1996–97 Bolton Wanderers F.C. season

The 1996–1997 season was the 118th season in Bolton Wanderers F.C.'s existence, and their first season back in the Football League First Division after relegation from the Premier League. It covers the period from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997. After 102 years, this was the club's last season at Burnden Park.

Bolton Wanderers

1996–97 season
Chairman	Gordon Hargreaves
Manager	Colin Todd
Stadium	Burnden Park
First Division	1st (promoted)
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Quarter-final
Top goalscorer	League: John McGinlay (24) All: John McGinlay (30)
Highest home attendance	22,030 v Charlton Athletic 25 April 1997
Lowest home attendance	6,367 v Bristol City 24 September 1996

Results

Nationwide League Division One

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
17 August 1996	Port Vale	A	1–1	Thompson 23'	10,057
20 August 1996	Manchester City	H	1–0	Frandsen 49'	18,257
24 August 1996	Norwich City	H	3–1	Blake (2) 27', 77', Johansen 46'	13,507
1 September 1996	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–1	McGinlay 28', Thompson 90'	11,225
7 September 1996	Southend United	A	2–5	Blake 23', McGinlay 31'	4,475
10 September 1996	Grimsby Town	H	6–1	Johansen (2) 9', 80', Blake (2) 19', 54', Lee 78', Taylor 90'	12,448
14 September 1996	Portsmouth	H	2–0	Blake 49', Fairclough 86'	14,248
21 September 1996	Bradford City	A	4–2	Thompson 1', Blake (2) 20', 84', Frandsen 55'	12,034
28 September 1996	Stoke City	H	1–1	Blake 42'	16,195
2 October 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–1	McGinlay (2) 39', 86'	26,540
12 October 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	3–1	Johansen 7', McGinlay 20', 31'	14,813
15 October 1996	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–0	Sellars 51'	14,136
19 October 1996	Charlton Athletic	A	3–3	McGinlay (2) 23', 61'(pen), Blake 73'	11,091
25 October 1996	Barnsley	A	2–2	McGinlay 1'(pen), Thompson 49'	9,413
29 October 1996	Reading	H	2–1	Sellars 40', McGinlay 58'	12,677
2 November 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	2–0	Thompson 20', McGinlay 72'	15,865
13 November 1996	Birmingham City	A	1–3	Sheridan 75'	17,033
16 November 1996	Crystal Palace	H	2–2	Sheridan 11', McGinlay 21' (pen)	16,892
19 November 1996	Oxford United	A	0–0		7,517
22 November 1996	Sheffield United	A	1–1	Blake 10'	17,069
30 November 1996	Barnsley	H	2–2	Blake 20', Thompson 88'	16,852
8 December 1996	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–2	Frandsen 37', Fairclough 62'	13,082
14 December 1996	Ipswich Town	H	1–2	Bergsson 70'	13,314
22 December 1996	Swindon Town	A	2–2	Green 58', McGinlay 84'	8,948
26 December 1996	Grimsby Town	A	2–1	Taggart 26', Blake 72'	8,185
28 December 1996	Southend United	H	3–1	Sellars (2) 30', 33', McGinlay 76' (pen)	16,357
1 January 1997	Bradford City	H	2–0	Lee 64', Sellars 84'	16,192
11 January 1997	Portsmouth	A	3–0	Blake (2) 55', 89', Johansen 74'	10,467
18 January 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	3–0	McGinlay 21', Curle 58'(og), Blake 62'	18,980
29 January 1997	Stoke City	A	2–1	Pollock 28', McGinlay 54'	15,645
1 February 1997	Birmingham City	H	2–1	Pollock 29', McGinlay 78'(pen)	16,737
8 February 1997	Reading	A	2–3	Thompson 61', McGinlay 64'	10,739
15 February 1997	Sheffield United	H	2–2	Paatelainen 4', Fairclough 20'	17,922
22 February 1997	Huddersfield Town	A	2–1	Fairclough 22', Taggart 47'	16,061
2 March 1997	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–0	Blake 34'	13,258
4 March 1997	Crystal Palace	A	1–1	Fairclough 90'	16,035
8 March 1997	Swindon Town	H	7–0	Thompson 30', Frandsen 36', Pollock 53', Bergsson (2) 82', 89' McGinlay 85', Blake 87'	13,981
15 March 1997	Ipswich Town	A	1–0	McGinlay 26'	16,187
18 March 1997	Port Vale	H	4–2	Frandsen 9', Glover 38'(og), Fairclough 81', Blake 83'	14,150
22 March 1997	Norwich City	A	1–0	Sellars 24'	17,585
5 April 1997	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–1	Fairclough 44', McGinlay 49'	19,198
9 April 1997	Manchester City	A	2–1	Paatelainen 38', Sellars 58'	28,026
12 April 1997	Oxford United	H	4–0	Thompson (2) 32', 48', Sellars 40', Blake 61'	15,994
19 April 1997	Oldham Athletic	A	0–0		10,702
25 April 1997	Charlton Athletic	H	4–1	Thompson 46', Taggart 65', McGinlay (2) 89'(pen), 90'	21,880
4 May 1997	Tranmere Rovers	A	2–2	McGinlay 27', Pollock 77'	14,309

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bolton Wanderers (C, P)	46	28	14	4	100	53	+47	98	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Barnsley (P)	46	22	14	10	76	55	+21	80
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	22	10	14	68	51	+17	76	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
4	Ipswich Town	46	20	14	12	68	50	+18	74
5	Sheffield United	46	20	13	13	75	52	+23	73

