AUGUST
AFTER kicking off their season with comfortable 3-0 wins against Lincoln City and Cheltenham Town, separated by a narrow victory against Barrow in the Carabao Cup, things started to get very strange in August.
Though Bolton made the early running in the league table, there was a sense that they their supremacy in the early games should have led to even more goals.
Ian Evatt became the first manager ever to be sent off for the “mis-use of technology” as Victor Adeboyejo’s hat-trick sealed three points against Fleetwood. Dion Charles also saw red for a seemingly innocuous challenge on ex-Bolton keeper Jay Lynch.
A week later Bolton’s superb form vanished without a trace as they were hammered 4-0 at home by Wigan Athletic in front of a large and ultimately disappointed crowd of 24,116.
A draw at Burton followed and the month was rounded off with defeat against Middlesbrough as the Carabao Cup run came to an end.
Some of the big headlines of the month included George Thomason turning down a move to Bristol City and another two Championship clubs – Watford and Stoke City – sniffing around striker Dion Charles.
After rejecting the Robins’ advances, Thomason was tied down to a new longer contract and Bolton’s grip on Charles was not tested by a concrete bid.
Elsewhere, Wanderers revealed that they had been given Manchester City’s goals from their treble season and Ian Evatt confirmed that Declan John and Kieran Sadlier were set to leave the club in the transfer window.
Quote of the month: “I don’t get any sense from Dion that he wishes to leave this football club. He loves being here and his relationship with the club and the fans is excellent.
“Obviously players and managers are always linked at this time of year, especially when they are doing well. I wouldn’t be surprised to see our players linked or perhaps bid for, but we’ll always make the best decision for Bolton Wanderers” – Ian Evatt brushed off the tabloid speculation linking his top scorer with a move elsewhere.
SEPTEMBER
WANDERERS kicked off September with an impressive home win against Derby County at the Toughsheet, courtesy of goals from Dion Charles and Josh Dacres-Cogley.
They made a strong start to their defence of the EFL Trophy – soon to get a new sponsor in Bristol Street Motors – with Carlos Mendes Gomes scoring his first goal for the club in a 3-0 win against Salford City.
We got an early glimpse of Bolton’s inconsistency in a 2-1 defeat at troubled Reading and then their resilience, as they held on with 10 men to claim a point against Peterborough United after the first-half dismissal of Gethin Jones.
Charles would score a winner at Port Vale to see the month out but a few days earlier he had watched his team-mates have all the fun, rattling eight goals past Manchester United’s Under-21s in another Trophy group game.
Transfer deadline day came and went without much action. Declan John joined Salford City on a six-month loan and Kieran Sadlier came to an agreement on the rest of his contract with Bolton, paving the way for a move to Wycombe a few weeks later.
Fans questioned whether Wanderers should have strengthened their squad further, but manager Evatt stuck to his guns, insisting he had produced as much as his budget would allow.
Injuries to Paris Maghoma and Carlos Mendes-Gomes didn’t help matters and the lack of end product from Bolton’s substitutes became a talking point around the fanbase.
Quote of the month: “Coming off the bench isn’t easy and we have changed the terminology within the group from substitutes to finishers because that is how we see it now.
“I want the players to be involved and engaged in games from minute one and when it is their turn to come on and finish the game – whatever that looks like, getting us over the line, getting us a goal, adding to the tally – then that is their duty” – Ian Evatt was looking for more from his ‘finishers’ after finding most of Bolton’s games to date had meandered to a conclusion.
OCTOBER
JOSH Sheehan settled a top-turvy home game against Stevenage to kick-off a month where not a lot went wrong for Wanderers.
The Welsh midfielder produced his first goal of the season on a night where Bolton remembered the great Franny Lee, aptly Dion Charles also scored from the spot that night.
A shock home defeat to Carlisle United followed – Jordan Gibson scoring a hat-trick on a day where the Whites simply never got started.
After an international break in which Eoin Toal made his international debut for Northern Ireland, Wanderers got back to wining ways against Northampton Town.
And that was followed by another couple of firsts, Paris Maghoma opening his Bolton account with a goal which put Bolton on their way to a first-ever victory at Wycombe. They made hard work of it, of course, letting the home side level the scores with eight minutes to go having led 2-0. But a late goal from Eoin Toal and an Aaron Morley penalty ensured an impressive win, which went towards Evatt getting the Sky Bet League One Manager of the Month award.
