Bolton Wanderers

2008–09 season
Chairman	Phil Gartside
Manager	Gary Megson
Stadium	Reebok Stadium
Premier League	13th
FA Cup	3rd round
League Cup	2nd round
Top goalscorer	League: Kevin Davies (12) All: Kevin Davies (12)
Highest home attendance	26,021 v Manchester United (17 January 2009)
Lowest home attendance	19,884 v Portsmouth (20 December 2008)
Home colours Away colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The2008–09 season wasBolton Wanderers 10th season in thePremier League, and their eighth consecutive season in the top division ofEnglish football and covers the period from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009. As they failed to win the2008–09 Premier League title it was the 70th time that they have competed at the top level without winning the title, the most of any club.

The team kit for the 2008–09 season was produced byReebok who were also the shirt sponsor. Unlike previous seasons, the new kit did not debut in the final home game of the 07–08 season. The new home kit is predominantly white with a blue upper third going over the shoulders. The new away kit is predominantly yellow with the same style over the shoulders, this time green. Due to no other club playing in a kit similar to the away design, no third choice kit was needed.

Bolton signedFabrice Muamba from relegatedBirmingham City for £5m and broke the club transfer fee record to signJohan Elmander fromToulouse FC for £8.2m in a deal which sawDaniel Braaten move the other way as a makeweight.Riga Mustapha andDanny Shittu were also signed for undisclosed figures. BothIván Campo andStelios Giannakopoulos did not have their contracts renewed, leading Campo to write a public letter to Bolton fans on a website, expressing his regret at not being able to say goodbye to them.^[1] He would later joinIpswich Town whilst Stelios joinedHull City.Andranik Teymourian also left on a free, joiningFulham,Abdoulaye Méïté joined recently promotedWest Bromwich Albion for £2m andEl Hadji Diouf made good his promise that he would leave the club^[2] by joiningSunderland for £2.6m.

Bolton kicked off their pre-season programme by drawing 0–0 at local rivalsRochdale. Their next pre-season friendly, away toTranmere Rovers was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. A convincing 5–0 defeat ofDoncaster Rovers by a mostly first team squad was followed the next day by a mostly reserve squad beating local teamChorley 2–0. Pre-season was completed by a mini-tour ofGreece, drawing 1–1 against previousUEFA Cup opponentsAris Thessaloniki before losing toAEK Athens 1–0.

Macclesfield Town vBolton Wanderers

26 July 2008	Macclesfield Town	1–0	Bolton Wanderers	Moss Rose
	Hessey 70'	Report		Attendance: 1,023 Referee:Andre Marriner

Doncaster Rovers vBolton Wanderers

1 August 2008	Doncaster Rovers	0–5	Bolton Wanderers	Keepmoat Stadium
		Report	K.Davies 5' Elmander 11',72' Muamba 33' J.O'Brien 35'

Chorley vBolton Wanderers

2 August 2008	Chorley	0–2	Bolton Wanderers	Victory Park
		Report	Džemaili 56' Riga 85'	Attendance: 949

Aris F.C. vBolton Wanderers

4 August 2008	Aris F.C.	1–1	Bolton Wanderers	Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium
	Javito 90+2'	Report	McCann 81'

AEK Athens vBolton Wanderers

8 August 2008	AEK Athens	1–0	Bolton Wanderers	Olympic Stadium
	Hetemaj 19'	Report

Bolton got off to a winning start in the league opener at theReebok Stadium against newly promotedStoke City on 16 August, Gretar Steinsson and Kevin Davies scoring before Johan Elmander scored a debut goal in a 3–1 victory.

A week later Bolton travelled toNewcastle United but left with a 1–0 defeat. This was followed four days later by a home 2–1Carling Cup defeat toLeague One sideNorthampton Town, a result not helped by the sending off ofGary Cahill. Bolton's first goalless draw of the season followed whenWest Bromwich Albion visited The Reebok.

After an international break, Bolton returned to action by facingFulham atCraven Cottage but performed poorly in another 2–1 defeat, Kevin Davies scoring late on. Davies scored again a week later whenArsenal visited the Reebok Stadium but it was not enough in a 3–1 defeat. A third consecutive defeat came atPremier League championsManchester United, a converted penalty, given in controversial circumstances, one of the goals in a 2–0 defeat.^[3]

Bolton's second victory of the season came in the live game atWest Ham on 4 October, Gary Cahill and a thirty five-yard free kick from Matthew Taylor adding to Kevin Davies' fourth goal of the season. A week later the local derby againstBlackburn brought Bolton their second goalless draw.

