STRAIGHT FROM THE STANDS: Wembley return will be special

Cherish the moment

by Liam Hatton

I am not sure if you have heard the news this week, but something pretty huge has happened if you are a Bolton Wanderers fan.

You could say it has been long overdue and you could say it has been a matter of not if, but when.

Moments like these you cherish as a fan because they do not come around that often. So, when you look back at the last week or so, you can finally say that Bolton have a new chant and it is pretty good.

All jokes aside, Ian Evatt’s men have made it to Wembley in the League One play-off final. Now by process of being the third best team in the league, you would say that they deserve to be here. However, the play-offs do not always work out that way.

Case in point Oxford United, who finished 10 points behind Bolton and had to wait until the final day to secure a play-off spot. But credit where credit is due, they bested Peterborough United over two legs and are equally as deserving of a spot at Wembley as Bolton are.

For all of Peterborough’s attacking prowess - which was a huge concern of any potential match-up for me personally - they could not get it done over two legs. So, in hindsight, you can look at Bolton’s games against Barnsley and say, 'Well they hung on at the end and it should not have been as nervy as it was’.

That may be true, but they are still here, still alive and kicking. Automatics were the aim, but that has been and gone which means we have another 90 minutes in which our nerves will be shot between now and 6.30pm on Saturday, May 18, 2024.

The best and the worst of Bolton were on display. Letting Barnsley back into the game showed that they can still be pretty naive when defending a lead. But on the flip side Aaron Collins is rather good, isn’t he? Dion Charles is shaking off any injury concerns, Nathan Baxter is at the back and he is truly phenomenal.

The whole team are brilliant, because to win a play-off semi final and get to Wembley should not be overlooked at all. We as fans have endured some turbulent times over the last decade or so, but two trips to Wembley in as many years is a huge testament to the work of Evatt and all of his staff.

As the famous song states: ‘What will be will be’. Regardless, Bolton still have a chance, and that is all they can ask for. There is no way that we can write off Oxford purely based off the 5-0 win a couple of months ago. This is a different team and at Wembley anything can happen.

If you thought that the atmosphere on Tuesday was special, just imagine how that will look and sound a week from today.

For now, we wait impatiently, full of nerves but also excitement. We go through every single possibility in our heads. We overthink anything and everything, but most important of all, Wembley will hear the finest rendition of Waterfall by The Stone Roses when it comes down to it.

Tell me how, how does it feel? Right now, pretty good.

New Sky deal might not mean huge changes

by Steven Battersby

From August 10 when the 2024-25 season kicks into gear, so will the new Sky TV deal with the EFL.

Speaking to fellow supporters, there seems to be a fair degree of uncertainty regarding what this will mean in terms of watching our team, be it live or via the new Sky arrangement.

My understanding is that all live broadcasts will be put out through the various Sky Sports Channels, superseding the live streaming via iFollow/various services run by the clubs themselves, in our case, Wanderers TV.

However, Wanderers TV will still broadcast all games internationally and audio passes will be available, as is currently the case, for those who wish to hear match commentary. At least that is my understanding.

So, let’s have a look at the statistics. And because we still do not know which division we will be playing in next season (I have a gut feeling we will be in the Championship), I have based my thoughts on this current League One campaign.

When the fixtures were released last June, we were scheduled to play as follows:

Saturday games – 17 at home, 17 away. Midweek games – four at home, four away. Christmas and Easter games – two at home, two away.

In reality, international breaks ensured that some of those Saturday games would be moved to midweek, so the schedule looked more like this:

Saturday games – 16 at home, 15 away. Midweek games – five at home, six away. Christmas and Easter games – two at home, two away.

But for a variety of different reasons, this is what Wanderers actually faced:

Saturday Games – 15 at home, 14 away. Midweek games – six at home, seven away. Christmas and Easter games – two at home, two away.

Sky switched the away game at Portsmouth from a Saturday to a Monday, and tragically, events during the Cheltenham game led to the game being replayed on a Tuesday, with a fitting tribute from both sets of fans to Iain Purslow.

Now using the second set of figures above - assuming fixtures scheduled for the international break are inevitably going to be Tuesday games (and they certainly will be in the Championship) - that leaves a total of 15 midweek, Christmas and Easter games, which will inevitably be shown live as before.

Sky have committed to showing all opening and closing day fixtures live and to show each club live on a minimum of 20 occasions. So, doing the sums it looks as though it is safe to assume that somewhere between an additional three and maybe five or six games will be switched from Saturday at 3pm.

Again, Sky have indicated that there will be a significant number of these games shown at 12.30pm Saturday lunchtime. So, overall, our Saturday football fix does not seem as though it will be significantly reduced but will on occasions kick off earlier. This will certainly inconvenience those who travel to home games from a substantial distance.

The ticket exchange system which was trialled for our final three home games this season appears to be a sensible attempt by the club to help alleviate the financial hit that some season ticket holders will take from games that are switched from Saturday afternoon, and I expect it to continue into next season.

In summary, I don’t think this new Sky arrangement will change things quite as much as some people may fear but the proof of the pudding will, as always be in the eating. If I had a choice every game would kick off at 3pm on a Saturday or 7.45 pm on a Tuesday but we live in an age where he who pays the piper calls the tune.

So, let’s hope it’s going to be Bolton v Blackburn on Channel 403 next season and not Stevenage v Bolton (with absolutely no disrespect to our friends at The Lamex Stadium). Fingers crossed, and what will be will be.

Collins looking a snip

by Tony Thompson

I’LL admit when I read that we’d paid £750,000 for a player who’d scored four times for Bristol Rovers this season, I was a bit on edge.

I am not one of those encyclopaedic football supporters who can rattle off the starting XI for Dorking Wanderers or tell you how many Romanian left-backs have played in the Premier League. Remembering the names of my kids is about my limit.

I had only a vague recall of Aaron Collins because I think he had played well against Bolton in a game I watched literally weeks before he signed for us, and someone was telling me that he was the reigning League One player of the year.

Thankfully, I am not in charge of Ian Evatt’s scouting department and I am happy to concede that a job in football talent spotting it not likely to come around for me in this lifetime.

Still, £750,000 is a lot of money. It wasn’t that long ago that the whole club was up in court for less than that and threatened with bankruptcy. How times change.

A few months on now and I can see what all the fuss was about. He’s one of those players who always looks like he has got a thunderbolt waiting at the end of his boot. You can always tell these players because the crowd always shout “shoot” whenever he is within sight of goal.

I remember watching Richard Sneekes back in the day and he had the same thing. He was like a walking cannon and whenever he’d look up and see a chance to hammer one you could see the wince appear on the defender’s face.

Aaron’s goal against Barnsley was right out of the Sneekes top draw, past the keeper before he’d had a chance to think about it. He has scored nine for Bolton now, which is some going considering he only came here at the start of February.

You do feel a goal can come from anywhere in this team and that will be so important as we march on to Wembley. I have got a funny feeling it is Collins’s moment and that he will make the difference on the day but I read the team has scored 121 goals this season now, which is more even than my favourite-ever Bolton team that won the championship with Colin Todd in charge. I never thought I’d see the day that record was broken.

That team got the prize at the end of the season, wouldn’t it be wonderful if this one can beat Oxford and claim their own trophy?