Bolton Wanderers seek eighth straight win against Exeter

According to BWFC Stats, only three Bolton sides have previously managed eight in a row – the last managed by Phil Neal in 1990.

The two other occasions were 1891, and a club record sequence of 11 straight wins achieved between 1904 and 1905.

Ian Evatt’s side have racked up five league wins and one in both the FA Cup and Bristol Street Motors Trophy, making this the manager’s best run in his three-and-a-half years in charge.

One more victory would draw them level with the team which finished third in Division One back in 1891. Their run of eight wins actually straddled two different seasons – but the penultimate game, a 4-3 triumph over eventual champions Sunderland, also saw the very first penalty awarded in a match involving Bolton.

Whites keeper James Sutcliffe conceded the foul against Sunderland forward Jimmy Hannah, and defender John Auld scored from the spot.

Neal’s side managed a club record run of 23 league games without defeat, with a run of nine straight wins which started with a 1-0 victory against Swansea at Burnden Park, courtesy of a Tony Philliskirk strike, and culminated with a 1-0 win against Fulham – Philliskirk also netting the winner!

The longest winning streak was achieved in the 1904/05 season, where Bolton would pip Manchester United to promotion in Division Two.

The team lost just five times in the league all season and went undefeated away from home for almost six months.

A 5-1 win against Gainsborough Trinity kicked off the record streak, which also included a 2-0 triumph against eventual champions Liverpool. The 11th win was secured on January 2, 1905, at Barnsley.

Sammy Ameobi celebrates his winning goal against Blackpool in 2016, which started a seven-game run for Bolton (Image: camerasport)

Even registering seven in a row puts the current Wanderers team in good company.

Phil Parkinson’s promotion-winning side of 2016/17 were the last to do it, Sammy Ameobi’s goal beating Blackpool in the Checkatrade Trophy in October to kick off the run, with a seventh win coming against Grimsby Town in the FA Cup a month later, Liam Trotter on target.

Given the level they were playing at, the seven straight wins achieved by Sam Allardyce’s Premier League side of 2004/5 was also some feat.

Arsenal and Tottenham were among the scalps between January and February 2005, a run which started with Kevin Nolan’s late winner at Birmingham City and concluded with another Nolan winner, this time at Crystal Palace.

Colin Todd’s record-breakers in 1996/97 also did seven in a row, aptly commencing their run with a 7-0 hammering of Swindon Town at Burnden Park.

Promotion was secured at Manchester City with the sixth straight win, which was followed up by a 4-0 rout against Oxford United thanks to two goals from Alan Thompson and one apiece from Scott Sellars and Nathan Blake.

Finally, Bruce Rioch’s promotion-winners from 1992/93 also managed seven straight wins, kicking the run off by beating Sutton Coldfield in the FA Cup first round in November.

The seventh win in the sequence was achieved at Swansea’s old Vetch Field, with John McGinlay and Phil Brown on target for what would be the Whites’ final game at the stadium.