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Only one player has hit 20 goals in a single season for Wanderers since the turn of the millennium.
Michael Ricketts claimed 24 in all competitions for Sam Allardyce’s promotion-winning side in 2000/01, including one in the play-off final win against Preston North End.
This season, Eoin Doyle stands a decent chance of joining the 20-club after grabbing a 15th strike of the season against Walsall at the weekend.
Doyle was last year’s top scorer in League Two and has been out-scored in all four divisions in the last calendar year by just one man, Brentford’s Ivan Toney.
The Irishman has 10 games of the regular campaign remaining and is responsible for 32 per cent of the overall goals scored by Wanderers this season. His current average is a shade over one goal every two games for the Whites – which means he may have to pick up the speed to match Ricketts’ milestone – but Doyle has already shown himself to be one of the more reliable marksmen of recent times.
Here we look at the highest individual scoring tallies of the last 20 years to see where his achievements match up.
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MICHAEL RICKETTS 2000/01 – 24 GOALS
A 24-goal haul is impressive enough but considering that Ricketts started so infrequently in Allardyce’s team makes it all the more special.
The former Walsall striker, signed for just £400,000, played from the start in just 24 league games but managed 19 goals and another five in the cup competitions.
And Ricketts did not score his goals in chunks, either. He did not score a hat-trick in 00/01, getting two in the same game only twice – in a 3-2 win at Huddersfield and a 2-0 win at Burnley.
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EOIN DOYLE – 2020/21 – 15 GOALS
Having blasted 25 goals at Swindon the previous season it was a statement of intent that Wanderers secured the 32-year-old’s services last summer.
What makes Doyle’s achievements quite unique is that he has scored 15 times in a team which has struggled for long spells in the season. In fact, many supporters would argue it is yet to entirely play to the Irishman’s strengths.
Nevertheless, he is on course for a very decent haul which Ian Evatt hopes will give his side a good chance of gaining promotion this season.
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MICHAEL RICKETTS – 2001/02 – 15 GOALS
Yep, he is at it again. Ricketts showed he could ruffle Premier League feathers too when Bolton reached the big time.
Scoring in his first three games against Leicester, Middlesbrough and Liverpool, Ricketts developed a reputation for coming up with he goods against the top clubs.
He scored a late equaliser at Arsenal, a winner against Manchester United at Old Trafford and one at home to Chelsea.
The goals dried up somewhat in the latter end of the season – but the powerful striker had already started to turn heads.
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DEAN HOLDSWORTH – 2000/01 – 15 GOALS
A club record signing at £3.5million in his day, Holdsworth provided an alternate supply of goals in the promotion season.
He scored the Bolton first hat-trick at the new stadium against Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup and also netted against Wolves, home and away, which is never a bad habit to develop.
He also grabbed a winner against his former club Wimbledon on Bolton’s last-ever visit to the original incarnation, then playing at Selhurst Park.
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KEVIN NOLAN – 2003/04 – 12 GOALS
This was peak Nolan, the beating heart of a team looking at home in the top-flight, chipping in with a regular supply of goals with his bursts from midfield.
The Liverpudlian grabbed a goal after 13 seconds in a 4-3 win at Blackburn Rovers – still a Bolton record – scored in the memorable 5-2 Jay-Jay inspired League Cup win against Aston Villa, and also in the 4-1 win against Leeds United that sent the Yorkshiremen into an unimaginable exile from the big time.
The most effective midfield goalscorer Bolton have had in the modern era? Most probably.
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STELIOS – 2005/06 – 12 GOALS
Add on his two goals for Greece and Stelios actually got more than a dozen in 05/06, a season where he was at the peak of his powers in one of Wanderers’ most revered sides.
The Greek midfielder scored an FA Cup winner against Arsenal and another against the Gunners in the league, twice in a 4-1 home win against West Ham and a brace in a 4-0 win against Everton at Goodison.
Stelios also got into double figures for club and country the previous season, underlining his importance to Allardyce’s side at the time.
