Bolton Wanderers F.C. are an English professional association football club based in Horwich, Bolton. The club was founded as Christ Church F.C. in 1874, making them one of the oldest football clubs in England, and turned professional in 1877, before joining the Football League as founder members in 1888. Bolton Wanderers currently play in English Football League, the third tier of English football. They were relegated from the top tier (where they had been since 2001) in 2012 but in their time as a professional club have played in all four professional English leagues.

This list encompasses the major honours won by Bolton Wanderers and records set by the club, their managers and their players. The player records section includes details of the club's leading goalscorers and those who have made most appearances in first-team competitions. It also records notable achievements by Bolton Wanderers players on the international stage, and the highest transfer fees paid and received by the club. The club's attendance records, both at The Reebok Stadium, their home since 1997, and Burnden Park, their home between 1895 and 1997, are also included in the list.

The club have won the FA Cup four times, but not since 1958, and have spent the majority of their history in the top flight of English football. Bolton also hold the record for the most years in the top flight of English football without winning the title; 73 years in total. The club's record appearance maker is Eddie Hopkinson, who made 578 appearances between his debut in 1952 and retirement in 1970, and the club's record goalscorer is Nat Lofthouse, who scored 285 goals in 503 games between 1946 and 1960.

All stats accurate as of end of 2018–19 season.

Honours and achievements League Second Division / Championship (level 2) Champions: 1908–09, 1977–78, 1996–97 2nd place promotion: 1899–1900, 1904–05, 1910–11, 1934–35 Play-off winners: 1995, 2001

Third Division / League One (level 3) Champions: 1972–73 2nd place promotion: 1992–93, 2016–17

Fourth Division / League Two (level 4) 3rd place promotion: 1987–88, 2020–21

Cup FA Cup Winners: 1922–23, 1925–26, 1928–29, 1957–58 Runners-up: 1893–94, 1903–04, 1952–53

Football League Cup Runners-up: 1994–95, 2003–04

FA Charity Shield Winners: 1958

Football League Trophy Winners: 1988–89, 2022–23 Runners-up: 1985–86

Football League War Cup Winners: 1945

Reserves, youth, and others Premier League Asia Trophy (1) – 2005 Peace Cup Runners up (1) – 2007 Carlsberg Cup (1) – 2010 Lancashire Senior Cup (13) – 1886, 1891, 1912, 1922, 1925, 1927, 1932, 1934, 1939 (shared with Preston North End), 1948, 1989, 1991, 2025 Central League (2) – 1955, 1995 Premier Reserve League North (1) – 2006–07 Manchester Senior Cup (3) 1922, 1963, 2015 Professional Development League North (1) – 2017–18 Professional Development League National (1) – 2017–18 EFL Youth Alliance North (1): 2024–25 EFL Youth Alliance National (1): 2024–25 LFA Youth Cup (1): 2024–25

Players

All current players are in bold

Appearances Youngest first-team player: Ray Parry 15 years 267 days (v. Wolves, 13 October 1951). Oldest first-team player: Peter Shilton 45 years 239 days (v. Wolves, 15 May 1995). Most consecutive League appearances: 161 – Jim McDonagh, 2 October 1976 – 3 May 1980

Most appearances Competitive matches only. #NameCareerAppearances1 1952–19702 1965–19803 1922–19373 1997–20125 1960–19756 1947–19657 1910–19318 1970–19839 1946–196010 1952–1966

Goalscorers Most league goals in a season: Joe Smith, 38 goals in 1920–21 season. Most goals scored in a match: 5 Billy Struthers v Bootle, 4 November 1882 James Cassidy v Sheffield United 1 February 1890 Tony Caldwell v Walsall 10 September 1983

Top goalscorers Competitive matches only. #NameYearsTotal1 1946–19602 1908–19273 1920–19284 1929–19375 1928–19476 1945–19557 1966–19768 1927–19329 1973–19811982–19831983–19841987–198810 1992–1997

International Most capped player: Ricardo Gardner, 72 caps for Jamaica as a Bolton Wanderers player. 37 of his (then) 109 caps coming in 1997 and 1998 prior to signing with Bolton. He made three more after leaving in 2012. First player to play in a World Cup: Nat Lofthouse for England against Belgium on 17 June 1954. Most World Cup goals: Nat Lofthouse, 3 (1958).

