SINCE it was set up by scholars and teachers at Christ Church, Deane, in 1874, Bolton Wanderers FC has been a favourite topic in the Bolton Evening News.

The earliest pictures remaining in our archives date from around 1882.

The oldest known team picture of the Wanderers dates from the 1882-83 season, just after the team had won the Bolton Charity Cup.

The other two pictures show the Wanderers' ground at Pike's Lane, where they played until they moved to Burnden Park in 1895.

They started playing at Pike's Lane in 1881, where they spent £150 on pitch improvements and season tickets cost a guinea.

In the same year they entered the FA cup for the first time, and were knocked out in the second round by local rivals Blackburn Rovers.

Pike's Lane was the setting for plenty of drama, including the Wanderers' near-expulsion from the Lancashire FA when in 1883 referee Sam Omerod was booed at the ground and then assaulted at the railway station.

In 1890 Wanderers beat Sheffield United 13-0 in the second round of the FA Cup, played at Pike's Lane. Ironically the fixture was meant to take place at Sheffield's ground, but had to be moved because Sheffield Wednesday were playing at home.

The tenancy on the Pike's Lane ground expired in May, 1895, and the team moved to Burnden Park.