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NICOLAS ANELKA – 2006/07 – 12 GOALS
To think, it took quite a while for the £8million Frenchman to get his first league goal for Wanderers. He had scored against Walsall in a League Cup game and for France against he Faroe Islands but it was only with a fine two-goal haul against his former club Arsenal that Anelka’s career revival really kicked into top gear with Bolton.
He returned to haunt Manchester City with another two goals the following month and finished with 15, including three for his country.
Wanderers were not a free-scoring side by any stretch but after signing Anelka they definitely had a striker that top flight defences feared.
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KEVIN DAVIES – 2008/09 – 12 GOALS
The season Davies took on the captain’s mantle, and arguably his most influential in a Bolton shirt.
Two goals against Tottenham in a stirring 3-2 win at the Reebok was a highlight, adding to customary strikes home and away against his most favoured opponents, West Ham.
This was Davies’ highest goal tally in a single season, though, with a 12th goal of the season coming in a 4-1 win against Middlesbrough.
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JOHAN ELMANDER – 2010/11 – 12 GOALS
The tag of record signing never sat especially well with the hard-working Sweden international but his best football coincided with Owen Coyle’s best run in the dugout, a time when Bolton very nearly played their way into Europe once again.
Elmander scored a quite brilliant solo effort at Wolves, twice in a 5-1 rout of Newcastle United and also in the FA Cup quarter-final win against Birmingham City.
Many fans will also remember him being moved to central midfield for the FA Cup semi-final against Stoke…
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CHRIS EAGLES – 2012/13 – 12 GOALS
For a brief period in Bolton’s post-Premier League history, Chris Eagles was THE man.
While his early days under his old Burnley boss Coyle ended disappointingly, Eagles thrived under Dougie Freedman and very nearly blasted Bolton into the play-offs.
A brilliant late winner against Blackburn Rovers was the pick of his dozen goals that year – followed by an equally memorable celebration.
Eagles also scored on an agonising final day against Blackpool, where a 2-2 draw proved not enough to get Bolton into the play-offs.
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Only one player has hit 20 goals in a single season for Wanderers since the turn of the millennium.
Michael Ricketts claimed 24 in all competitions for Sam Allardyce’s promotion-winning side in 2000/01, including one in the play-off final win against Preston North End.
This season, Eoin Doyle stands a decent chance of joining the 20-club after grabbing a 15th strike of the season against Walsall at the weekend.
Doyle was last year’s top scorer in League Two and has been out-scored in all four divisions in the last calendar year by just one man, Brentford’s Ivan Toney.
The Irishman has 10 games of the regular campaign remaining and is responsible for 32 per cent of the overall goals scored by Wanderers this season. His current average is a shade over one goal every two games for the Whites – which means he may have to pick up the speed to match Ricketts’ milestone – but Doyle has already shown himself to be one of the more reliable marksmen of recent times.
Here we look at the highest individual scoring tallies of the last 20 years to see where his achievements match up.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
MICHAEL RICKETTS 2000/01 – 24 GOALS
A 24-goal haul is impressive enough but considering that Ricketts started so infrequently in Allardyce’s team makes it all the more special.
The former Walsall striker, signed for just £400,000, played from the start in just 24 league games but managed 19 goals and another five in the cup competitions.
And Ricketts did not score his goals in chunks, either. He did not score a hat-trick in 00/01, getting two in the same game only twice – in a 3-2 win at Huddersfield and a 2-0 win at Burnley.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
EOIN DOYLE – 2020/21 – 15 GOALS
Having blasted 25 goals at Swindon the previous season it was a statement of intent that Wanderers secured the 32-year-old’s services last summer.
What makes Doyle’s achievements quite unique is that he has scored 15 times in a team which has struggled for long spells in the season. In fact, many supporters would argue it is yet to entirely play to the Irishman’s strengths.
Nevertheless, he is on course for a very decent haul which Ian Evatt hopes will give his side a good chance of gaining promotion this season.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
MICHAEL RICKETTS – 2001/02 – 15 GOALS
Yep, he is at it again. Ricketts showed he could ruffle Premier League feathers too when Bolton reached the big time.
