THE 1920s will be remembered by Bolton Wanderers' supporters mainly for their heroes' performances in the FA Cup.
They figured in the first final to be played at Wembley Stadium in 1923 and also won the coveted trophy in 1926 and 1929 using only 17 players in the three triumphs.
In the 1922-3 season they accounted for Norwich and Leeds United, then they met the Cup holders Huddersfield Town.
The teams played a drawn game at Huddersfield but on the following Wednesday at Bolton, the Wanderers won by the odd goal.
They then beat Charlton Athletic, who had astounded the football world by reaching the fourth round, and in the semi-final they had accounted for Sheffield United at Old Trafford.
The Final at the Imperial Stadium -- later the Empire Stadium then Wembley Stadium -- was against West Ham on April 28 1923.
At kick-off it seemed unlikely that the game would be played. The whole playing area was covered by spectators with the band of the Irish Guards and Grenadier Guards there as well.
The policeman on the white horse, who has now gone down in legend, and his colleagues helped to clear the pitch as far as the touchlines and the game was started at 3.40pm.
During the first half the game was stopped for 10 minutes to clear spectators from the field, but before this David Jack scored the first goal for the Wanderers -- in the fourth minute.
At half time the players remained on the field and eight minutes after the restart Smith scored the second.
The final score was 2-0 for Bolton and Joe Smith received the Cup from the King.
An official return by the authorities revealed that 90,520 people went through the turnstiles and 35,527 ticket holders were admitted giving a total of 126,047.
But it was estimated that in fact between 150,000 and 160,000 spectators were present.
The gross gate was £27,776 and the two clubs and the FA each took £6,365 with the FA having to refund £2,797 to ticket holders who were unable to get to their seats.
The players and officials were afterwards entertained to dinner by Sir William Edge and Mr Lloyd George proposed the toast.
All Bolton turned out to see them when they returned home leaving the train at Moses Gate where they were received by .Mr R H Cunliffe, chairman of the Farnworth District Council and afterwards they progressed to Bolton Town Hall where there was a civic reception by the Mayor Alderman Potts.
The Bolton team was: Pym, Howarth, Finney, Nuttall Seddon, Jennings, Butler, Jack, J R Smith, Joe Smith, Vizard.
THE 1920s will be remembered by Bolton Wanderers' supporters mainly for their heroes' performances in the FA Cup.
They figured in the first final to be played at Wembley Stadium in 1923 and also won the coveted trophy in 1926 and 1929 using only 17 players in the three triumphs!
In the 1922-3 season they accounted for Norwich and Leeds United, then they met the Cup holders Huddersfield Town.
The teams played a drawn game at Huddersfield but on the following Wednesday at Bolton, the Wanderers won by the odd goal.
They then beat Charlton Athletic, who had astounded the football world by reaching the fourth round, and in the semi-final they had accounted for Sheffield United at Old Trafford.
The Final at the Imperial Stadium -- later the Empire Stadium then Wembley Stadium -- was against West Ham on April 28 1923.
At kick-off it seemed unlikely that the game would be played. The playing area was covered by spectators with the bands of the Irish Guards and Grenadier Guards there as well.
The policeman on the white horse, who has now gone down in legend, and his colleagues helped to clear the pitch as far as the touchlines and the game started at 3.40pm.
During the first half the game was stopped for 10 minutes to clear spectators but before this David Jack scored the first goal for the Wanderers in the fourth minute.
At half time the players stayed on the field before Smith scored the second to complete a 2-0 win and Joe Smith received the cup from the King.
The authorities revealed that 90,520 people went through the turnstiles and 35,527 ticket holders were admitted giving a total of 126,047. But it was estimated that between 150,000 and 160,000 were present.
The gross gate was £27,776 and the two clubs and the FA each took £6,365 with the FA having to refund £2,797 to ticket holders who were unable to get to their seats.
The Bolton team was: Pym, Howarth, Finney, Nuttall, Seddon, Jennings, Butler, Jack, J R Smith, Joe Smith, Vizard.
THE 1920s will be remembered by Bolton Wanderers' supporters mainly for their heroes' performances in the FA Cup. They figured in the first final to be played at Wembley Stadium in 1923 and also won the coveted trophy in 1926 and 1929 using only 17 players in the three triumphs.
At kick-off in the 1923 final against West Ham it seemed unlikely that the game would be played with the pitch covered by spectators. The policeman on the white horse and his colleagues helped to clear the pitch as far as the touchlines and the game was started at 3.40pm. During the first half the game was stopped for 10 minutes to clear spectators, but not before David Jack put Wanderers ahead in the fourth minute before Joe Smith scored the second in the second half.
The official attendance was given as 126,047 but it was estimated that between 150,000 and 160,000 were present.
The Bolton team was: Pym, Howarth, Finney, Nuttall Seddon, Jennings, Butler, Jack, J R Smith, Joe Smith, Vizard.
Only one change was made from the victorious 1923 line-up for the 1926 FA Cup final against Manchester City with Harry Greenhalgh coming into the side in place of the injured Alec Finney.
The road to Wembley started with a win over Accrington when Ted Vizard was sent off and David Jack scored the only goal.
In the next round JR Smith and Jack hit the goals that earned a draw at Bournemouth with Wanderers winning the replay 6-2.
An easy home win over South Shields was followed by three close ties against Nottingham Forest with Joe Smith scoring the vital goal to earn a semi-final place against Swansea at Tottenham.
Goals from Jack Baggett and Joe Smith earned a 3-0 win while Manchester City beat Manchester United by the same score in the other semi. David Jack was again the goal hero in the final, making the decisive strike 15 minutes from the end.
In 1929 victories over Oldham, Liverpool and Leicester put them into the sixth round and a derby tie against Blackburn, the FA Cup holders. Wanderers held them to a 1-1 draw and won the replay 2-1 with goals from Billy Butler.
A 3-1 win over Huddersfield put Wanderers into the final and claimed their third victorywith a 2-0 win over Portsmouth, Butler and Blackmore scoring.
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