‘Big ship to turn around’: Bolton ready to rise again after years of strife

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Club sit one win from an instant return to League One after a wretched start, inspired by a manager who borrows from Bielsa

With the short-lived European Super League still fresh in the thoughts of apathetic supporters at Old Trafford and beyond, one wonders whether Bolton Wanderers may have won a few more hearts of late. “Hopefully, because I don’t think they’ll be disappointed,” says Ian Evatt, the League Two club’s manager. “That is one of my goals: to stop people in Bolton wearing Manchester United kits. I want the young kids and future fans to be wearing our shirts, not Man United’s. If we can do things right on and off the pitch with this club, hopefully, we will capture some new fans and build our fanbase.”

In 2008, after giving Atlético Madrid a bloody nose to reach the last 16 of the Uefa Cup, Bolton were 47th in the European rankings, above Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund. But since dropping out of the Premier League in 2012 disaster has never been far from their door and, two years ago, an emergency food bank was set up to support unpaid staff after the club entered administration. A 12-point deduction, relegation and more strife followed but they finally appear poised to reverse the direction of travel.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/football-league-blog/2021/apr/30/bolton-ready-to-rise-again-one-win-from-return-league-one-ian-evatt

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