of the season

We compiled a list of 10 Wanderers victories this season and asked fans to compile them into order, their favourite game being at number one.

And while a few fans pointed out that an away win at Shrewsbury Town in January was not on our list (sorry folks) the 6-0 victory against Sunderland was first choice for a whopping 78.3 per cent.

The 5-2 win against Ipswich was first choice for 7.8 per cent of fans, while the 3-2 win at Oxford finished up third with 6.1 per cent.

What fans think of League One referees

There have been some controversial refereeing decisions this season, ranging from the Santos red card at Morecambe to James McClean’s escape at Wigan, and Evatt has himself called for more support for officials in the form of a professional wage or VAR replays.

Predictably, the average rating on 3.13 given to the standard of refereeing in League One suggests there is scope for improvement.

Outlook for the future?

Looking to the future, we asked fans how they felt about the medium to long-term future of Bolton Wanderers, and 56 per cent of people said ‘very optimistic’. Of those who handed out the top mark, 94 per cent rated their relationship with the club ‘better than ever’ earlier in the survey.

Just over 38 per cent of people were ‘very happy at the moment’ with less than six per cent of people choosing to stay neutral or describe their mood as ‘nervous’ or very concerned’.

What really concerns you?

Finally, we laid out some of the bigger issues and asked fans for their current mood on the subject.

On Wanderers’ financial position 24.3 per cent of people were ‘happy’ with the current position, 54 per cent were ‘content,’ 19.4 per cent ‘slightly worried’ and 2.4 per cent had a ‘serious concern’.

Should the club get promotion to the Championship, however, they would need to raise the budget to compete. And this is where supporters said there would be a test for the current owners.

Just 3.1 per cent said they felt ‘happy’ the owners could match Championship budgets with a further 20.9 per cent describing themselves as ‘content’.

A much larger chunk – 58.8 per cent – were slightly worried about how the club would manage financially and 17.2 per cent said they had a ‘serious concern’.

Asked about the strength/ability of the current squad 10.4 per cent described themselves as ‘happy,’ 57.8 per cent as ‘content’, 29 per cent as ‘slightly worried’ and 2.8 per cent had a ‘serious concern’.

The suitability of the manager and coaching staff was backed overwhelmingly with 71 per cent happy with the current status, 23.3 per cent ‘content’ and 5.7 per cent expressing either slight worry or serious concern.

And finally, 43.7 per cent of fans said they were seriously concerned with the state of football finances outside the Premier League, with another 42.4 per cent saying they were ‘slightly worried’.

Just 11 per cent said they were content, while 2.9 per cent said they were happy with he current status.

• The survey received 2,476 responses on Google Forms between April 11-14.