LIFELONG fans are backing the Bolton Evening News campaign to keep Wanderers in the Premiership -- the top flight of football.

We launched our Keep the Whites Up! campaign to rally vital support for Sam Allardyce's men in the vital last few games of the season.

The fans responded on Monday night when Wanderers took a giant step towards avoiding relegation, defeating Spurs 1-0.

Among those supporting the Bolton Evening News "Keep the Whites Up" campaign is 79-year-old Florence Brandwood who won the accolade of Premiership fan of the month in January this year and has been going to watch Bolton for 65 years. She sits in the West stand upper tier.

She said: "I never miss a match, home or away. It's great to be in the Premiership and that's where we're going to stay; I don't think we'll go down."

Bolton's oldest fan, 100-year-old Margaret Parkinson, said: "I can remember being at Wembley for the cup final in 1923 when Bolton beat West Ham 2-0. They're not playing badly at the moment and I hope to see them win the cup again."

Mayor of Bolton, Cllr John Walsh, said: "There is no better advert for Bolton than being up there with the elite. I'm very confident, with the fixtures we have left to play and if the players play the way they are capable of, we'll stay up. I'm confident Sam will keep us where we should be."

Ding-dong-do supporter Dave Higson said: "This is the best Bolton team I've seen in my 50-odd years as a fan. We have got in the Premiership and stayed there. We need about five years in the Premiership to get a settled side and then start getting financially sound."

Membership Secretary of the Wanderers Supporters' Association Kath Brown said: "It would be devastation for me if we were relegated because it's taken us umpteen goes to get in and stay in the Premiership.

"We need to keep up there for the next few seasons and when the money starts coming in, we can have an assault at The Premiership title itself."