Goals from Randell Williams and Dion Charles – already into double figures - rounded the month off well with a win at Dean Holden’s Charlton.
In the headlines, Sam Hird departed as first team coach to take up a role at the PFA, replaced by B Team boss Matt Craddock, and Bolton’s injuries continued to flow as Joel Coleman rolled his ankle tripping over some spare balls on the training ground and it was discovered that Kyle Dempsey had been playing with a fractured back.
Quote of the month: “I know Jon is a favourite, and that is great. He is one of my favourites, believe it or not. I love him to bits, I think he is fantastic as a person and as a player, but as I have said many times, we need different skillsets at different stages of the game against different opposition. I felt on Tuesday were the right ones for that game.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to be the right for Saturday at Charlton, just for that occasion. And it was proven to be right. Sometimes I am proven to be wrong when you make that sort of call” – Evatt on the crowd reaction to bringing on Dan Nlundulu and Cameron Jerome before fans’ favourite Jon Dadi Bodvarsson at Wycombe.
NOVEMBER
IT was near-perfect in November for Wanderers as they won five and drew one of their six games in all competitions.
It all started with a 4-0 win against National League Solihull Moors, which included Will Forrester’s first goal for the Whites.
Paris Maghoma and Aaron Morley scored in a hard-fought 2-0 win at Matt Taylor’s Shrewsbury and a George Thomason thunderbolt settled a Lancashire clash with his former club Blackpool a few days later.
Two goals from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson ended a 14-game unbeaten run for Stockport County in the final group game of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy. And the goals flowed once again the following Saturday as Wanderers smashed seven past Exeter City – the biggest league scoreline since 1997.
Oxford United managed to stem the flow in a tight goalless draw at the Kassam but Bolton were well placed in the league and Evatt earned himself a second manager of the month award.
In the headlines, Wanderers chief executive Neil Hart explained how the new Sky TV deal with the EFL could alter the landscape next season and also hailed the commercial progress that the club had made over the last 18 months.
Former owner Ken Anderson’s name cropped up – erroneously, thankfully – as a potential suitor for crisis club Reading, and Evatt confirmed that he was being hit in the pocket every time that Wanderers scored from a set piece after a pre-season deal with the players.
Quote of the month: “The difference in him this week has been incredible. I will take the blame for Kyle having to play with a back injury. We had no other choice.
“He was really restricted but he wanted to do it for the fans, for the club, for his team-mates. And you can see this week the freedom he has in his movement, his running power, his dynamism is back” – Ian Evatt was glad to see Kyle Dempsey in action once again in the 7-0 pummelling of Exeter City, having played with a fractured back in the opening months of the season.
DECEMBER
JON Dadi Bodvarsson helped Wanderers start December with a bang, claiming a hat-trick in a 5-1 win against Harrogate in the FA Cup first round.
Dan Nlundulu also scored twice as Ian Evatt got his first-ever victory in the competition as a manager.
Dion Charles and Carlos Mendes Gomes booked a 2-0 home win against Port Vale, setting up a televised clash of the top two at Fratton Park. Hopes were high that Wanderers could climb back on top of the table but a wasteful first half ended with Portsmouth edging ahead, after which Evatt’s side struggled to make a dent. Pompey never relinquished the lead again.
To make matters worse, Ricardo Santos was sent off as Bristol Rovers claimed a 2-1 win at the Toughsheet, in another game where Wanderers simply failed to get going.
Christmas brought better fortunes. The 3-2 win against Leyton Orient was slightly fortuitous, Bolton’s 3-0 lead coming inside the first 10 minutes – and the Londoners nearly equalising with the last kick of the game.
Eoin Toal’s last-minute winner carried on his excellent record at Lincoln and the last game of 2023 saw Dion Charles and Victor Adeboyejo do the damage in a 2-0 win at Fleetwood.
In the headlines, Wanderers were preparing themselves for Gethin Jones and Carlos Mendes Gomes to be called up for Australia and Guinea Bissau, respectively, for competitions which would mean they missed most of January and early February.
