WANDERERS are on course for their biggest post-Premier League attendance when they host Bradford City this weekend.
More than 25,000 supporters are expected at the Toughsheet Stadium, including a sell-out away end of more than 5,000 travelling from West Yorkshire.
The club is expected to update ticket numbers shortly – but The Bolton News understands that they are heading for a figure larger than the visit of Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham for the first home game of the 2024/25 season, which attracted 25,957.
The 25,000 mark has only been surpassed on four previous occasions, all within the last three years, for the visits of Portsmouth and Reading (April 2024) and Derby County in December 2022.
The last time Bolton managed to bring in more than 26,000 fans was for the visit of Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League on March 24, 2012, a week after Fabrice Muamba had collapsed during an FA Cup tie at Tottenham.
Wanderers’ biggest attendance at this level of football was at Burnden Park in March 1973, when a massive 33,010 gathered to watch a 1-0 defeat against Blackburn Rovers.
Jimmy Armfield’s side had not lost at home in the league for nearly a year at that point and were on course to go up as champions of the old Third Division.
Derek Fazackerley scored the only goal of the night, watched by the biggest crowd at Burnden since 1963, when 35,872 watched the Whites face Manchester United in their final season in the old First Division.
The visit of Bradford has caught the public imagination, coming after a five-game winning streak which has taken Steven Schumacher’s side to within touching distance of the automatic promotion spots.
Neither side were in action over the international break but Lincoln City’s win against Doncaster Rovers mean they will start the weekend in second spot, level with leaders Stockport County on 28 points.
Bradford, on 27, and Wanderers on 26, could theoretically top the table on Saturday night with a win, although Cardiff City and Stevenage are also within striking distance in a condensed top six.
Schumacher was pleased that his side went into the break with some momentum, and that a much-changed side rattled six goals past Oldham Athletic in the Vertu Trophy to keep the positive vibes flowing.
“That was the plan,” he told The Bolton News. “We knew there would be a break between the games so keeping that good feeling going was important.
“I think it’s more difficult if a game has been called off like the Stevenage one was, and you go into it with a bad result because you can stress over it for longer and you can be worried about the next fixture and who you're going to pick and what you're going to do.
“Whatever team I select against Bradford, we feel as though everyone is in good form. Everyone should be playing with confidence and we go into what we know will be a really difficult game because they are a good team.
“It’s going to be a big crowd, a big atmosphere. We want another result, though, to keep this good run going.”
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