2021/22 Prediction League; Game 22 v Bolton Wanderers (home)

Div3North · 09-12-2021, 19:04

Accrington Stanley FC

v

Bolton Ramblers FC

2021/22 Prediction League Game 22; v The Burnden Pig Men

Bolton Wanderers F.C. was formed in 1874 and for 102 years played at Burnden Park, moving to the University of Bolton Stadium in Horwich in 1997. The club has won four FA Cups, the most recent in 1958, and spent 73 seasons in the top division of the English league - but (Starter for Ten) - why do those 73 years create a record in themselves, and what is it?

And in the realms of Noble Deeds and Doings, I offer you Hibs and ex Sunderland manager Jack Ross: Hibs have been in a Bit of a Slump (one win in nine in the League, plummeting to seventh place in the SPL, 11 points off third place) ............ On Wednesday they lost 1-0 to Livingstone, prompting Ross to say that he would "take ownership" of the defeat, which the Hibs Board gladly allowed him to ............. by sacking him!

Not as much movement in the Managers' Offices of the EFL this week; Preston swapped Ryan Lowe for Frankie Valli, leaving Steven Schumacher (Bradford, Crewe, Bury, Fleetwood), who elected to stay put, as the new head coach at Plywood Argos, although he'll not be able to continue with his F1 career, which is probably a good thing, given how many times he's crashed in Qualifying, or been marked as "DNF": there appears to be only one rule ...

"The only thing is after Saturday they won't be allowed to call me Schuey. It'll be 'gaffer', because it feels as though that respect as well is also important."

Donnie's interim HC (Gary McSheffrey) says he "won't chase" the job full time (bet he'd take it if offered though - just think how many noughts are on the cheque when they fire you after a couple of weeks) ......... and for those feeling like having a go, applications for the Keepmoat job must be in by tomorrow ........ Championship Manager in real life, eh?

And talking of Managers - Second Starter for Ten - as at today, how many League One sides don't have a permanent Manager in place?

And you'll have seen that Barcelona are out of the Champions' League at the Group stage for the first time since 2003/04 .......... a Spanish website (AS) published this as their "epitaph" (the original was in Spanish, though ....)

"Barca staged their resignation from the football elite in a display of all their shortcomings when they fell without complaint against a Bayern Munich that, again in third gear and without giving the feeling of wanting to humiliate, dislodged Barca 3-0 with the attitude of a tired tiger who is lazy to hunt a baby gazelle, but does what nature expects of him."

Ouch! Mind you, I blame Lionel Messi ...........

Bolton is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, historically and traditionally a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton was a centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th century, introducing a wool and cotton-weaving tradition. It was a 19th-century "boomtown" ("Tell me why, I don't like Mondays") and by 1929, had 216 cotton mills, but the British cotton industry declined sharply after the First World War and, by the 1980s, cotton manufacture had virtually ceased.

Close to the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is 10 miles north-west of Manchester. It has a population of 139,403, whilst the wider metropolitan borough has a population of 262,400. Bolton originated as a small settlement in the moorland known as Bolton le Moors. In the English Civil War, the town was a Parliamentarian outpost in a staunchly Royalist region and, as a result, was stormed by 3,000 Royalist troops led by Prince Rupert of the Rhine in 1644. In what became known as the Bolton Massacre, 1,600 residents were killed and 700 were taken prisoner.

Bolton Wanderers Football Club was formed as Christ Church Football Club in 1874, adopting its current name in 1877, and was a founder member of the Football League in 1888: their first match was a 6-3 home defeat by Derby, and in that first season they finished 5th behind PNE ... they followed that up with three third place finishes in the First Division - in 1891–92 (behind Sunderland and PNE), 1920–21 (Burnley and Man City) and 1924–25 (Huddersfield and West Brom). Apart from 73 seasons in the top tier, they've spent 34 seasons dans le Championnat, 13 (and counting) in League Un, and two - 1987/88 and 2020/21 - in The Basement

Bolton won the FA Cup three times in the 1920s, and again in 1958 ("Pick that out of the net, Gregg"). The Lofthouse Final came just 91 days after Munich, and United's cobbled-together team was

Harry Gregg
Bill Foulkes (c) and Ian Greaves
Freddie Goodwin, Ronnie Cope and Stan Crowther
Alex Dawson, Ernie Taylor, Bobby Charlton, Dennis Viollet, and Colin Webster .............

