Sat on my own tonight drinking 8% Polish beer, always gets me thinking..... what's your top 3 bolton fan moments and why? There will be popular moments shared by the majority...and some ad hoc moments..... For me....

1. Aaron Wilbrham v Forest 2018. Doesn't need much explanation....if it does, Google it ha 

2. Bolton 6-1 Spurs. 1996. First season supporting Bolton, was footballing homeless at this point in my life, being a armchair Newcastle fan cos me dad was contracting up there. Totally spoilt that season, won nearly every home game, dished out some batterings.  Banging a star studded spurs was beautiful as a Newby fan

3. Shrewsbury 0-1 Bolton, 2022. We where just on the turn here, it was the first away game / stop over with both my boys and we won 1-0 last minute thanks to a Dion thumper. Best mate was also in tow and we had a few hundred quid on us to win at 5/2 or there abouts....paid for a fee days on a golf course in Spain. Plus the lads saw pure away last minute ecstasy on their first outing! 

Without wanting to put a downer on a great thread, the Covid-era mentions just put the thought in my head that if it had all happened 6 months earlier then there’s not a prayer the takeover would have gone through. There but for the grace of god and all that. 

I'll split mine 2 ways, goals/games:

Goal 1 and game 1, Wilbraham v Forest, completely self explanatory

Game 2: 0-0 v Coventry 2019. Never been prouder of a team than that day.

Game 3: 4-0 v Plymouth at Wembley. Felt like coming back full circle, dominant performance and first time I've seen us win at Wembley.

Goal 2: McCann at Boro 2008. Proper pandamonium when that went in. Went on to win 1-0 and stay up.

Goal 3: Diouf v Atletico. Best atmosphere at the Reebok by a long way and the roof lifted off when that went in. 

Honorable mentions for goals for Holden v Blackburn, Eagles v Blackburn, Bodvarsson v Burton, the 5th v Stoke H 2011, but my last 4th choice would have been James Henry v Scunthorpe New Years Eve 2016.

15 minutes ago, desperado said:

Is she the one from the morning or the evening? 🤣

Different one . I packed a lot into the 90's. 

Fuck knows how I made it out alive.

Anfield in the cup 92/93

Reading at Wembley

Plovdiv on happy's trip

 

Shout for Munich and Chungys winner at Birmingham cup quarter Final 🙌

Christ how the hell do you whittle it down to best 3 moment's 

Ewood 78

Wilbraham against forest

Liverpool in cup

Reading Wembley 

Preston at Cardiff 

Coventry with the kids 

I don’t often post but :

1. The win at old TraffOrd ( the Frankie Worthington double) - I was there 

2 . Athletico Madrid - the Reebok was physically rocking that night ( as a follow up I recollect a Bolton fan being on talk sport and telling a great story about taking a girl on a date. She thought it would be to a fancy restaurant and got dressed up to the nines- he took her to the Reebok)

3. The Sunderland 6-0 . It felt like all the pain of the previous few years was finally relieved. We were back. A guy behind us was pleading with Bolton to stop at 5. He couldn’t take it any longer. 

 

 

How can you have a top 3 list that does not include

1 Forest at home

2 United Away (twice in league and 1 in cup)

3 Reading at Wembley

4 Plovdiv

5 Wycombe away 

6 Plymouth at Wembley 

7 Coventry at home

8 Blackburn away (either when Youri scored early or Jussi double penalty save)

9 Stu SA Blackburn at home 

10 Leicester away

11 Brum in the cup 

12 Bayern Munich

13 White Hot

14 Arsenal in cup away

15 Everton away in cup (like a light)

16 Frank at OT 

17 win league at City

18 Last game at Burnden 

19 Leicester with 9 men

20 Leicester first game back

21 Friday night at Hull

22 Wolves play off and also when Lofty caused a riot

23 Promotion at Blackburn

24 Ground filling up v Bradford 

25 Torquay at Wembley

 

If you do not have all these in your top 3 you are not a real fan 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Ani said:

