It was a nervous finish as Ian Evatt looked on, but his Bolton Wanderers side got over the line in a tense second leg of their play-off semi-final. He was left full of praise for his team and now can look forward to a final at Wembley Stadium.
Talking to the club’s official website after the game, the boss was clearly relieved but excited for his players and supporters after seeing off a late rally by Barnsley to win the tie 5-4 on aggregate. “We’ve dug it out and for large parts of both games, we deserve to be through.
“They managed to get the job done and that’s all that matters now. They have reacted and responded in the right way to the disappointment of not being automatically promoted.”
https://twitter.com/OfficialBWFC/status/1787950862150590804
This would be Evatt’s second promotion in three years with the club should they complete the task. Their opponent on May 18 will be either Peterborough United of Oxford United, who play their second leg later today with the U’s 1-0 up after the first game.
Wanderers are no strangers to Wembley, and in fact, they were there just last season, albeit in the EFL Trophy final which they won. The playoffs over the years have been kind to Bolton, but they will need to be wary of the only time they tried to get out of League One via the end-of-year tournament in 1991.
Bolton Wanderers Play-Off Final History
1991 Tranmere Rovers 1 Bolton 0
In just the fifth year since the introduction of the playoffs Bolton, who had missed out on automatic promotion on goal difference, played Tranmere in front of just over 30,000 fans at Wembley. Their opponents had finished a place below so it was always going to be a tight game. Chris Malkin scored the only goal of the game, in the ninth minute of extra time to keep Wanderers in the third tier.
1995 Bolton 4 Reading 3
Just a few short years later Bolton were up into the second tier of English football and would’ve gained automatic promotion but for the reduction of teams in the Premier League to 20 meant that only the top two would go up. Bolton finished third and so their route to the top level was via the playoffs. After beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 in the semi-final, they faced Reading at Wembley. In an exhilarating game that saw Bolton 2-0 down inside the opening 15 minutes, they fought back with two goals in the last 15 minutes. Extra time saw two more goals for Bolton, and even though Reading scored in the last minute, they held on to reach the Premier League.
1999 Watford 2 Bolton 0
The yo-yo years were settling in and having slipped out of the top division, the Wanderers were fighting back. Finishing in sixth place they had the last spot in the play-offs, and after defeating Ipswich Town on away goals – the tie being 4-4 on aggregate, they faced Watford in the final. Wembley hosted over 70,000 with a goal in each half that saw Graham Taylor’s team prevail, leaving Bolton to lick their wounds once more.
2001 Bolton 3 Preston North End 0
Due to the rebuilding of Wembley Stadium the end-of-season finals had all moved to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Again a third-place finish meant that Bolton entered the playoffs as the favoured side and after disposing of West Brom 5-2 on aggregate they were full of confidence in getting the job done against Preston. Just under 55,000 filled the stadium in Cardiff in anticipation, and in the end, it was victory and a return to the big time for Bolton. The 3-0 score was a little flattering, as two goals were in the dying moments of the game as Preston was chasing an equaliser.
Writer’s View
A mixed bag of results for Bolton Wanderers in the play-off finals will mean they will travel to Wembley with trepidation, but also confidence. They pushed Portsmouth and Derby County for most of this season, and even though they were tested by a Barnsley side in the semi-final, they will fancy their chances against whoever they face in 10 days time.