Bolton's side, for the record, was

Eddie Hopkinson
Roy Hartle and Tommy Banks
Hennin, Higgins and Edwards
Birch, Stevens, Nat Lofthouse (c), Ray Parry and Doug Holden

The Trotters beat Blackburn in the semis, with two goals scored by Gubbins (no, truly), and United drew 2-2 against Fulham, winning the replay - which I seem to think was on TV, although maybe not - 5-3, with a hat trick by Alex Dawson ........... Ernie Taylor signed from Blackpool post-Munich (he had a singleton England cap against Hungary in the 6-3 game), moved on to Sunderland in late 1958 and eventually went to New Zealand, coaching New Brighton (no, the other New Brighton) and playing for Auckland side East Coast Bays

They reached Europe twice, in the UEFA Cup; in 2005/06 they made the last 32, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Marseille, and the season after they made the "Round of 16" (which is a horrible Americanism), losing to Sporting Lisbon, also 2-1 on aggregate

In Covid season 2019/20 they GreasyPoled into League Two; in 2020/21: despite being in 17th place after 24 matches, they orchestrated an impressive season turnaround under manager Ian Evatt, completing the 2020–21 League Two season in third place after a 4–1 win against Crawley Town on the final day ....... They parted company with 13, including MF Antoni Sarcevic (who joined Stockport), and Kian le Fondre (the second cousin of Glenville Adam James Le Fondre (who has a French Maternal Grandfather), known within the PL as Adam Le Fallover, you may recall, who previously played for Stockport, Rochdale, Rotherham, and Reading, and was also known by the nicknames ALF or, subsequently, Alfie (derived from his initials), and who currently plays as a striker for Sydney FC in the A-League, on loan to Mumbai City), Kian signing for Burnley .......... five others went non-league, three went nowhere, and two - CB Ryan Delaney and LW Arthur Gnahoua - joined Morecambe

They ProperSigned eight, including LW Oladapo Afolayan from West Ham and Will Aimson from Plymouth Argyle, and Sheff Wednesday's DR Congo striker Elias Kachunga (was he not a Bond Villain?) and Newport's Welsh CMF Josh Sheehan, and LoanSigned RW Xavier Amaechi from Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V.

Bit of a dodgy season, given their expectations and finances; home record is P10 W4 D4 L2 GF16 GA15: away, it's P11 W3 D1 L7 GF13 GA17 for an overall P21 W7 D5 L9 GF29 GA32 for 26 points and 16th place ....... they're behind Charlton on GD and Cambridge on goals scored ......... two wins (Crewe 2-0 and Donnie 3-0, both at Burnden Park), one draw and seven losses in their last 10 games ..... they went out of the FA Cup in Round One, 5-3 at Stockport after a Desmond, beat Barnsley and lost to Wigan in the EFL Cup, both games ending 5-4 on pens after Goalless Desmonds, and have made it to the third round of the Troffy, with three wins in the group and a 1-0 over Fleetwood, which gives them Hartlepool away on 4th January

We've met them three times - twice in League One in 2019/20, and once in the Troffy in the same season .........we beat them 7-1 at home and drew 0-0 away in the League, and 2-0 in the Troffy - so (fate-tempting coming up) - they've never beaten us since we came back into the League! The Seven Goals came from The Bishop of Wham (2), Sean McCreator (2), Offrande Zanzala (2), and Dr Seuss's Thing One (one)

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 11the December (where has the year gone?) .... The club's nickname of "The Trotters", by the way, has several possible origins; that it's simply a variation on "Wanderers", that it's an old local term for a practical joker, or that one of the grounds used in the Early Days was next to a piggery, causing players to have to "trot" through the pig pens (and the mixed deep mud and pig pooh) to retrieve the ball if it went over the fence ............ I really, really want it to be the last one - joyous mental images! - but it's probably not .... Shame, though .......... Best Nickname Explanation EVER!

And, FYI, Bolton's 73 years at the Top Table is the longest period spent in the top tier of the Football League by any team which has never won the League title - their best shot being in 1891–92 (behind Sunderland and Preston), 1920–21 and 1924–25, when they finished third in the old First Division
And currently, Charlton, Donnie, Fleetwood and Ipswich are without a Proper Gaffer ........ and which of those jobs is overall the biggest Poisoned Chalice? (Discuss)

Good luck to everyone! ............. Keep the Faith! ............ And thanks for playing!

And mind the pig pooh!

COYR!