Evatt called for investment in the training pitches at Lostock, Dan Nlundulu needed surgery on a hamstring tear, and another instalment of the ‘Born to be a Wanderer’ documentary was aired on YouTube, taking in the previous season’s Papa Johns Trophy victory.
Quote of the month: “I’d pay more, knowing what I know now. I’d pay more for him.
“We are happy with Victor, we think we get a lot of value for what we paid. Dion is the same and you can go right the way through our squad – I can give you price tags if you want, but I can something for nothing, they are worth a lot more now” – Ian Evatt says Wanderers got value for money when they signed Victor Adeboyejo from Burton for £450,000.
JANUARY
WANDERERS’ first goal of 2024 came from a Burton Albion player – and Jasper Moon’s moment of misfortune ended up being the difference on New Year’s Day.
A week later Ian Evatt’s side matched Premier League Luton Town stride-for-stride at Kenilworth Road and even got their first taste of VAR when a second-half penalty appeal for the home side was turned down.
Progress in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy continued with a 3-1 win at Accrington Stanley, a repeat of the previous season’s semi-final. Cameron Jerome scored his first goal for the club to send them into a quarter-final against Blackpool, but sadly the journey would end on penalties at the end of the month.
Tragedy struck as lifelong supporter Iain Purslow went into cardiac arrest during a game against Cheltenham, prompting the match officials to call the game off. The former police officer later passed away and was honoured in the FA Cup replay a few days later as Luton edged the tie 2-1.
Wanderers came unstuck at Leyton Orient, rueing a number of missed chances before Dan Agyei’s pivotal goal, but they bounced back with a tight win at home to Cheltenham thanks to Victor Adeboyejo’s first-half strike.
Kyle Dempsey took centre stage in the 4-1 win at Carlisle, motivated by abuse from the home supporters, and there was a debut goal for Nat Ogbeta, who signed on loan from Swansea City.
In the headlines, Wanderers agreed a fee of £750,000 to bring in striker Aaron Collins from Bristol Rovers – their most expensive purchase in a decade.
Wanderers banned journalists from The Sun newspaper after coverage of the tragic circumstances of their game against Cheltenham were deemed unsuitable.
Liverpool’s Calvin Ramsay signed on loan and Burton Albion came to Bolton’s aid to help them cure a fixture pile-up, agreeing to rearrange their own game against Cheltenham to help the Whites.
Quote of the month: “If it wasn’t for three long-term injuries I may never have come to the club, but in fact it is the best thing that ever happened to me.
“I love it here, the goalkeeping coach and the gaffer have been brilliant with me, and it could turn out to be the best thing ever in my career” – Nathan Baxter on his decision to sign for Wanderers in the summer.
FEBRUARY
INJURIES to key men proved costly as Wanderers’ squad creaked under the weight of seven games in 21 days.
Nathan Baxter picked up a wrist injury in a 1-1 draw with Barnsley at the Toughsheet but after patching himself up for the midweek game at Cambridge, he then aggravated the problem and was forced out for several weeks.
Ricardo Santos had also suffered a calf muscle tear and both were missing in a frustrating 1-1 draw at Northampton Town, where George Thomason was also handed a red card.
Gethin Jones and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson scored in a solid 2-1 win at home to Wycombe, suggesting all wasn’t too bad, but it was confirmed quickly after the game that Dion Charles had damaged his knee, and would be out for weeks.
Wanderers limped on, dropping a couple of points in a 3-3 home draw with Charlton but then redeeming themselves at Cambridge as Paris Maghoma and Carlos Mendes Gomes got on the scoresheet.
But then a controversial afternoon at Blackpool followed, Bolton starting well but defending poorly and missing some key chances in the second half before a farcical red card for Ricardo Santos – later revoked by the FA. The 4-1 defeat made the next game at Wigan all the more important, but once again missed chances cost the Whites dearly and the Latics snatched three points with a single goal in the second half.
In the headlines, Wanderers’ Swiss backers were revealed as high-ranking officials of one of the world’s biggest mineral and oil companies, Trifagura, with one of the key figures being Ben Luckock, brother of Football Ventures director, Nick Luckock.
Season ticket prices were up and the ban on The Sun newspaper was repealed after a number of apologies.
Quote of the month: “I’ve no idea how it happens but there was an incident midway through the second half when he went off, I think the boy Aneke caught him with quite a nasty elbow and literally his ear split in two parts.
