When Did We Stop Being Bolton Wanderers?

Watching Bradford last night reminded me of watching Bolton in the 1990's.

Great support, players giving 100% all over the pitch, and famous results. That was the BWFC I remember, when did we stop being Bolton?

Is it down to money? Have our overpaid ponces forgotten why they started playing football in the first place? Is their next contract more important than actually winning something?

And what of the fans? Most of us can no longer be bothered with cup matches - have we forgotten how exciting a proper cup run can be? Because we spent 10 years in the PL ave all the cups been devalued to Bolton fans?

I'm jealous of the Bradford fans, I want my football mojo back.

We stopped being the Bolton we all knew and loved when we accepted the Premier lucre, gone are the days when we could ever be the fans club ever again..

What? you mean when we were in the fourth tier? I prefer this.

We just beat Sunderland - Its because we are Bolton Wanderers that it wasn't a massive deal

Lofty_Love wrote:What? you mean when we were in the fourth tier? I prefer this.

We just beat Sunderland - Its because we are Bolton Wanderers that it wasn't a massive deal

It's not really about the tier of football we're in, it's more to do with a lack of passion on the pitch and the terraces.

Could be the Reebok doesn't lend itself to passion. At manky old Burnden there was some real passion from the Burnden terrace!!

Nat, you have an excellent point. It seems the players are picking when to perform. Similar to the fans picking what games to go to. The big difference being that they are paid a handsome amount for their indifference. Once we've got something in sight, I think you will see the fans, and hopefully the team, starting to stir again.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Lofty_Love wrote:What? you mean when we were in the fourth tier? I prefer this.

We just beat Sunderland - Its because we are Bolton Wanderers that it wasn't a massive deal

It's not really about the tier of football we're in, it's more to do with a lack of passion on the pitch and the terraces.

There is nothing like winning games, it doesn't matter what division you are in.I would rather be winning in the Championship than getting thumped most weeks in the top flight.

rammywhite wrote:Could be the Reebok doesn't lend itself to passion. At manky old Burnden there was some real passion from the Burnden terrace!!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Totally agree, the 'Breezeblock' and Gartside have fucked it big time for me

I used to stand on the Burnden terrace and loved the ground, I was stood on there in 1977 for the League Cup semi final against Everton when there was over 50,000 in the ground , but we couldn't realisically stay there. Most fans of clubs who have moved grounds agree that the new grounds don't have the same atmosphere.

I liked it when we were built-on-a-shoestring Bolton.

For the last six years we've been easy-to-rip-off Bolton. A crap team is a passion killer in itself, let alone an expensive crap team.

That ginger twat fucked us over!

Soul Kitchen wrote:That ginger twat fucked us over!

Or kept us up!

NickFazer wrote:

Soul Kitchen wrote:That ginger twat fucked us over!

Or kept us up!

Dream on!

NickFazer wrote:

Soul Kitchen wrote:That ginger twat fucked us over!

Or kept us up!

Or both!

Depends which Bolton Wanderers you're talking about - we have had many incarnations. In reality we've never stopped being BWFC and this thread is just a reason to moan about no longer being BWFC at a particular time with a particular team and TBF I'm starting to get fed up with nostalgic whining and whingeing all the time.

We are a club that like all others has good times and bad times. It's hard enough having to deal with it when things are not going as well as might have been hoped, but it's made a lot worse when people whinge constantly and worse still kick us when we're down.

No f****** loyalty some people so why don't you f*** off and support Manure and then you can whinge about one Premiership winning season not being as good as another Premiership winning season?

Wanderlust as I'm sure you know fans only get nostalgic when things aren't going well, and currently they aren't. If you'd have offered me back when we were in Division 4 getting back to the top division, spend 10+ years there, move to a new stadium, get to Finals, play in Europe and knock Liverpool and Arsenal out of the cup [away from home] but then have to spend a season or two in the Championship then I would have taken it.

From those dark days the club has [mostly] moved forward, we might be in for some years of rebuilding before those days return. The trick is not to get into a downward spiral that ends in League 1 or 2.

NickFazer wrote:Wanderlust as I'm sure you know fans only get nostalgic when things aren't going well, and currently they aren't. If you'd have offered me back when we were in Division 4 getting back to the top division, spend 10+ years there, move to a new stadium, get to Finals, play in Europe and knock Liverpool and Arsenal out of the cup [away from home] but then have to spend a season or two in the Championship then I would have taken it.

From those dark days the club has [mostly] moved forward, we might be in for some years of rebuilding before those days return. The trick is not to get into a downward spiral that ends in League 1 or 2.

Spot on.

NickFazer wrote:Wanderlust as I'm sure you know fans only get nostalgic when things aren't going well, and currently they aren't. If you'd have offered me back when we were in Division 4 getting back to the top division, spend 10+ years there, move to a new stadium, get to Finals, play in Europe and knock Liverpool and Arsenal out of the cup [away from home] but then have to spend a season or two in the Championship then I would have taken it.

From those dark days the club has [mostly] moved forward, we might be in for some years of rebuilding before those days return. The trick is not to get into a downward spiral that ends in League 1 or 2.

I concur entirely with what you are saying there and having witnessed relegation from the top flight five times so have some experience as to what being in the "wilderness" as a Wanderers fan is. My problem at the moment is the rot from the top down. When BSA was appointed Fat Phil got lucky with his first shot, since then we've had three botched jobs and one pending. From memory I can't think of any Chairman that has got consistently lucky with Management appointments, never mind two, which I would willingly settle for. I made my mind up after the Coyle dismissal that the next appointent for the Fat Controller must be his last "balls up". The jury is out at the moment, I pray for a favourable verdict.

Furthermore, whether aimed at me or not, the comment about going watching the SCUM would have been made by me when I was in short pants many years ago. I hung my "star" on Bolton Wanderers because I'm Bolton born and bred, and pay my money and whinge or cheer accordingly!

wanderlust wrote:

No f****** loyalty some people so why don't you f*** off and support Manure and then you can whinge about one Premiership winning season not being as good as another Premiership winning season?

So your definition of loyalty is to agree with everything the club/manager does and never moan?

That sounds more like blind loyalty or stupidity to me. Not really my style.

It started to go wrong when we started paying big wages for very average players. Despite that, fans can put up with average players giving 100% - unfortunately recent managers haven't put enough emphasis on passion and heart and that has created a resentment towards the players.

This team is crying out for a couple of characters.