Scoring in his first three games against Leicester, Middlesbrough and Liverpool, Ricketts developed a reputation for coming up with he goods against the top clubs.
He scored a late equaliser at Arsenal, a winner against Manchester United at Old Trafford and one at home to Chelsea.
The goals dried up somewhat in the latter end of the season – but the powerful striker had already started to turn heads.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
DEAN HOLDSWORTH – 2000/01 – 15 GOALS
A club record signing at £3.5million in his day, Holdsworth provided an alternate supply of goals in the promotion season.
He scored the Bolton first hat-trick at the new stadium against Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup and also netted against Wolves, home and away, which is never a bad habit to develop.
He also grabbed a winner against his former club Wimbledon on Bolton’s last-ever visit to the original incarnation, then playing at Selhurst Park.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
KEVIN NOLAN – 2003/04 – 12 GOALS
This was peak Nolan, the beating heart of a team looking at home in the top-flight, chipping in with a regular supply of goals with his bursts from midfield.
The Liverpudlian grabbed a goal after 13 seconds in a 4-3 win at Blackburn Rovers – still a Bolton record – scored in the memorable 5-2 Jay-Jay inspired League Cup win against Aston Villa, and also in the 4-1 win against Leeds United that sent the Yorkshiremen into an unimaginable exile from the big time.
The most effective midfield goalscorer Bolton have had in the modern era? Most probably.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
STELIOS – 2005/06 – 12 GOALS
Add on his two goals for Greece and Stelios actually got more than a dozen in 05/06, a season where he was at the peak of his powers in one of Wanderers’ most revered sides.
The Greek midfielder scored an FA Cup winner against Arsenal and another against the Gunners in the league, twice in a 4-1 home win against West Ham and a brace in a 4-0 win against Everton at Goodison.
Stelios also got into double figures for club and country the previous season, underlining his importance to Allardyce’s side at the time.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
NICOLAS ANELKA – 2006/07 – 12 GOALS
To think, it took quite a while for the £8million Frenchman to get his first league goal for Wanderers. He had scored against Walsall in a League Cup game and for France against he Faroe Islands but it was only with a fine two-goal haul against his former club Arsenal that Anelka’s career revival really kicked into top gear with Bolton.
He returned to haunt Manchester City with another two goals the following month and finished with 15, including three for his country.
Wanderers were not a free-scoring side by any stretch but after signing Anelka they definitely had a striker that top flight defences feared.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
KEVIN DAVIES – 2008/09 – 12 GOALS
The season Davies took on the captain’s mantle, and arguably his most influential in a Bolton shirt.
Two goals against Tottenham in a stirring 3-2 win at the Reebok was a highlight, adding to customary strikes home and away against his most favoured opponents, West Ham.
This was Davies’ highest goal tally in a single season, though, with a 12th goal of the season coming in a 4-1 win against Middlesbrough.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
JOHAN ELMANDER – 2010/11 – 12 GOALS
The tag of record signing never sat especially well with the hard-working Sweden international but his best football coincided with Owen Coyle’s best run in the dugout, a time when Bolton very nearly played their way into Europe once again.
Elmander scored a quite brilliant solo effort at Wolves, twice in a 5-1 rout of Newcastle United and also in the FA Cup quarter-final win against Birmingham City.
Many fans will also remember him being moved to central midfield for the FA Cup semi-final against Stoke…
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
CHRIS EAGLES – 2012/13 – 12 GOALS
For a brief period in Bolton’s post-Premier League history, Chris Eagles was THE man.
While his early days under his old Burnley boss Coyle ended disappointingly, Eagles thrived under Dougie Freedman and very nearly blasted Bolton into the play-offs.
A brilliant late winner against Blackburn Rovers was the pick of his dozen goals that year – followed by an equally memorable celebration.
Eagles also scored on an agonising final day against Blackpool, where a 2-2 draw proved not enough to get Bolton into the play-offs.
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