World Cup participants This section lists all players who have played in a World Cup Finals game whilst playing for Bolton Wanderers F.C. NameNationalityWorld CupNat Lofthouse1954Eddie Hopkinson1958Tommy Banks1958Jason McAteer1994Per Frandsen1998Mark Fish1998Stig Tøfting2002Youri Djorkaeff2002Jared Borgetti2006Radhi Jaïdi2006Hidetoshi Nakata2006Lee Chung-Yong20102014Danny Shittu2010Vladimír Weiss2010Stuart Holden2010

European Championship participants This section lists all players who have played in a European Championship Finals game whilst playing for Bolton Wanderers F.C. NameNationalityEurosStelios Giannakopoulos20042008

Record transfer fees

Paid Bolton Wanderers's record signing is Johan Elmander, who signed for the club from Toulouse for £8.2 million in June 2008. The transfer also included Daniel Braaten, with that reportedly making the transfer worth 11m. This beat the previous record of £8.0 million, which the club paid Fenerbahce for Nicolas Anelka in 2006.

#NameFeeFromDateNotes1 Johan Elmander£8.2m (+player) ToulouseJune 20082 Nicolas Anelka£8.0m FenerbahçeAugust 20063= Gary Cahill£5.0m Aston VillaJanuary 20083= Fabrice Muamba£5.0m Birmingham CityJune 20085= El Hadji Diouf£4.0m LiverpoolJune 20055= David Ngog£4.0m LiverpoolAugust 20117= Grétar Steinsson£3.5m AZ Alkmaar January 20087= Dean Holdsworth£3.5m Wimbledon October 19977= Matthew Taylor£3.5m PortsmouthJanuary 2008

Progression of record fee paid The club's first £1,000 transfer came in 1911, when they signed Alf Bentley from Derby County. They made their first £100,000 signing in 1978 with the transfer of Alan Gowling from Newcastle United for £120,000 and their first £1,000,000 transfer when they signed Gerry Taggart from Barnsley in 1995.

DatePlayerBought fromFee1911 Alf BentleyDerby County£1,0001920 David JackPlymouth Argyle£3,5001921 Dick PymExeter City£5,0001928 Jack McClellandMiddlesbrough£6,8001948 Jim HernonLeicester City£14,8501951 Harold HassallHuddersfield Town£27,0001967 Gareth WilliamsCardiff City£50,0001967 Terry WhartonWolverhampton Wanderers£70,0001977 Frank WorthingtonLeicester City£90,0001978 Alan GowlingNewcastle United£120,0001978 Neil McNabTottenham Hotspur£250,0001979 Len CantelloWest Bromwich Albion£350,0001994 Fabian de FreitasFC Volendam£400,0001995 Chris FaircloughLeeds United£500,0001995 Gerry TaggartBarnsley£1,500,0001997 Robbie ElliottNewcastle United£2,500,0001997 Dean HoldsworthWimbledon£3,500,0002005 El Hadji DioufLiverpool£4,000,0002006 Nicolas AnelkaFenerbahçe£8,000,0002008 Johan ElmanderToulouse£8,250,000 (+player)

Received The largest fee that Bolton Wanderers have received for one of their players was the £15million that Chelsea paid for the services of Nicolas Anelka during the transfer window of January 2008. Four years later, Bolton received their second largest transfer fee, also from Chelsea, for defender Gary Cahill.

#NameFeeFromDateNotes1 Nicolas Anelka£15.0mChelseaJanuary 20082 Gary Cahill£7.0mChelseaJanuary 20123 Gary Madine£6.0mCardiff CityJanuary 20184= Jason McAteer£4.5mLiverpoolSeptember 19954= Alan Thompson£4.5mAston VillaJune 19986 Nathan Blake£4.25mBlackburn RoversOctober 19987= Saša Ćurčić£4.0mAston VillaAugust 19967= Claus Jensen£4.0mCharlton AthleticJuly 20007= Eiður Guðjohnsen£4.0mChelsea July 20007= Kevin Nolan£4.0mNewcastle United January 20097= Ali Al-Habsi£4.0mWigan Athletic July 2011