The first reported murmurings of discontent amongst the fans against the manager followed a 2–0 defeat atTottenham Hotspur inHarry Redknapp's first game in charge of the home team on 26 October.^[4] and the team were jeered off after a last minute goal consigned them to another defeat on 29 October, 1–0 at home to Everton.^[5]

The pressure was eased somewhat with a 2–0 derby victory overManchester City on 2 November, a Richard Dunne own-goal adding to Ricardo Gardner's first league goal in six years. The match marked Jussi Jääskeläinen's 400th game for the club. A second successive win followed the week after, 1–0 away atHull City and although a 2–0 followed at home toLiverpool, two more victories away atMiddlesbrough andSunderland brought the manager his firstmanager of the month award in the Premier League.^[6]

Winning the award seemed to have a detrimental effect on the team as two successive defeats followed to high flyingChelsea andAston Villa. The club's only victory of the month, 2–1 at home toPortsmouth was followed by two more defeats, aBoxing Day loss away toLiverpool and two days later at home to local rivalsWigan Athletic.

The New Year commenced with an earlyFA Cup defeat away toSunderland. A week later Bolton held out for 84 minutes before losing 1–0 away atArsenal. Another conceded late goal at home toManchester United, this time in the 90th minute, made it four losses in a row but the run halted in the next game, a 2–2 draw away atBlackburn Rovers, now managed by former Bolton managerSam Allardyce, although Bolton had been two goals up with half an hour left. A similar fate almost befell the team in the next home game againstTottenham Hotspur,Darren Bent scoring twice in two minutes to cancel out early goals fromSébastien Puygrenier andKevin Davies. However, a late Davies goal gave Bolton their first win in more than a month.

The January transfer window saw three new players arrive and one player leave.Kevin Nolan, the team captain for three years, was sold to Newcastle United for £4,000,000. Kevin Davies replaced him as captain.Mark Davies arrived fromWolves for £1,200,000 and two loan signings, Puygrenier andAriza Makukula arrived fromZenit St. Petersburg andBenfica respectively.

Due to international fixtures and the club's early departure from the FA Cup, only two games were played in February, a 3–0 away defeat toEverton and a 2–1 victory overWest Ham, Bolton completing a double over the London side. Kevin Davies' goal in this game gave him his best ever goal haul for the season in league games in the top flight. He would go on to score twice more and finished the season as the club's leading marksman.

March saw four points collected, through a 1–0 victory overNewcastle United and a 1–1 draw atWest Bromwich. These results bookended two successive defeats, a 2–0 away defeat toStoke City and a 3–1 reverse toFulham.

In April, a 4–1 win overMiddlesbrough at the Reebok Stadium at the very beginning of the month would prove to be Bolton's last victory of the season. The week after, a visit toChelsea saw Bolton recover from four goals down to almost snatch a draw, an injury time shot byGary Cahill being cleared off the Chelsea line. A 1–0 result atPortsmouth was then followed by four successive draws stretching into May,Aston Villa,Sunderland andHull City taking points at the Reebok whilst a local derby atWigan Athletic. The season finished with a 1–0 derby defeat atManchester City

Bolton Wanderers vStoke City

16 August 2008	Bolton Wanderers	3–1	Stoke City	Reebok Stadium
15:00BST	Steinsson 34' K.Davies 41' Elmander 45'	Report	Fuller 90+3'	Attendance: 22,717 Referee:Chris Foy

Newcastle United vBolton Wanderers

23 August 2008	Newcastle United	1–0	Bolton Wanderers	St James' Park
15:00BST	Owen 71'	Report		Attendance: 47,711 Referee:Steve Bennett

Fulham vBolton Wanderers

13 September 2008	Fulham	2–1	Bolton Wanderers	Craven Cottage
15:00BST	Gera 15' Zamora 41'	Report	K.Davies 82'	Attendance: 23,656 Referee:Steve Tanner

Bolton Wanderers vArsenal

20 September 2008	Bolton Wanderers	1–3	Arsenal	Reebok Stadium
17:30BST	K.Davies 14'	Report	Eboué 26' Bendtner 27' Denílson 87'	Attendance: 22,694 Referee:Steve Bennett