How can you have a top 3 list that does not include

1 Forest at home

2 United Away (twice in league and 1 in cup)

3 Reading at Wembley

4 Plovdiv

5 Wycombe away 

6 Plymouth at Wembley 

7 Coventry at home

8 Blackburn away (either when Youri scored early or Jussi double penalty save)

9 Stu SA Blackburn at home 

10 Leicester away

11 Brum in the cup 

12 Bayern Munich

13 White Hot

14 Arsenal in cup away

15 Everton away in cup (like a light)

16 Frank at OT 

17 win league at City

18 Last game at Burnden 

19 Leicester with 9 men

20 Leicester first game back

21 Friday night at Hull

22 Wolves play off and also when Lofty caused a riot

23 Promotion at Blackburn

24 Ground filling up v Bradford 

25 Torquay at Wembley

 

If you do not have all these in your top 3 you are not a real fan 

 

 

Surely the Preston game 93 has been mentioned somewhere??

Can't believe nobody has listed Arsenal away in the cup..... What a night!

Liverpool replay, also away in the cup.

Reading in play off final at Wembley.

Plymouth at Wembley.

Hull away, heading towards promotion.

Newcastle at home FA cup round 5.

Wolves at home, Play off semi final. I still don't think the vocal support from the Whites fans that night will ever be bettered.

Munich away.

I can't count, am I up to 3 yet 🤭.... I could go on.

My first ever match. Been mithering my mum & dad for weeks. Neither of them were really in to sport never mind football. I was 10. I could not sleep through excitement when I actually got the thumbs up.

Being in the Embankment to witness the best goal world football has ever seen.

The next moment hasn't happened yet. What ever it's going to be it's going to be very special.

OINO.

 

10 hours ago, SatanGreavsie said:

After getting the bus in from Howfen and then walking from the bus station, you could genuinely smell the atmosphere around the area, like the whiff of cordite on bonfire night...spine tingling even before the ground came into view. Few, if any,  have come close since in that respect.

Very evocative.  That was my memory of big night games in the late 70s, or dark winter afternoons eg Leeds league cup, Man U 3-0, Spurs 1-0 (I didn't go v Everton).  But even for normal league games the smell of atmosphere was there from ages before I got to the ground, whichever side of the ground we approached from.  To think that only lasted for about 3 years of my life, and once it got to the early 80s it was gone, forever.  That smell and atmosphere never returned once we hit the dark days just a few short years after those peak years.  Its what I associate BWFC/Burnden with but it was so short lived for me as I didn't start going to every home game till we'd been relegated and the slide had begun.

Impossible question to answer. For many years I'd have gone straight to my heroes of the 60s and 70s but recent events and the circumstances in which they happened probably pip them, notably Wilbraham for the timing of it and playing the kids which TBH was very emotional if just for the "us against the world" feeling of it all.

But I'd just mention Worthy v Ipswich which I  and most people thought was a thing of beauty  - and typically Bolton, some bloke piped up "terrible defending". The dourness of that comment still makes me smile today.

11 hours ago, MancWanderer said:

1. Old Trafford - Frankie’s double

2. Ewood - promotion game - took the place over

3. Wrexham - Savage

All away games when footy crowds were a bit shit but Bolton travelled in big numbers, you could pay on the gate, and we were all over grounds

They are just the top 3. So many other top moments but those 3 will live with me to my dying day

 

Beat me to it. Two promotions and a M off my back (😉) after years telling the reds in L/H that we were better than than them😊

Not mentioned thus far (apologies if have)

Fulham promotion celebration day - 36k on with just one coach of Fulham fans, so either that day or Plymouth would be the most BWFC fans I've seen in one place (oh and the spontaneous townhall celebrations afterwards).

Skopje square getting taken over.

The winner at Red Star and hoping to get out alive.

I mentioned Soton away in the cup, but the home game - first 20k Burnden crowd for 10+ years reminded us what we could do.

1 hour ago, BeeversLeftPeg said:

Game 2: 0-0 v Coventry 2019. Never been prouder of a team than that day.

Exactly Beevers. The kids that day were the (potential) salvation of the club. The owners and us could see something worth saving. Since then what have we had ? More good days than bad, promotion, nearly another promotion,won a trophy and fucked off all the tin pot no-marks who wanted us closed down.

