Bolton based Sushma's snacks a hit with Wanderers fans

Gone are the days of pies and chips at a football match, fans in Bolton are now having a taste of East meets West fusion cuisines at the Fan Zone outside the stadium.

Sushma Solanki, 52, has hit the headlines in recent weeks after her food stand Sushma'snacks became so popular by football fans with her featuring on Footy Scran, a social media account showing the best and worst scran at the football.

Speaking about her success, Sushma said she is overwhelmed.

She said: "I was put on Footy Scran about two or three weeks ago and I was rated on there, one of the supporters posted my chicken tikka naan on there and I got 15,700 likes and then it hit a national newspaper that I ran out in an hour-and- a-half and then last Saturday I was in The Mirror with my 'naan of the match' story, so it has been welcomed really well and the supporters have been brilliant.

"The Fan Zone is amazing the way it is working at the minute and all the supporters just love it.

The chicken naan that has gone viral (Image: Newsquest)

"I'm here every home game and offer a chicken tikka naan, sheesh kebab naan with salad and sauce, the chilli garlic fries and the kebdog.

"I'm very happy Bolton Wanderers have took on a small business like me and supporting a woman running a small business after all the difficult times with Covid and times are getting difficult at the minute with the price rises but I am going to stick with my prices as much as I can and hope I can keep it to that price."

When The Bolton News asked Sushma if the pie and chips are long gone, she said: "I don't know if they're off the menu, you can still get pies inside, but this is outside in the Fan Zone and I think fans have now warmed up to not eating just the pies."

Sushma said the support from the Bolton fans is really helping during the cost-of-living crisis.

She said: "The cost-of-living crisis has impacted me because the food and ingredients are becoming so expensive every day and I don't know how long we can carry on like this.

"The support from the fans is really helping and through them there has been loads of people that work with companies and so I'm going to another company to do their lunch for the day.

Sushma'snacks hut at Bolton Wanderers fan zone (Image: Newsquest)

"A few other football clubs have also been in touch with me to work with them too.

"I'm getting a lot more business out of it and the support has been amazing.

"I'm overwhelmed with the support that I've had, it's all very positive.

“Even the club, even the chairman, the CEO and the whole team have been supportive from the top boss to even the cleaners have been supportive of me, they’re all so happy and we have a great time.

“Some customers have even approached me to tell me that they won’t be at the next game because they’re on holiday and not to worry because they will be back, the support has been fantastic.”