“It was severe enough for him to need to see a surgeon. Great credit to Jack, he has brave it, strapped it up, and carried on for the remainder of the game.
“And that was part of the ear that was unprotected by his Australian mullet” – Ian Evatt explains a grisly injury Jack Iredale sustained against Cambridge.
MARCH
THE pressure was on Wanderers to make their games in hand on Derby and Portsmouth count – but ongoing injury issues were making life difficult.
Carlos Mendes Gomes ruptured his Achillies tendon and was ruled out for the rest of the season but Bolton soldiered on and recorded a 2-0 home win against Cambridge thanks to goals from George Thomason and Aaron Collins – the latter being his first goal for the club.
Oakwell had been where the play-off dream ended seven months earlier but after giving up a two-goal lead to Barnsley goals from Victor Adeboyejo and Randell Williams in the second half earned a memorable point.
Eoin Toal snatched a point at Exeter a few days later in a performance that felt rather more subdued, and Bolton had all of a sudden become a very difficult team to read.
The TV cameras turned up for the visit of Oxford, where the Whites swaggered to a 5-0 win with five different goal-scorers, but there was no getting around the fact that they were not looking themselves. A 1-0 defeat at promotion rivals Derby – despite almost total domination of the game – summed up the feeling of frustration.
A point at Stevenage was hard fought, but not in the slightest bit satisfying at that advanced stage of the season. Wanderers had lost their advantage, and the top two race was now about who could grind out more results.
In the headlines, it was confirmed that the Swiss-based BMLL Group had taken a larger chunk of the shares in Wanderers’ parent company and Tommy Banks was confirmed as the oldest living England international.
Wanderers recorded losses of £5.6m in the financial year 2022/23 and the club voiced its approval of the incoming government football regulator as the New Deal between the Premier League and EFL reached an impasse.
Ex-Bolton loanee James Trafford got called up to the senior England squad and fans waited for news over Dion Charles and Nathan Baxter, who had both abandoned comeback attempts on several occasions.
Quote of the month: “We have to view it as a pyramid not just the Premier League going off and doing their own thing with three clubs swapping places every year, that isn’t what the competition is about” – Wanderers CEO Neil Hart calls for a fair deal on financial distribution.
APRIL
A THUMPING 5-2 win against Reading at the start of April gave a massive 25,266 crowd the promotion buzz but the month would turn out to be a case of ‘nearly, but not quite’.
Aaron Collins had claimed a hat-trick against the Royals and then netted again a few days later at his former club Bristol Rovers in a gritty victory that set things up nicely for the visit of leaders Portsmouth.
Collins was on target again – but John Mousinho’s soon-to-be-crowned champions held on stubbornly, and Wanderers’ finishing deserted them when they needed it most.
Dion Charles and Nathan Baxter were back from injury at long last, and Derby had wobbled just enough to give the Whites hope they could be caught, at least until a wasteful midweek draw against Shrewsbury.
Cameron Jerome and Paris Maghoma were on target for Bolton but, again, they missed big chances at key moments to leave the fanbase frustrated and Derby in the driving seat.
Collins and Jerome scored again as Port Vale were beaten on the penultimate weekend but the Rams beat Cambridge, which meant Evatt’s men needed a miracle on the last day.
Divine intervention never arrived, Derby doing their business against Carlisle, and despite a strong start at Peterborough and a return to scoring form for Charles, the hosts came back well in the second half to claim a 3-3 draw.
In the headlines, Josh Sheehan won the club’s player of the year award. Paris Maghoma was handed young player of the year – with Evatt admitting he would like to sign him on a permanent basis in the summer.
Jon Dadi Bodvarsson suffered a calf injury and could have played his last game at Bolton, with his contract up in the summer.
Quote of the month: “It is a good feeling – I had my girlfriend, my family in the stand (on Saturday), and they could hear it too.
“When you have got 22,000 people in the stadium singing your song you can’t ask for much more. It’s the reason I came here, perform for a big crowd and to go and get promoted and play in the Championship next season.
“It is a good feeling personally as well as being proud because your mum, your dad, your girlfriend and family are there listening to it as well” – Aaron Collins on hearing the Bolton fans sing his song at the Toughsheet Stadium.
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