What a time to be a Wanderer.

1 hour ago, Underpants said:

My first ever match. Been mithering my mum & dad for weeks. Neither of them were really in to sport never mind football. I was 10. I could not sleep through excitement when I actually got the thumbs up.

Being in the Embankment to witness the best goal world football has ever seen.

The next moment hasn't happened yet. What ever it's going to be it's going to be very special.

OINO.

 

Brilliant.  But did I miss WHICH match that was ?

2 hours ago, AJM said:

I don’t often post but :

1. The win at old TraffOrd ( the Frankie Worthington double) - I was there 

2 . Athletico Madrid - the Reebok was physically rocking that night ( as a follow up I recollect a Bolton fan being on talk sport and telling a great story about taking a girl on a date. She thought it would be to a fancy restaurant and got dressed up to the nines- he took her to the Reebok)

3. The Sunderland 6-0 . It felt like all the pain of the previous few years was finally relieved. We were back. A guy behind us was pleading with Bolton to stop at 5. He couldn’t take it any longer. 

 

 

Perhaps that was Zico, and was hoping to see his bet come in.

2 hours ago, Ani said:

How can you have a top 3 list that does not include

1 Forest at home

2 United Away (twice in league and 1 in cup)

3 Reading at Wembley

4 Plovdiv

5 Wycombe away 

6 Plymouth at Wembley 

7 Coventry at home

8 Blackburn away (either when Youri scored early or Jussi double penalty save)

9 Stu SA Blackburn at home 

10 Leicester away

11 Brum in the cup 

12 Bayern Munich

13 White Hot

14 Arsenal in cup away

15 Everton away in cup (like a light)

16 Frank at OT 

17 win league at City

18 Last game at Burnden 

19 Leicester with 9 men

20 Leicester first game back

21 Friday night at Hull

22 Wolves play off and also when Lofty caused a riot

23 Promotion at Blackburn

24 Ground filling up v Bradford 

25 Torquay at Wembley

 

If you do not have all these in your top 3 you are not a real fan 

 

 

You've missed off Burnley 2 Bolton 2 from October '94. The one where Nicky Spooner broke his leg putting us down to 9 men and we equalised later in the game as a result of SJM not giving the ball back to Burnley after a throw in

18 minutes ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

Brilliant.  But did I miss WHICH match that was ?

Bristol City at home '74. Won 2-1. Think it was one of the first league matches played on a Sunday. 24k on.

Bournemouth/Hull week

Reading Final

Plovdiv

26 minutes ago, dave2980 said:

You've missed off Burnley 2 Bolton 2 from October '94. The one where Nicky Spooner broke his leg putting us down to 9 men and we equalised later in the game as a result of SJM not giving the ball back to Burnley after a throw in

Ooh that's a good shout. Proper limbs on Coleman's equaliser. I left Turf Moor absolutely knackered that day.

Too many to mention, after 55 years watching them it has been a roller coaster with so many ups and downs

It's a really great thread this.

This spread of memories, from different people at different ages - all remembering these split-second moments in time when a club from a pretty deprived northern mill town stuck two fingers up to the world.

Reads like this make you remember why you put in the hours, the miles, the money. It's a collective love letter to BWFC.

Just seen a couple of kids (12, 13 ish) walk past, in City shirts. For all the trophies their choice of multi-national brand have won and will inevitably win... they'll never *really* get to experience this.

4 hours ago, wakey said:

Nobody mentioned Sunderland christmas 1975, 40 odd thou on Burnden. Best atmosphere I've ever known, big match with the top 2, we won (and Sam's header).

Only a nipper and first time dad ever took me in the stands (Manny Road) instead of standing on them massive cinder steps at the back of the Embankment so I could see over folks' heads.

Fuck me, what a happy world Burnden seemed in them days.

Aye that would be my number 4 with the Newcastle FA Cup 3-3 with the SuperMac wondergoal at 5

iirc the headline on the back page of the BEN after the Sunderland game was ‘The Burnden Bulge’ showing the big crowd

Has Swindon at home league cup semi been mentioned. Amazing night!