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John McGinlay hopes the success of Saturday’s Legends game can bring an air of optimism back to Wanderers in time for next season.
More than 10,000 fans packed into the lower tiers of the Macron to watch the likes of Jay Jay Okocha, Fabrice Muamba, Sasa Curcic and Jussi Jaaskelainen play a fundraising friendly for the Supporters’ Trust and Community Trust.
McGinlay hopes the positive vibe created by the event can now have a knock-on effect to the first team.
“We are now finishing on a positive,” he told The Bolton News. “People can look forward to next season. It’s up to the club now. We’ve handed it to them.
“Fabrice coming here, the first time he’s played, Jay Jay flying in, it shows how much the club means to them. It doesn’t matter where they went or what happened to them afterwards, this place still means a lot.
“And the turnout of fans absolutely blew us away. When we got 4,000 we thought ‘can we squeeze it to six?’ When we got to eight we thought ‘maybe eight?’ It has been amazing.
“The celebrities came in and added a lot to it – Paddy McGuiness, John Bishop, Danny Jones from McFly, they were great and I thank them for that.”
Okocha’s show-stealing appearance rolled back the years but McGinlay had to allow the Nigerian master to play on both teams, such was the demand to be on his side.
“We were as excited to play alongside him as the fans were to see him, that’s why he played a half for my team and a half for Tony’s team – you couldn’t deny anyone a chance,” he added.
Kelly wants to see the same atmosphere generated among the fans next season after praising the “brilliant” support.
“This proves what a calibre of club we have got,” he said. “From now it’s onwards and upwards.
“This football club is my life. I don’t like to see where we are because we’ve had some great times. We want them back.
“We’re all ready to put the work in to get there.
“If we get off to a good start next season this place will be rocking. The fans will come back.”
Source
More than 10,000 fans packed into the lower tiers of the Macron to watch the likes of Jay Jay Okocha, Fabrice Muamba, Sasa Curcic and Jussi Jaaskelainen play a fundraising friendly for the Supporters’ Trust and Community Trust.
McGinlay hopes the positive vibe created by the event can now have a knock-on effect to the first team.
“We are now finishing on a positive,” he told The Bolton News. “People can look forward to next season. It’s up to the club now. We’ve handed it to them.
“Fabrice coming here, the first time he’s played, Jay Jay flying in, it shows how much the club means to them. It doesn’t matter where they went or what happened to them afterwards, this place still means a lot.
“And the turnout of fans absolutely blew us away. When we got 4,000 we thought ‘can we squeeze it to six?’ When we got to eight we thought ‘maybe eight?’ It has been amazing.
“The celebrities came in and added a lot to it – Paddy McGuiness, John Bishop, Danny Jones from McFly, they were great and I thank them for that.”
Okocha’s show-stealing appearance rolled back the years but McGinlay had to allow the Nigerian master to play on both teams, such was the demand to be on his side.
“We were as excited to play alongside him as the fans were to see him, that’s why he played a half for my team and a half for Tony’s team – you couldn’t deny anyone a chance,” he added.
Kelly wants to see the same atmosphere generated among the fans next season after praising the “brilliant” support.
“This proves what a calibre of club we have got,” he said. “From now it’s onwards and upwards.
“This football club is my life. I don’t like to see where we are because we’ve had some great times. We want them back.
“We’re all ready to put the work in to get there.
“If we get off to a good start next season this place will be rocking. The fans will come back.”
Source