1995–96 Bolton Wanderers F.C. season

Bolton Wanderers
1995–96 season
ChairmanEngland Gordon Hargreaves
ManagerEngland Roy McFarland (until 2 January)
England Colin Todd (from 2 January)
StadiumBurnden Park
FA Premier League20th
FA CupFourth round
League CupFourth round
Top goalscorerLeague: McGinlay (6)
All: McGinlay (9)
Highest home attendance21,381 (vs. Manchester United,
25 February 1996)
Lowest home attendance5,247 (vs. Brentford,
19 September 1995)
Average home league attendance18,822

The 1995–1996 season was the 117th season in Bolton Wanderers F.C.'s existence, and their first ever season in the Premier League following promotion from the Football League First Division.

This article covers the period from 1 July 1995 to 30 June 1996.[1]

Season summary

Bolton Wanderers returned to the top flight after a 15-year exile, only eight years after playing in the old Fourth Division, but with a new manager in Roy McFarland following Bruce Rioch's move to Arsenal. Bolton made a terrible start to the campaign and McFarland made several moves in the transfer market, but this was not enough to turn things around and he was sacked on New Year's Day with Bolton bottom of the table and just two wins to their name. His assistant Colin Todd took over, and Bolton's form improved, but they could not stave off relegation. In spite of this, their form under Todd was so improved that, had the results from under Todd's management been shown all season, Bolton would have stayed up in 14th place.

Squad

Squad at end of season[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Keith Branagan[3]
2 DF England ENG Scott Green
3 DF England ENG Jimmy Phillips
4 MF Federal Republic of Yugoslavia YUG Saša Ćurčić
5 DF Iceland ISL Guðni Bergsson
6 DF England ENG Alan Stubbs
7 MF England ENG David Lee
9 FW Finland FIN Mixu Paatelainen
10 FW Scotland SCO John McGinlay
11 MF England ENG Alan Thompson
12 MF England ENG Scott Sellars
13 GK Northern Ireland NIR Aidan Davison[4]
14 FW Suriname SUR Fabian de Freitas
15 DF England ENG Bryan Small
16 GK England ENG Gavin Ward
17 DF England ENG Simon Coleman
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF England ENG Nicky Spooner
19 MF England ENG Stuart Whittaker
20 FW Wales WAL Nathan Blake
21 DF England ENG Chris Fairclough
22 DF Northern Ireland NIR Gerry Taggart
23 DF England ENG Andy Todd
24 DF Scotland SCO Steve McAnespie
25 FW England ENG Scott Taylor
26 MF England ENG Wayne Burnett
29 DF England ENG Greg Strong
30 DF England ENG Mark Powell
31 GK England ENG Mark Westhead
32 DF England ENG Neil Marsh
33 DF England ENG Chris Gregory
34 MF England ENG Matt Bowman

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
4 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Jason McAteer[5] (to Liverpool)
8 MF Netherlands NED Richard Sneekes (to West Bromwich Albion)
12 MF England ENG Neil McDonald (to Preston North End)
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 MF England ENG Mark Patterson (to Sheffield United)
20 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Owen Coyle[6] (to Dundee United)

