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Bolton’s Season Finales: The Good, Bad and Ugly

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We asked you for best and worst final day memories. Here are some of them

Last day of the season time. It`s often binary. A day where there is absolutely nothing to play for, or the stakes are huge. Bolton have been involved in a fair few over the years, whether it be for promotion, to try and stay in the division, or for a heady time, qualify for Europe. And being Bolton, it has gone to plan, and hasn`t gone to plan. Earlier today I jumped on the @VitalBolton Twitter handle and asked Wanderers fans for their best and worst memories. As a relatively young fan, many I remember, some I don`t. But here are some of the ones picked out. Thanks to all who contributed.

Charlton 4-1 Bolton, 1983
Bolton dropped into the third tier of English football, with a heavy defeat at the Valley. Ian Moores scored what was his fifth league goal of the season, but Charlton`s all time top scorer Derek Hales was playing for the opposition and Wanderers had no answer.

Wrexham 0-1 Bolton, 1988
Many fans made the journey from the North West to North Wales, as Robbie Savage scored the winner to take Bolton out of the Football League`s basement division for the first time of asking. It was before my time, but there seemed to be loads of Wanderers fans looking at the footage, and coupled with Torquay`s defeat, it meant there were reasons to be cheerful.

Bolton 1-0 Preston, 1993
Burnden Park was a fortress in the 1992/93 season as Bolton secured promotion from the third tier, with only five teams coming away from the old ground with anything. No such problems this day too, we had loads of chances, but none other than John McGinlay scored the only goal of the game and sparked the obligatory pitch invasion post match, and a decade-long exile from the top two divisions was ended.

Chelsea 2-0 Bolton, 1998
Probably the first one I really remember! A point would have kept Bolton up , but in the end Wanderers went straight back down after a single season in the Premiership after defeat at Stamford Bridge. No taunts from the home fans though, who even booed their own team. As for the on the pitch action, Bolton had plenty of chances, but Gianfranco Zola fed Gianluca Vialli to put the Londoners 1-0 up, before Jody Morris finished off a Chelsea counter to send us down and keep Everton up.

Bolton 2-1 Middlesbrough, 2003
This is the first one really felt. You know, the ones where it preys on your mind in the days leading up the game, prior to this I`d never had that feeling, but as a 12-year-old, here it was. We had to better West Ham`s result, having gained the advantage beating the Hammers with the Jay-Jay Okocha wonderstrike a few weeks earlier. After 21 minutes, it all seemed very rosy, as Per Frandsen and Okocha both scored great goals to put us firmly in the driving seat. But on the hour mark, Michael Ricketts, who had a few months earlier pressed the self-destruct button on his career by leaving us for Boro, pulled one back. In fact that was his first goal for his new club. Franck Queudrue was sent off for a tackle on Ivan Campo, Wanderers held on, West Ham only drew at Birmingham, and we got a third straight season in the top flight, and Sam Allardyce busting moves on the pitch with Jay-Jay.

Bolton 3-2 Everton, 2005
Nothing in terms of sporting merit could have been achieved on this Sunday afternoon, Bolton were assured of European football for the first time in the club`s history the week before, but couldn`t catch Everton, who had finished fourth in the league and taken the last Champions League spot. However, it did see the end of Fernando Hierro`s short but glorious time wearing our shirt, and in fact his final goodbye as a football player, when he was replaced by Vincent Candela in the second half, as a full house rose to their feet. Radhi Jaidi, Kevin Davies and Stelios scored our goals, and Bruno N`Gotty sent off in what was a great season finale.

Stoke 2-2 Bolton, 2012
The end of our top-flight days. We needed a win in the Potteries, and hoped QPR would lose at Man City, who needed three points themselves to bring the league title across to their half of Manchester. Things didn`t start well as Jonathan Walters bundled Adam Bogdan into the net and we went 1-0 down in the process, Both Mark and Kevin Davies scored to turn the game around, and half time, it was all falling into place and the great escape was on. I was at the front of the stand and convinced that the steward was having us on when he said QPR were leading at City. He was right though, and it all went even more wrong when Stoke won a dubious penalty and Walters scored again. We could only draw, with Tim Ream heading straight at Thomas Sorensen late on. We all know what happened at the Etihad too. If you don`t, switch on Sky Sports 1, and you`ll probably see it within a couple of hours once they stick on Football Gold again?

Bolton 2-2 Blackpool, 2013
Another final day, another disappointing 2-2 draw. A late season surge in our home form took us effectively from one end of the Championship table to another. We faced Blackpool, and a win would cement the playoff position we found ourselves in. But Nottingham Forest and Leicester were just below us, and playing each other, meaning the winner would capitalise if we slipped up. If we slipped up. But we had this right? Wrong. Dougie Freedman seemed to have come across a system that worked, with two strikers, but threw a curve ball for this one, with Rob Hall getting his debut for us. Matt Phillips and Ludovic Sylvestre both scored and we found ourselves 2-0 down in 35 minutes. Changes were made and Chris Eagles and Craig Davies got us level at the break, but we couldn`t get that important winner, with Lee Chung-yong and Tom Eaves coming close. Leicester scored a late winner, some idiot thought it would be funny to spread a rumour that Forest had equalised (they hadn`t) and that was that.

Bolton 2-2 Birmingham, 2014
Not really us, but still a game to remember. We were consigned to a midtable finish but we could have sent Birmingham City down, and that looked to be the case when Lukas Jutkiewicz (now a Blue funnily enough) put us 2-0 up, but with 12 minutes to go Nikola Zigic pulled one back, before Paul Caddis` injury time leveller meant we gifted the Midlands side survival and we were the support act on our own pitch. Doncaster were the ones to suffer, going down to League One.

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