Club records

League highs and lows Most points in a season: 98 in 46 matches, First Division, 1996–97. Most home wins in a season: 18, 1924–25, 1972–73, 1992–93, 1996–97. Most home draws in a season: 11, 1979–80. Most home losses in a season: 15, 2018–19. Most home goals scored in a season: 63, 1934–35. Most home goals conceded in a season: 39, 2011–12. Most away wins in a season: 14, 2000–01 (15 including playoff final). Most away draws in a season: 10, 1986–87, 1996–97, 1998–99. Most away losses in a season: 19, 2015–16. Most away goals scored in a season: 40, 1996–97 (41 2000–01 including playoffs). Most away goals conceded in a season: 59, 1932–33. Most wins in a season: 28, 1996–97. Most draws in a season: 17, 1991–92. Most losses in a season: 30, 2018–19. Most goals scored in a season: 100 in 46 matches, First Division, 1996–97, including 2 own goals.Heroes, Heartbreakers & Headliners Bolton Wanderers F.C. The Official History 1877–2002 by Simon Marland pp.106, 306 Most goals conceded in a season: 92, 1932–33. Fewest home wins in a season: 4, 2011–12, 2018–19, 2019–20 (If including Cup matches, then only 2018–19 and 2019–20 with 5 wins each, 2011–12 has 7) Fewest home draws in a season: 0, 1988–89, 1890–91, 1904–05. Fewest home losses in a season: 0, 1910–11, 1920–21. Fewest home goals scored in a season: 18, 1893–94, 1897–98, 1902–03, 2018–19 Fewest home goals conceded in a season: 7, 1899–90. Fewest away wins in a season: 0, 1949–50, 1979–80, 2015–16. Fewest away draws in a season: 0, 1889–90, 1891–92. Fewest away losses in a season: 3, 1899–90, 1904–05, 1996–97. Fewest away goals scored in a season: 10, 1897–98. Fewest away goals conceded in a season: 16, 1904–05. Fewest wins in a season: 5, 1979–80. Fewest draws in a season: 1, 1889–90, 1890–91. Fewest losses in a season: 4, 1899–90, 1996–97. Fewest goals scored in a season: 27, 1897–98. Fewest goals conceded in a season: 25, 1899–90. Highest sum of best scores in different competitions: 20 in 2023–24 (8 in EFL trophy v Man Utd U21 (26 September), 7 in League 1 v Exeter City, 5 in FA Cup (25 November) v Harrogate T. (2 December)

Matches

Record wins Record League home win: 8–0 (v. Barnsley, 6 October 1934). Record League away win: 7–1 (v. Aston Villa, 26 December 1914). Record FA Cup home win: 13–0 (v. Sheffield United second round, 1 February 1890). Record FA Cup away win: 5–1 (v. Charlton Athletic third round, 14 January 1933). Record League Cup home win: 6–1 (v. Tottenham Hotspur fourth round, 27 November 1996). Record League Cup away win: 4–0 (v. Rochdale second round, 10 October 1973). Record Premier League home win: 5–0 (v. Stoke City, 6 November 2011. Record Premier League away win: 5–0 (v. Leicester City, 18 August 2001). Record competitive win: 14–0 (v. Wigan A.F.C., Lancashire Senior Cup first round, 9 October 1886).

Record defeats Record League home defeat: 0–6 (v. Manchester United, 25 February 1996). Record League away defeat: 0–7 (v. Burnley, Division One, 1 March 1890). 0–7 (v. Sheffield Wednesday, Division One, 1 March 1915). 0–7 (v. Manchester City, Division One, 21 March 1936). Record FA Cup home defeat: 0–5 (v. Bristol City, Round One, 7 February 1903). 0–5 (v. Manchester City, Round Five, 20 February 1937). Record FA Cup away defeat: 1–9 (v. Preston North End, Round Two, 10 December 1887). Record League Cup home defeat: 0–6 (v. Chelsea, Round Four replay, 8 November 1971). Record League Cup away defeat: 0–6 (v. Tottenham Hotspur, Round Five, 11 December 2001). Record Premier League home defeat: 0–6 (v. Manchester United, 25 February 1996). Record Premier League away defeat: 2–6 (v. Manchester City, 18 October 2003). Record loss at Wembley: 0–5 (v. Stoke City, 17 April 2011).

Record draws Highest scoring League draw: 4–4 (v. Blackburn Rovers, Division One, 8 December 1888). 4–4 (v. Stoke City, Division One, 15 October 1892). 4–4 (v. Middlesbrough, Division One, 9 December 1905). 4–4 (v. West Ham United, Division One, 26 March 1927). 4–4 (v. Portsmouth, Division One, 23 February 1929). 4–4 (v. West Bromwich Albion, Division One, 18 March 1980). 4–4 (v. Bradford City, Division Three, 17 September 1991).