Bolton's Christmas Story

The Christmas period is a time that should be spent with family, friends, and loved ones; however, that does not mean football stops. Over the years, Bolton have played on Boxing Day and Christmas Day, with the last game on this day coming in 1957 in a 1-1 draw away at Everton. 

In the post-war era, matches on Christmas Day were very common, and it was only since 1958 that more games were played on the 26th than the 25th. Pre-war England was similar to the current fixture schedule we are used to now. The 12 founding teams of the football league (including Bolton Wanderers) would commonly play on Boxing Day - a day named after the old tradition of rich families 'boxing' up presents for their servants. 

An image taken from the first Derby vs Bolton match, when Bolton scored the first ever football league goal, in 1888.

From 1888-1897, Bolton and Derby clashed on Boxing Day all 9 years, with the Wanderers only coming out as winners in 1 game, the first game. In an exciting affair (I assume, believe it or not, I wasn't there), Bolton came out as 3-2 victors away from home, with Kenny Davenport registering a brace and James Brogan sealing the victory. In the following near decade, Bolton drew just 2 games and lost the other 6, most notably, a 6-1 defeat in 1893 - conceding two hat-tricks to John Goodall and John Stuart McMillan.

Not all highlights are positive, and this is definitely true with the upcoming 'lowlights' (another amazing pun, I'm aware). In 1902, Bolton lost 7-1 against Sheffield United, their heaviest Boxing Day defeat ever - it was a bleak Christmas for Bolton fans, who had to sit through a 5-1 defeat to Liverpool the day before! 

Unfortunately, the Christmas period hasn't traditionally been a time when Bolton fans can celebrate great performances or even wins. In the 1990s, Bolton enjoyed just 2 wins all decade: coming against Grimsby Town in a 2-1 win and against local rivals Wigan Athletic in a 2-0 win.

The Premier League years did bring some Christmas-time success for the Trotters. After losses against Leeds, Liverpool, and Manchester United, Bolton went on to beat Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United. The 2002 Boxing Day was particularly exciting, Bolton faced Newcastle at the Reebok Stadium and came out as 4-3 winners. An early goal from Jay-Jay Okocha saw Bolton take a 1-0 lead, but they immediately conceded to Shola Ameobi, however, the tie didn't last long - Ricardo Gardner restored the Bolton lead. Michael Ricketts scored a brace to put Bolton into a 4-1 lead, but two late goals from Premier League legend Alan Shearer nearly lost the game for Bolton. 

For further results, every Bolton Wanderers Boxing Day result is provided here. 

Birthday Boy

Only 6 players born on Christmas Day have ever played in the Premier League, with a former Bolton player being one of them. Joining former players, such as Chris Kamara (legendary sky sports pundit) and Rob Edwards (manager of upcoming opponents Luton), and current players like Emi Buendia and Alexandre Jankewitz: Robbie Elliott is the only Bolton player, born on Christmas Day, to play in the Premier League.

Elliott is a Newcastle-born left-back, who started his home-town club in 1991 (making 79 appearances) before departing for Bolton in 1997. He signed for Bolton as the record signing, for a fee of £2.5 million, and the Trotters had just moved to the Reebok stadium. 

Against Everton, on his debut, just 30 minutes in Elliott 'landed awkwardly' after a duel with Tony Thomas and had to be stretchered off with a double fracture to his leg. Unfortunately, he didn't play again until October 1998 in a League Cup clash against Norwich City. As a midfielder, he scored and helped Bolton progress to the next round of the cup, away from home.

The rest of his time at Bolton was spent trying to return to the Premier League. They reached the playoffs twice in 2 seasons: the final in the first (losing 2-0 to Watford) and only getting to the semi-final the year after, losing to Ipswich and Elliott was sent off. 

In 2001, Bolton reached the playoff final yet again but this time they came out victors at the Millenium Stadium, in Cardiff against Preston North End. Despite the eventual playoff success, Elliott's contract wasn't renewed and he departed Bolton just 2 days after the final, returning to Newcastle United.

Bolton Christmas Eleven

As abysmal puns are clearly my specialty, here is a starting eleven of past and present Bolton players with Christmas-themed puns. If the puns are that bad then they will be explained, and yes before you ask this did take a while. 

Goalkeeper: Joel Coleman 

Right Back: Dec(lan) the halls Jon 

Centre Back: Chris Kringle Basham

Centre Back: Ricardo Santa-os 

Centre Back: Zat the Knight before Christmas 

Left Back: Jack Frost Iredale 

Centre Mid: Kevin McAllister Nolan 

Centre Mid: Santa Claus Jensen 

Forward: Christmas Eagles

Forward: Chrim-Bo Hansen

Forward: ST. Nicholas Anelka