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FROM The Bolton News – March 28, 2014
ONE of the stranger transfers in Wanderers’ history was completed as Dougie Freedman grabbed Southampton youngster Andy Robinson on the final day of the loan window.
The 21-year-old was set to leave St Mary’s and had been on a two-week trial with the Whites, leading Freedman to offer him a one-year contract in the summer.
It had been expected that Robinson would feature for Bolton, who were missing Mark Davies and Chung-Yong Lee through injury, with the Bolton boss giving his new signing a big build up.
“He’s a good young player and he’s been brought up in a fantastic system,” he said.
“He’s a great talent and I’ve known about him for a long time because I’ve watched him playing in the Southampton reserves. I know all about him. I think we’re a little bit short in that area, with Medo Kamara and Jay Spearing, that kind of midfielder.
“I know we’ve got players like Mark Davies, Neil Danns or Liam Trotter who can do it but he’s a different type.”
Robinson’s contract was eventually terminated just four months later, with Freedman admitting the player had become homesick during his time in the North West.
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FROM The Bolton News – March 28, 1999
COLIN Todd was getting ready to swing the axe after dragging his players in for another debrief after defeat against Sunderland.
Wanderers were heading to Oxford at the end of the week but the manager pulled his players in early on Monday morning to repeat the message he delivered to the dressing room a couple of days earlier.
He didn't take back a single word - commitment, passion, determination, workrate and pride featuring prominently in the debriefing.
He also repeated his pledge to make changes, leaving his under-achievers under no illusions.
After seeing his team slip from automatic promotion favourites to play-off probables, the manager had run out of patience. He's played the loyalty card long enough and decided, with nine games to go, that enough is enough. "I made it clear that I'd given them every opportunity to put things right over the last six games," Todd said sternly, "and I warned them that I had to make changes to get a result at Oxford.
"Everybody will benefit, if we can get a win next Saturday - not just the 11 who are picked - just as everyone has suffered over the last month or so.
"I had faith in the players who went 15 games without losing and I've stuck with them during the recent spell of indifferent results. They've had their chances but they have let themselves down and they've let each other down.
"The most important thing for us now is that the squad of players gets into that second spot.
"There will be changes at Oxford - I made that clear to them on Monday. It's going to be a battle down there and I will pick the team with that in mind. There will be disappointments but all that matters now is that we get the results we need."
Deadline day signings Steve Banks and Jamie Fullarton were ready to come into the reckoning but Todd still had the likes of Eidur Gudjohnsen, Ricardo Gardner, Andy Todd and Gudni Bergsson to use, if necessary.
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FROM The Bolton News – March 27, 1999
LEGENDS don't always have great games and Nat Lofthouse was no exception.
He recalls one of his 33 appearances for England - against Italy in 1952 - when, by his own admission, he had a "stinker" in the beautiful city of Florence.
Bolton's No 1 sporting son didn't need telling either but a phone call home to his wife Alma the following morning confirmed that he was the one carrying the can for a lacklustre attacking performance . . . at least in the eyes of one newspaper.
"Send a Comet for Milburn!" screamed the Daily Express headline on Desmond Hackett's far from complimentary match report.
But the England selectors didn't send for the Newcastle centre-forward and a week later confirmed their faith in the Bolton Wanderers' No 9. The date was May 25, the venue was Vienna . . . and anyone with an appreciation of footballing history won't need telling that this was Lofty's finest hour!
A dramatic and heroic late goal - his second of the match - earned England a 3-2 triumph over the well-fancied Austrians.
That night at the customary banquet, Nat had the satisfaction of receiving a bottle of champagne, courtesy of the aforementioned Mr Hackett, whose report in the Express the next day hailed the Bolton hero as the "Lion of Vienna", coining the nickname that would become famous the world over! It's a story in tribute to a great player and respected journalist from the "old school" that illustrates the fluctuating fortunes of football and footballers. And it might well be repeated when Nat attends one of the most illustrious gatherings of the great and the good in May.
The "Evening of Legends" at the London Hilton in Park Lane on May 13 will honour the achievements of the 100 League Legends - the players recognised as being the best to have graced the professional game in this country.
Never again will so many of football's greatest ever players come together to honour the national game - the showpiece event of the Football League's Centenary Season. Many from the early days, of course, are no longer alive - the likes of the great Steve Bloomer and Billy Meredith - but the evening will see the legends of old, Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews, rubbing shoulders with today's 'superstars'. Alan Shearer, Peter Schmeichel and Denis Bergkamp.