Results

Premier League

Main article: 1995–96 FA Premier League
Date Opponents H / A Result

F – A

Scorers Attendance
19 August 1995 Wimbledon A 2 – 3 Thompson 27' (pen), de Freitas 39' 9,317
22 August 1995 Newcastle United H 1 – 3 Bergsson 20,243
26 August 1995 Blackburn Rovers H 2 – 1 de Freitas 21', Stubbs 80' 20,253
30 August 1995 Aston Villa A 0 – 1 31,770
9 September 1995 Middlesbrough H 1 – 1 McGinlay 21' 18,376
16 September 1995 Manchester United A 0 – 3 32,812
23 September 1995 Liverpool A 2 – 5 Todd 77', Patterson 81' (pen) 40,104
30 September 1995 Queens Park Rangers H 0 – 1 17,362
14 October 1995 Everton H 1 – 1 Paatelainen 1' 20,427
21 October 1995 Nottingham Forest A 2 – 3 Sneekes 22', de Freitas 78' 25,426
30 October 1995 Arsenal H 1 – 0 McGinlay 35' 18,682
4 November 1995 Manchester City A 0 – 1 28,397
18 November 1995 West Ham United H 0 – 3 19,047
22 November 1995 Chelsea A 2 – 3 Ćurčić 10, Green 68' 17,495
25 November 1995 Southampton A 0 – 1 14,404
2 December 1995 Nottingham Forest H 1 – 1 de Freitas 67' 17,342
9 December 1995 Liverpool H 0 – 1 21,042
16 December 1995 Queens Park Rangers A 1 – 2 Sellars 43' 11,456
23 December 1995 Tottenham Hotspur A 2 – 2 Green 77', Bergsson 79' 30,702
27 December 1995 Leeds United H 0 – 2 18,414
30 December 1995 Coventry City H 1 – 2 McGinlay 16' 16,678
1 January 1996 Sheffield Wednesday A 2 – 4 Ćurčić 51', Taggart 77' 24,872
13 January 1996 Wimbledon H 1 – 0 McGinlay 44' (pen) 16,216
20 January 1996 Newcastle United A 1 – 2 Bergsson 19' 36,543
3 February 1996 Blackburn Rovers A 1 – 3 Green 29' 30,419
10 February 1996 Aston Villa H 0 – 2 18,099
17 February 1996 Middlesbrough A 4 – 1 Blake 12', Coleman 45', de Freitas 62', Lee 73' 29,354
25 February 1996 Manchester United H 0 – 6 21,381
2 March 1996 Leeds United A 1 – 0 Bergsson 30,106
16 March 1996 Coventry City A 2 – 0 Stubbs (2) 60', 70' 17,226
20 March 1996 Tottenham Hotspur H 2 – 3 Stubbs 74', Sellars 84' 17,829
23 March 1996 Sheffield Wednesday H 2 – 1 Sellars 52', Ćurčić 52' 18,368
30 March 1996 Manchester City H 1 – 1 McGinlay 74' 21,050
6 April 1996 Everton A 0 – 3 37,974
8 April 1996 Chelsea H 2 – 1 McGinlay 40', Ćurčić 44' 18,021
13 April 1996 West Ham United A 0 – 1 23,086
27 April 1996 Southampton H 0 – 1 18,795
5 May 1996 Arsenal A 1 – 2 Todd 76' 38,104
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
16 Coventry City 38 8 14 16 42 60 −18 38
17 Southampton 38 9 11 18 34 52 −18 38
18 Manchester City (R) 38 9 11 18 33 58 −25 38 Relegation to Football League First Division
19 Queens Park Rangers (R) 38 9 6 23 38 57 −19 33
20 Bolton Wanderers (R) 38 8 5 25 39 71 −32 29
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated


F.A. Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result

F – A

Scorers Attendance
6 January 1996 Round 3 Bradford City A 3 – 0 Ćurčić (2), McGinlay 10,265
14 February 1996 Round 4 Leeds United H 0 – 1 16,694

Coca-Cola Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result

F – A

Scorers Attendance
19 September 1995 Round 2 First Leg Brentford H 1 – 0 Sneekes 5,243
3 October 1995 Round 2 Second Leg Brentford A 3 – 2
4 – 2 (agg) 		McGinlay, Patterson, Thompson 4,861
24 October 1995 Round 3 Leicester City H 0 – 0 9,166
8 November 1995 Round 3 replay Leicester City A 3 – 2 Ćurčić, McGinlay, Sneekes 14,884
29 November 1995 Round 4 Norwich City A 0 – 0 13,820
20 December 1995 Round 4 replay Norwich City H 0 – 0 (aet)
2 – 3 (pens) 		8,736

Top scorers

P Player Position PL FAC LC Total
1 Scotland John McGinlay Striker 6 2 1 9
2 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Saša Ćurčić Midfielder 4 1 2 7
3 Netherlands Fabian de Freitas Striker 5 0 0 5
4= Iceland Guðni Bergsson Defender 4 0 0 4
4= England Alan Stubbs Defender 4 0 0 4

References

  1. ^ "Bolton Wanderers 1995-96". bwfcstats.com. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  2. ^ "FootballSquads - Bolton Wanderers - 1995/96".
  3. ^ Branagan was born in Fulham, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and would make his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in February 1997.
  4. ^ Davison was born in Sedgefield, England, but also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally and would make his international debut for Northern Ireland in April 1996.
  5. ^ McAteer was born in Birkenhead, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1994.
  6. ^ Coyle was born in Paisley, Scotland, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in April 1994.