Read up on the fans memories of
Bolton Wanderers Football Club.

I Love being a Steward

I love being a steward, it’s what it’s all about.

I got my ticket from study@bwfc, it’s brill and now I like football.

Watching the Brazilian team play on the Bromwich Street ground. The thought that we might have signed Pele …….

The last match at Burnden Park, it was magic. The John McGinley goal.

It was better at Burnden Park than the Reebok

I saw the last match at Burnden from the away end. There weren’t many Charlton fans there, but it was great sitting amongst them as they were losing.

It used to be rough; you’d get fans throwing stones and at the end of a match there’d always be fighting. Wolves were always rough.

I cried at the Freight Rover final at Wembly.

I was once offered two hundred pounds by a Chelsea fan to let him through the turnstiles and fifty quid from an Everton fan to let him into the first match at the Reebok. I didn’t let either in.

Frankie’s goal, it has to be.

Gary Jones’ hat trick.

Minute Memories

I can remember Stan Bartram, the Charlton goalkeeper, having to have a fresh pair of shorts and performing the change in full view of the crowd when play was at the other end.

One Bolton player got nothing but praise and that was Nat Lofthouse, who never stopped trying for ninety minutes.

Nat Lofthouse was fast, fearless and fair.

Malcolm Barras, the Bolton centre half, would usually leave the pitch at the end of a game with blood smudged into the front of his shirt.

Freddy Hill strolling up the wing then putting the ball past a surprised goalkeeper.

Frank Worthington’s overhead kick to score an unforgettable goal.

I saw Tommy Banks and Roy Hartle discussing which of them should take out a player causing trouble for our winger.

I remember the toilets at Burnden Park! The drains used to get blocked and we’d be sloshing around at half time.

When they put seats in the Lever End, that was the end of it

I was the mascot here at the Reebok, against United. I walked out and all the fans were cheering and I could see the fireworks going off and my mum was crying her eyes out.

I remember when we won the championship at Blackburn and Sam was running round the pitch chucking his shirt around

Remember the goal that Worthington scored against Ipswich?  That was a New year’s Day one.

Franny Lee was the best penalty taker we’ve ever had without a doubt

72/73, that was the first time I went. That match … we hit the crossbar and I thought we’d scored and went home thinking we’d won 1.0 and we hadn’t

Bruno was always so smartly dressed. That day I saw him and asked if he was coming to the supporters meeting and he just said, ‘They don’t want me.’ It was so sad, nobody knew

1977, we used to go in Doc Martins and the coppers used to take your laces out! And they just used to put them in a big box so when you came out after the match, it was chaos.                                 

We went to Everton and when we came out the Scousers had nicked our coach and dumped it in the river – it was in the Mersey!

My brother got Frank Worthington’s shirt. He tossed it into the crowd and my brother caught it

My father-in-law saw the Burnden disaster. He never went to another match.

Les Ferdinand was eye candy

I remember being chased by Notts county fans over Orlando bridge.

You know how you always chant at the other fans, well we were shouting at these Wolves lads and after the match we met up with them, just near the railway bridge. I’ve never run so fast in my life.

I gave up when Nat gave up

When my brother-in-law saw me being escorted from the pitch by a man in uniform, he thought I’d been arrested, but I was only going to have a cut leg treated by a first-aider. I got him worried though.

The pies from Burnden Pie Shop were always so hot that we’d put them under our seats until half time when they were just about cool enough to eat.

My friend and I left the 1946 match against Stoke early so we could do our paper rounds. We missed all the excitement and the danger too.

Three of us were watching a reserves match at Burnden and we decided to stand on a barrier for a laugh. It was very quiet and nobody saw us – or so we thought. However, an eagle-eyed Bolton evening News photographer had spotted us and our act of mischief was printed in the paper for all to see!

I remember fifty-six coachloads of us travelling to a cup tie against Huddersfield at Leeds Road.

I was fourteen back in 1959 when Bill Ridding was the Bolton Manager. In those days the stadium had separate entrances for ‘Boys’ and ‘Men’ – I don’t know what girls and women did then!

When I was a kid in 1966 I went down to Bromwich Street to watch Bolton playing Brazil. We had Pele on our training ground! I’ll never forget seeing him with our team.

My best match was the last ever one at Burnden. It’s not the same here.

John McGinley in the last match at Burnden. Simply the best memory ever.

Better here than at Burnden.

The fans get up to all sorts of stunts when they come to the match. Sometimes at Burnden, they’d double up and try and barge through the turnstiles. They can’t get away with that now, but some do try to crawl under the turnstiles.

There are some bad mannered people coming through. I’ve just had a policeman tell me to let him through. I said no because he didn’t say please, so he walked off. It’s not much to ask, is it?

I don’t like being on late gates. It means we have to stay here until half time, so we miss the first half. We take it in turns, so it’s not too bad.

I cried at the Freight Rover Final at Wembly

I was offered £50 by an Everton fan to let him through without a ticket at the first match here, and £200 by a Chelsea fan at one of their matches. I said no of course.

As children my siblings and I discovered the joy of "car watching" in the streets around Burnden for people going to the match.   We could have 10 or 20 cars to watch - sometimes to be left empty handed by people who refused to give us even a penny after the match......but more often than not it earned us enough to buy sweets and drinks - more importantly, the atmosphere of the Wanderers matches "soaked" into every part of me - memories I will cherish for the rest of my life

After one match, I was astounded to see Gordon Taylor standing at the Bus stop!  I couldn't believe it, he had just scored a fantastic goal in the match.....and here he was waiting for a bus!   Oh how I wished I had been in a car and could have offered him a lift.

My father tried his best to encourage me to be more “sporty” at the age of 14/16 by taking me to watch a couple of football matches at Burnden Park.

My grandson, Philip, was a mascot at the 4-0 Bolton v West Ham match in December 2006

We paid at the turnstiles, no tickets in those days.

As a young girl, I used to sneak down to Burnden Park because I knew my parents wouldn’t approve of me watching football. When my mother did find out, I was told, ‘Ladies do not go to football games’.

We had many exciting times following our beloved Wanderers, not least to the 1958 cup final!