"I've had a few honours over the years," Nat says modestly, "but to think I'm listed among the greatest of all time, is wonderful. I regard it as a tribute to the town of Bolton and to Bolton Wanderers.
"I'd like to think I'd be celebrating promotion at the same time."
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FROM The Bolton News – March 27, 2006
KEVIN Davies won support from all sides as he protested his innocence in the face of furious accusations from Middlesbrough midfielder, Emanuel Pogatetz.
The combative Wanderers striker said the Austrian - nicknamed Mad Dog - "lost it" when he raged, blood flowing from a cut above his left eye, in a flashpoint in the closing minutes of Wanderers’ seven-goal thriller at The Riverside.
The initial clash occurred two minutes from the end of normal time when the scores were level at 3-3 but flared up again at the end of the game, which Boro won with a last-gasp Stuart Parnaby goal to deal a severe blow to Wanderers' Champions League ambitions.
Boro coach, Steve Harrison had to restrain a still-furious Pogatetz, who claimed Davies had deliberately used his elbow in the challenge.
"I found it all a bit embarrassing, really," Davies said. "It was all over-exaggerated.
"I wasn't going to start fighting in the middle of the pitch and get sent off. It's not what you do.
"I'd done nothing wrong. My eye was on the ball all the time and neither the referee nor the linesman punished me.
"It's a physical game and you've got to take your knocks. It's all part of the game."
ON this day – March 27, 1979
FRANK Worthington and Alan Gowling scored twice as Wanderers beat Arsenal 4-2 at Burnden Park.
Both of Worthington’s goals came from the penalty spot as the Super Whites continued a run of five wins in six games that would effectively guarantee their First Division place.
ON this day – March 27, 1976
WANDERERS beat Chelsea 2-1 but not a single Bolton player was on the scoresheet!
The Blues were in a hospitable mood as they twice put through their own goal, first through David Hay and then through Graham Wilkins.
ON this day – March 27, 1926
WEMBLEY was calling once again for Wanderers as they beat Swansea Town 3-0 in the semi-final of the FA Cup to book their place in the final.
Joe Smith was on the scoresheet twice, Bill Baggett grabbing the other goal as the Welsh side were swept aside at Tottenham’s White Hart Lane.
In the other semi, Manchester City beat Manchester United by the same scoreline.
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FROM The Bolton News – March 28, 2014
ONE of the stranger transfers in Wanderers’ history was completed as Dougie Freedman grabbed Southampton youngster Andy Robinson on the final day of the loan window.
The 21-year-old was set to leave St Mary’s and had been on a two-week trial with the Whites, leading Freedman to offer him a one-year contract in the summer.
It had been expected that Robinson would feature for Bolton, who were missing Mark Davies and Chung-Yong Lee through injury, with the Bolton boss giving his new signing a big build up.
“He’s a good young player and he’s been brought up in a fantastic system,” he said.
“He’s a great talent and I’ve known about him for a long time because I’ve watched him playing in the Southampton reserves. I know all about him. I think we’re a little bit short in that area, with Medo Kamara and Jay Spearing, that kind of midfielder.
“I know we’ve got players like Mark Davies, Neil Danns or Liam Trotter who can do it but he’s a different type.”
Robinson’s contract was eventually terminated just four months later, with Freedman admitting the player had become homesick during his time in the North West.
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FROM The Bolton News – March 28, 1999
COLIN Todd was getting ready to swing the axe after dragging his players in for another debrief after defeat against Sunderland.
Wanderers were heading to Oxford at the end of the week but the manager pulled his players in early on Monday morning to repeat the message he delivered to the dressing room a couple of days earlier.
He didn't take back a single word - commitment, passion, determination, workrate and pride featuring prominently in the debriefing.
He also repeated his pledge to make changes, leaving his under-achievers under no illusions.
After seeing his team slip from automatic promotion favourites to play-off probables, the manager had run out of patience. He's played the loyalty card long enough and decided, with nine games to go, that enough is enough. "I made it clear that I'd given them every opportunity to put things right over the last six games," Todd said sternly, "and I warned them that I had to make changes to get a result at Oxford.
"Everybody will benefit, if we can get a win next Saturday - not just the 11 who are picked - just as everyone has suffered over the last month or so.
"I had faith in the players who went 15 games without losing and I've stuck with them during the recent spell of indifferent results. They've had their chances but they have let themselves down and they've let each other down.
"The most important thing for us now is that the squad of players gets into that second spot.
"There will be changes at Oxford - I made that clear to them on Monday. It's going to be a battle down there and I will pick the team with that in mind. There will be disappointments but all that matters now is that we get the results we need."