Manchester United vBolton Wanderers

27 September 2008	Manchester United	2–0	Bolton Wanderers	Old Trafford
15:00BST	Ronaldo 60' (pen.) Rooney 77'	Report		Attendance: 75,484 Referee:Rob Styles

West Ham United vBolton Wanderers

5 October 2008	West Ham United	1–3	Bolton Wanderers	Boleyn Ground
13:30BST	Cole 69'	Report	K.Davies 30' Cahill 34' Taylor 86'	Attendance: 33,715 Referee:Mike Dean

Tottenham Hotspur vBolton Wanderers

26 October 2008	Tottenham Hotspur	2–0	Bolton Wanderers	White Hart Lane
15:00GMT	Pavlyuchenko 17' Bent 76' (pen.)	Report		Attendance: 35,507 Referee:Andre Marriner

Bolton Wanderers vEverton

29 October 2008	Bolton Wanderers	0–1	Everton	Reebok Stadium
20:00GMT		Report	Fellaini 90'	Attendance: 21,692 Referee:Phil Dowd

Bolton Wanderers vManchester City

2 November 2008	Bolton Wanderers	2–0	Manchester City	Reebok Stadium
16:00GMT	Gardner 77' Dunne 88' (o.g.)	Report		Attendance: 21,095 Referee:Mike Riley

Hull City vBolton Wanderers

8 November 2008	Hull City	0–1	Bolton Wanderers	KC Stadium
15:00GMT		Report	Taylor 50'	Attendance: 24,903 Referee:Alan Wiley

Bolton Wanderers vLiverpool

15 November 2008	Bolton Wanderers	0–2	Liverpool	Reebok Stadium
13:30GMT		Report	Kuyt 28' Gerrard 73'	Attendance: 24,893 Referee:Rob Styles

Middlesbrough vBolton Wanderers

22 November 2008	Middlesbrough	1–3	Bolton Wanderers	Riverside Stadium
15:00GMT	Pogatetz 77'	Report	K.Davies 8' Taylor 10' Elmander 78'	Attendance: 24,487 Referee:Martin Atkinson

Sunderland vBolton Wanderers

29 November 2008	Sunderland	1–4	Bolton Wanderers	Stadium of Light
15:00GMT	Cissé 11'	Report	Taylor 18' Cahill 21' Elmander 39',55'	Attendance: 35,547 Referee:Chris Foy

Bolton Wanderers vChelsea

6 December 2008	Bolton Wanderers	0–2	Chelsea	Reebok Stadium
15:00GMT		Report	Anelka 9' Deco 21'	Attendance: 22,023 Referee:Howard Webb

Aston Villa vBolton Wanderers

13 December 2008	Aston Villa	4–2	Bolton Wanderers	Villa Park
15:00GMT	Agbonlahor 25',67' K.Davies 40' (o.g.) Young 78'	Report	Elmander 17' K.Davies 86'	Attendance: 35,134 Referee:Alan Wiley

Bolton Wanderers vPortsmouth

20 December 2008	Bolton Wanderers	2–1	Portsmouth	Reebok Stadium
15:00GMT	Taylor 1' Gardner 3'	Report	Crouch 20'	Attendance: 19,884 Referee:Martin Atkinson

Liverpool vBolton Wanderers

26 December 2008	Liverpool	3–0	Bolton Wanderers	Anfield
15:00GMT	Riera 26' Keane 53',58'	Report		Attendance: 43,548 Referee:Alan Wiley

Bolton Wanderers vWigan Athletic

28 December 2008	Bolton Wanderers	0–1	Wigan Athletic	Reebok Stadium
14:00GMT		Report	Zaki 44' (pen.)	Attendance: 23,726 Referee:Phil Dowd

Arsenal vBolton Wanderers

10 January 2009	Arsenal	1–0	Bolton Wanderers	Emirates Stadium
15:00GMT	Bendtner 84'	Report		Attendance: 60,068 Referee:Chris Foy

Bolton Wanderers vManchester United

17 January 2009	Bolton Wanderers	0–1	Manchester United	Reebok Stadium
15:00GMT		Report	Berbatov 90'	Attendance: 26,021 Referee:Andre Marriner

