THE last time Wanderers won a game at Bloomfield Road, the average cost of a pint to celebrate was just 38 pence.
Not since Star Wars was at the cinema and Mull of Kintyre was at number one in December 1977 has a Bolton side won in Blackpool, a barren run which has spanned 17,260 days, 11 Prime Ministers and 19 different permanent managers.
That won’t deter the 2,000-plus travelling to the coast, although they should probably expect to pay a lot more than 15 pence for a matchday programme this time around.
The streak is not something which has concerned the thoughts of Steven Schumacher – indeed he was only informed of the fact on the way up the stairs to the media room as he conducted his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Nor does the head coach have any particular affiliation to Star Wars, which rather ruined this reporter’s frantic attempts to contrive a headline.
Schumacher is happy for his players to use 14 previous visits to Bloomfield Road as some inspiration if they so wish but he is concentrating solely on a gameplan to break back into the top six.
“It’s OK, we'd never won at Burton either, so I like breaking those types of records,” he smiled. “I don't think I'll need to use it for the players for any sort of motivation, I don’t think.
“But they will probably see things on social media, which is kind of what happens these days, so they know anyway, but I won't make an issue of it.
“It's a different game. It is two teams going at it who are in good form at the moment. It'll be a difficult game, regardless of whether we've won the last 15 there or not.
“You get grounds where teams have not been successful at, or grounds where you've never lost for a certain amount of years, but it doesn't alter your preparation or your mindset of what you're doing about this next game.
“You just try and focus and then, at the end of the day, hope you can end those records.”
Chris Forino also eschewed Star Wars as a child – so there really was no rescuing that train of thought. The big defender did agree, however, that some away venues can carry extra significance. And some can be a disagreeable experience altogether.
“There are grounds that you don't as much look forward to,” he said. “There’s one that sticks out in my head. I remember Accrington Stanley away in my first year.
“The pitch was tight. It was a Tuesday night. The crowd were fighting relegation, and we were in a makeshift cabin while they were getting their changing rooms done up. It's not their fault but I remember that being a particularly difficult one. But you don't have that kind of baggage as players, though.
“I didn't know the history of the Blackpool not winning there for so long.
“I'm not going to carry that into Saturday. But I understand how much it means to the fans.
“For me, I want to win every game. I want to perform well at every game, and it'll be nice to have hopefully a sold-out away end and get a win.”
The last Bolton team to win at Blackpool went on to win promotion - which may be a positive omen for the current group. Frank Worthington and Neil Whatmore supplied the goals on December 27, 1977, in front of more than 25,000 supporters.
The last Wanderers team to beat Blackpool at Bloomfield Road went on to secure promotion as champions in 1977/78 Wanderers will run out in front of two sold-out away allocations in the next five days, both stocked with hope of a result against their Lancashire rivals.
And while there may be a little more pressure riding on the outcome of Tuesday night’s game at Wigan, Forino believes the travelling supporters will have a big impact on both performances.
“As players you can absolutely feel it,” he said. “When you have an away end and it's bouncing and you can feel them in the warm-up, I've got to say, for the Bristol Rovers game, they were amazing.
“When you feel it, when you're warming up and the fans are singing before the game's even kicked off, it makes you feel something inside that you can't really put into words.
“They really do travel in numbers. And it does make a difference. It really does make a difference when you're away from home but you're making all the noise.
“It does help us on the pitch as players more than the supporters probably know.”
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