Deadline day signings Steve Banks and Jamie Fullarton were ready to come into the reckoning but Todd still had the likes of Eidur Gudjohnsen, Ricardo Gardner, Andy Todd and Gudni Bergsson to use, if necessary.
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FROM The Bolton News – March 27, 1999
LEGENDS don't always have great games and Nat Lofthouse was no exception.
He recalls one of his 33 appearances for England - against Italy in 1952 - when, by his own admission, he had a "stinker" in the beautiful city of Florence.
Bolton's No 1 sporting son didn't need telling either but a phone call home to his wife Alma the following morning confirmed that he was the one carrying the can for a lacklustre attacking performance . . . at least in the eyes of one newspaper.
"Send a Comet for Milburn!" screamed the Daily Express headline on Desmond Hackett's far from complimentary match report.
But the England selectors didn't send for the Newcastle centre-forward and a week later confirmed their faith in the Bolton Wanderers' No 9. The date was May 25, the venue was Vienna . . . and anyone with an appreciation of footballing history won't need telling that this was Lofty's finest hour!
A dramatic and heroic late goal - his second of the match - earned England a 3-2 triumph over the well-fancied Austrians.
That night at the customary banquet, Nat had the satisfaction of receiving a bottle of champagne, courtesy of the aforementioned Mr Hackett, whose report in the Express the next day hailed the Bolton hero as the "Lion of Vienna", coining the nickname that would become famous the world over! It's a story in tribute to a great player and respected journalist from the "old school" that illustrates the fluctuating fortunes of football and footballers. And it might well be repeated when Nat attends one of the most illustrious gatherings of the great and the good in May.
The "Evening of Legends" at the London Hilton in Park Lane on May 13 will honour the achievements of the 100 League Legends - the players recognised as being the best to have graced the professional game in this country.
Never again will so many of football's greatest ever players come together to honour the national game - the showpiece event of the Football League's Centenary Season. Many from the early days, of course, are no longer alive - the likes of the great Steve Bloomer and Billy Meredith - but the evening will see the legends of old, Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews, rubbing shoulders with today's 'superstars'. Alan Shearer, Peter Schmeichel and Denis Bergkamp.
"I've had a few honours over the years," Nat says modestly, "but to think I'm listed among the greatest of all time, is wonderful. I regard it as a tribute to the town of Bolton and to Bolton Wanderers.
"I'd like to think I'd be celebrating promotion at the same time."
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FROM The Bolton News – March 27, 2006
KEVIN Davies won support from all sides as he protested his innocence in the face of furious accusations from Middlesbrough midfielder, Emanuel Pogatetz.
The combative Wanderers striker said the Austrian - nicknamed Mad Dog - "lost it" when he raged, blood flowing from a cut above his left eye, in a flashpoint in the closing minutes of Wanderers’ seven-goal thriller at The Riverside.
The initial clash occurred two minutes from the end of normal time when the scores were level at 3-3 but flared up again at the end of the game, which Boro won with a last-gasp Stuart Parnaby goal to deal a severe blow to Wanderers' Champions League ambitions.
Boro coach, Steve Harrison had to restrain a still-furious Pogatetz, who claimed Davies had deliberately used his elbow in the challenge.
"I found it all a bit embarrassing, really," Davies said. "It was all over-exaggerated.
"I wasn't going to start fighting in the middle of the pitch and get sent off. It's not what you do.
"I'd done nothing wrong. My eye was on the ball all the time and neither the referee nor the linesman punished me.
"It's a physical game and you've got to take your knocks. It's all part of the game."
ON this day – March 27, 1979
FRANK Worthington and Alan Gowling scored twice as Wanderers beat Arsenal 4-2 at Burnden Park.
Both of Worthington’s goals came from the penalty spot as the Super Whites continued a run of five wins in six games that would effectively guarantee their First Division place.
ON this day – March 27, 1976
WANDERERS beat Chelsea 2-1 but not a single Bolton player was on the scoresheet!
The Blues were in a hospitable mood as they twice put through their own goal, first through David Hay and then through Graham Wilkins.
ON this day – March 27, 1926
WEMBLEY was calling once again for Wanderers as they beat Swansea Town 3-0 in the semi-final of the FA Cup to book their place in the final.
Joe Smith was on the scoresheet twice, Bill Baggett grabbing the other goal as the Welsh side were swept aside at Tottenham’s White Hart Lane.
In the other semi, Manchester City beat Manchester United by the same scoreline.
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