Blackburn Rovers vBolton Wanderers

28 January 2009	Blackburn Rovers	2–2	Bolton Wanderers	Ewood Park
20:00GMT	Warnock 66' McCarthy 87'	Report	Taylor 15' K.Davies 35'	Attendance: 25,205 Referee:Mike Dean

Bolton Wanderers vTottenham Hotspur

31 January 2009	Bolton Wanderers	3–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Reebok Stadium
15:00GMT	Puygrenier 31' K.Davies 64',87'	Report	Bent 73',75'	Attendance: 21,575 Referee:Phil Dowd

Everton vBolton Wanderers

7 February 2009	Everton	3–0	Bolton Wanderers	Goodison Park
15:00GMT	Arteta 40' (pen.) Jô 49',90+4'	Report		Attendance: 33,791 Referee:Peter Walton

Bolton Wanderers vWest Ham United

21 February 2009	Bolton Wanderers	2–1	West Ham United	Reebok Stadium
15:00GMT	Taylor 10' K.Davies 11'	Report	Parker 66'	Attendance: 21,245 Referee:Steve Tanner

Bolton Wanderers vNewcastle United

1 March 2009	Bolton Wanderers	1–0	Newcastle United	Reebok Stadium
13:00GMT	Gardner 47'	Report		Attendance: 20,763 Referee:Alan Wiley

Stoke City vBolton Wanderers

4 March 2009	Stoke City	2–0	Bolton Wanderers	Britannia Stadium
19:45GMT	Beattie 14' Fuller 73'	Report		Attendance: 26,319 Referee:Mike Dean

Bolton Wanderers vFulham

14 March 2009	Bolton Wanderers	1–3	Fulham	Reebok Stadium
15:00GMT	K.Davies 45+1'	Report	Johnson 42' S.Davies 56' Kamara 88'	Attendance: 22,117 Referee:Rob Styles

West Bromwich Albion vBolton Wanderers

21 March 2009	West Bromwich Albion	1–1	Bolton Wanderers	The Hawthorns
15:00GMT	Shittu 82' (o.g.)	Report	Taylor 67'	Attendance: 25,530 Referee:Howard Webb

Bolton Wanderers vMiddlesbrough

4 April 2009	Bolton Wanderers	4–1	Middlesbrough	Reebok Stadium
15:00BST	K.Davies 8' Cahill 44' Taylor 78' Gardner 84'	Report	O'Neil 38'	Attendance: 20,819 Referee:Alan Wiley

Chelsea vBolton Wanderers

11 April 2009	Chelsea	4–3	Bolton Wanderers	Stamford Bridge
15:00BST	Ballack 40' Drogba 48',63' Lampard 60' (pen.)	Report	A.O'Brien 70' Basham 74' Taylor 78'	Attendance: 41,096 Referee:Peter Walton

Portsmouth vBolton Wanderers

18 April 2009	Portsmouth	1–0	Bolton Wanderers	Fratton Park
15:00BST	Kanu 78'	Report		Attendance: 20,158 Referee:Phil Dowd

Bolton Wanderers vAston Villa

25 April 2009	Bolton Wanderers	1–1	Aston Villa	Reebok Stadium
15:00BST	Cohen 60'	Report	Young 43'	Attendance: 21,709 Referee:Lee Probert

Bolton Wanderers vHull City

16 May 2009	Bolton Wanderers	1–1	Hull City	Reebok Stadium
15:00BST	Steinsson 78'	Report	Fagan 47'	Attendance: 25,085 Referee:Peter Walton

Manchester City vBolton Wanderers

24 May 2009	Manchester City	1–0	Bolton Wanderers	City of Manchester Stadium
16:00BST	Felipe Caicedo 8'	Report		Attendance: 47,202 Referee:Mark Clattenburg

Sunderland vBolton Wanderers

3 January 2009	Sunderland	2–1	Bolton Wanderers	Stadium of Light
15:00GMT	Jones 57' Cissé 67'	Report	Smolarek 79'	Attendance: 20,685 Referee:Steve Bennett

Bolton Wanderers vNorthampton Town

26 August 2008	Bolton Wanderers	1–2	Northampton Town	Reebok Stadium
20:00BST	Nolan 82'	Report	Akinfenwa 22' (pen.),28'	Attendance: 7,136 Referee:Graham Laws