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

F.A. Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
21 January 1997	Round 3	Luton Town	A	1–1	Pollock 26'	7,414
25 January 1997	Round 3 Replay	Luton Town	H	6–2	McGinlay 8', Blake 52', 66', Thompson 64', Pollock83', Green 90'	9,713
4 February 1997	Round 4	Chesterfield	H	2–3	Taylor 14', Green 89'	10,854

Coca-Cola Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
18 September 1996	Round 2 First Leg	Bristol City	A	0–0		6,351
24 September 1996	Round 2 Second Leg	Bristol City	H	3–1 (aet) 3–1 (agg)	McGinlay 47', Blake 92', Thompson 107'	6,367
22 October 1996	Round 3	Chelsea	H	2–1	McGinlay 22', Blake 43'	16,867
27 November 1996	Round 4	Tottenham Hotspur	H	6–1	McGinlay 6, 37', 74' (pen), Taggart 60', Blake 79', Taylor 86'	18,621
8 January 1997	Round 5	Wimbledon	H	0–2		16,968

Transfers

Transfers in

Player	From	Date	Fee
Michael Johansen	FC Copenhagen	1 August 1996	£1,250,000
Per Frandsen	FC Copenhagen	7 August 1996	£1,250,000
Jamie Pollock	Middlesbrough	15 November 1996	£1,500,000
John Sheridan	Sheffield Wednesday	19 December 1996	£180,000
Neil Cox	Middlesbrough	21 May 1997	£1,500,000

Transfers out

Player	To	Date	Fee
Mark Walton	Fulham	1 August 1996	Free
Fabian de Freitas	CA Osasuna	1 August 1996	Free
Alan Stubbs	Celtic	1 August 1996	£3,500,000
Saša Ćurčić	Aston Villa	23 August 1996	£4,000,000
Wayne Burnett	Huddersfield Town	20 September 1996	£100,000
Mark Patterson	Sheffield United	22 December 1996	£300,000
Aidan Davison	Bradford City	14 March 1997	Free

Loans in

Player	From	Date From	Date To
John Sheridan	Sheffield Wednesday	12 November 1996	18 December 1996

Loans out

Player	To	Date From	Date To
Stuart Whittaker	Wigan Athletic	30 August 1996	10 September 1996
Wayne Burnett	Huddersfield Town	6 September 1996	19 September 1996
Aidan Davison	Ipswich Town	9 October 1996	9 November 1996
Aidan Davison	Hull City	29 November 1996	25 January 1997

Appearances

Bolton used a total of 22 players during the season.

P	Player	Position	FL	FAC	LC	Total
1	Chris Fairclough	Defender	46 0(0)	03 0(0)	05 0(0)	54 0(0)
2=	Nathan Blake	Striker	42 0(0)	03 0(0)	05 0(0)	50 0(0)
2=	Gerry Taggart	Defender	43 0(0)	02 0(0)	05 0(0)	50 0(0)
4	John McGinlay	Striker	43 0(0)	01 0(0)	05 0(0)	49 0(0)
5	Per Frandsen	Midfielder	40 0(1)	02 0(1)	04 0(1)	46 0(3)
6	Scott Sellars	Midfielder	40 0(2)	02 0(0)	03 0(1)	45 0(3)
7=	Keith Branagan	Goalkeeper	36 0(0)	00 0(0)	04 0(0)	40 0(0)
7=	Jimmy Phillips	Defender	36 0(0)	00 0(0)	04 0(0)	40 0(0)
9	Alan Thompson	Midfielder	34 0(0)	01 0(1)	04 0(0)	39 0(1)
10	Guðni Bergsson	Defender	30 0(3)	02 0(0)	03 0(0)	35 0(3)
11	Michael Johansen	Midfielder	24 0(9)	01 0(1)	03 0(0)	28 (10)
12	Jamie Pollock	Midfielder	18 0(2)	03 0(0)	00 0(1)	210(7)
13	David Lee	Midfielder	13 (12)	00 0(1)	02 0(1)	24 0(8)
14	John Sheridan	Midfielder	12 0(7)	02 0(0)	02 0(0)	16 0(7)
15=	Bryan Small	Defender	10 0(1)	03 0(0)	01 0(0)	14 0(1)
15=	Gavin Ward	Goalkeeper	10 0 (1)	03 0(0)	01 0(0)	14 0(1)
17	Steve McAnespie	Defender	11 0(2)	00 0(0)	01 0(0)	12 0(2)
18	Scott Green	Defender	07 0(5)	01 0(1)	00 0(0)	08 0(6)
19	Andy Todd	Defender	06 0(9)	00 0(0)	01 0(2)	07 (11)
20	Scott Taylor	Striker	02 0(9)	01 0(0)	00 0(3)	03 (12)
21	Simon Coleman	Defender	00 0(0)	01 0(0)	00 0(0)	01 0(0)
22	Wayne Burnett	Defender	00 0(1)	00 0(0)	00 0(0)	00 0(1)

Top scorers

P	Player	Position	FL	FAC	LC	Total
1	John McGinlay	Striker	24	1	5	30
2	Nathan Blake	Striker	20	2	3	25
3	Alan Thompson	Midfielder	11	1	1	13
3=	Scott Sellars	Midfielder	08	0	0	08
5	Chris Fairclough	Defender	07	0	0	07