Bolton nearly ceased to exist as a club just three years ago. Now they’re climbing back up the EFL
On a big day in football when we saw Derby County survive on the final day as Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham and Wycombe went down, we also saw another more positive story about a club known as the Wanderers.
Back in 2019, Bolton nearly ceased to exist as a football club, as it faced liquidation and was given an ultimatum to secure funds before 5pm on the 26th of August. When it looked as though all hope may have been lost, the consortium known as Football Ventures came in at the eleventh hour to stop the 140-year-old club from vanishing.
Fast-forward nearly three years on and Bolton Wanderers – who, during their administration period, had to play virtually entire XIs filled with academy players as they could not pay any of their staff’s wages – have been promoted back to League One after just a year back in the fourth division.
🍾 Bolton Wanderers. Promoted to @SkyBetLeagueOne!!!!!!#BWFC 🐘🏰 pic.twitter.com/l3LS1fXJU5
— Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) May 8, 2021
BOLTON WANDERERS ARE PROMOTED TO LEAGUE ONE! ⚪️
They dispatched Crawley 4-1 to secure their place in the automatics.
Watch the reaction on Sky Sports Football 📺 pic.twitter.com/3WzDaObbxG
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 8, 2021
The Trotters’ celebrations began the moment the whistle blew and made for what was truly a heart-warming sight. In times when we realise the business of football is very much separate from the experience of the players, managers and, most importantly, the fans, this kind of turnaround can’t be overlooked.
Back in February, the Whites were 20th in League Two and, like so many of their recent seasons, the campaign looked to be nothing more than a case of survival and salvaging whatever they could. Today, they finished 3rd on 79 points, just three points off the league leaders, Cheltenham.
Wanderers are going up!! 👏 🍾 #bwfc pic.twitter.com/l5PSja7UrD
— The Bolton News (@TheBoltonNews) May 8, 2021
WE ARE GOING UP!!!!!!! 😁 UNBELIEVABLE!! #BWFC #COYWM 🍾 pic.twitter.com/voipQ1DgHA
— Toby Brittan (@BrittanToby) May 8, 2021
What a win. What a season. What a team.
Thank you, lads, for bringing us back to life. Forever a Wanderer. @OfficialBWFC #BWFC #promotion #EFL #BoltonWanderers pic.twitter.com/IrMwsGP4rt
— Ruth Madeley (@ruth_madeley) May 8, 2021
Football, eh? What a game. And to think, there are some people in this world who’d prefer a sport without any true sense of competition. You know who you are and you’ll never understand this.