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Ádám Bogdán	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF	Nicky Hunt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
3	DF	Jlloyd Samuel	38	0	1	0	1	0	40	0	3	0
4	MF	Kevin Nolan	20	0	1	0	1	1	22	1	10	0
5	DF	Gary Cahill	32	3	1	0	0	0	33	3	1	1
6	MF	Fabrice Muamba	38	0	1	0	1	0	40	0	6	0
7	MF	Matthew Taylor	34	10	1	0	0	0	35	10	4	0
8	U	Joey O'Brien	7	0	0	0	1	0	8	0	1	0
9	FW	Johan Elmander	29	5	1	0	0		30	5	1	0
10	FW	Ebi Smolarek	13	0	1	1	0	0	14	0	1	0
11	MF	Ricardo Gardner	28	4	1	0	1	0	30	4	1	0
12	GK	Ian Walker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	FW	Kevin Davies	38	12	1	0	1	0	40	12	4	0
15	DF	Grétar Steinsson	37	3	1	0	1	0	39	3	8	0
16	MF	Mark Davies	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
17	MF	Riga Mustapha	18	0	1	0	1	0	20	0	1	0
18	FW	Heiðar Helguson	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
18	DF	Sébastien Puygrenier	7	1	0	0	0	0	7	1	1	0
19	MF	Gavin McCann	33	0	0	0	1	0	34	0	8	1
20	FW	Ricardo Vaz Tê	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
21	FW	Ariza Makukula	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	1	0
22	GK	Jussi Jääskeläinen	38	0	1	0	1	0	40	0	3	0
23	MF	Blerim Džemaili	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF	Danny Shittu	9	0	1	0	1	0	11	0	2	0
25	MF	Tamir Cohen	4	1	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	0
26	GK	Ali Al-Habsi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	DF	James Sinclair	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF	Jarosław Fojut	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	FW	Zoltán Harsányi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	U	Chris Basham	11	0	0	0	0	0	11	1	0	0
31	DF	Andy O'Brien	34	1	1	0	1	0	36	1	5	0
35	FW	Tope Obadeyi	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
43	FW	Nathan Woolfe	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
–	–	Own goals	–	1	–	0	–	0	–	1

Statistics accurate as of match played 24 May 2009

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
1 July 2008	MF	Fabrice Muamba	Birmingham City	£5,000,000[7]
1 July 2008	FW	Johan Elmander	Toulouse	near £10,000,000[8]
28 July 2008	MF	Riga Mustapha	Levante	£360,000[9]
6 August 2008	DF	Danny Shittu	Watford	£2,160,000[10]
26 January 2009	MF	Mark Davies	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£540,000[11]

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
1 July 2008	DF	Mark Ellis	Torquay United	Free
1 July 2008	FW	Johann Smith	Toronto FC	Free[12]
1 July 2008	MF	Stelios Giannakopoulos	Hull City	Free[13]
1 July 2008	MF	Iván Campo	Ipswich Town	Free[14]
1 July 2008	MF	Andranik Teymourian	Fulham	Free[15]
1 July 2008	MF	Daniel Braaten	Toulouse	p/x[16]
28 July 2008	MF	El Hadji Diouf	Sunderland	£2,500,000[17]
10 August 2008	DF	Abdoulaye Méïté	West Bromwich Albion	£2,000,000[18]
11 December 2008	GK	Ian Walker	Released	Free[19]
2 January 2009	FW	Heiðar Helguson	Queens Park Rangers	Undisclosed[20]
30 January 2009	MF	Kevin Nolan	Newcastle United	£4,000,000[21]
12 February 2009	DF	Jarosław Fojut	Śląsk Wrocław	Undisclosed[22]

Date from	Date to	Pos.	Name	From
29 August 2008	30 June 2009	FW	Ebi Smolarek	Racing de Santander[23]
9 January 2009	30 June 2009	DF	Sébastien Puygrenier	Zenit Saint Petersburg[24]
16 January 2009	30 June 2009	FW	Ariza Makukula	Benfica[25]

Date from	Date to	Pos.	Name	To
1 September 2008	30 June 2009	MF	Blerim Džemaili	Torino[26]
3 November 2008	31 December 2008	DF	Nicky Hunt	Birmingham City[27][28]
13 November 2008	15 February 2009	FW	Nathan Woolfe	Wrexham[29]
28 November 2008	1 January 2009	FW	Heiðar Helguson	Queens Park Rangers[30]

Supplier:Reebok
Sponsor(s):Reebok

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