The 2012–13 season was Bolton Wanderers first season in the Football League Championship since 2001 following their relegation from the Premier League. Bolton ultimately missed out on a play-off spot, being overtaken by Leicester City on the final day of the season, meaning Bolton spent the 2013–14 season in the Championship.
The season covered the period from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013.
Pre-season On 24 May, Bolton announced an initial ten fixtures to precede the 2012–13 season. These took in away games at League One sides Crewe Alexandra, Portsmouth, Tranmere Rovers and League Two sides Morecambe and Accrington Stanley. They also played five non league sides, Bamber Bridge, Radcliffe Borough, Chorley, Barrow and Halifax Town.Pre-Season Schedule Announced Bolton Wanderers F.C. 24 May 2012 All five of the latter games, along with the game at Accrington Stanley and another game at Daisy Hill which was announced on 2 August, were played by a Development squad. An additional game, the only one to be played at the Reebok Stadium, against Barcelona B, the reserve side of Barcelona, was announced on 29 June. On 6 June, a tour of Scotland was announced, with the team visiting Ayr United, Hamilton Academical and Falkirk.
Bolton began their pre-season games at Ayr United where they drew 1–1, Marcos Alonso scoring midway through the second half before Mark Roberts equalised for the home side. Three days later, Bolton travelled to Hamilton Academical where, after a quiet first half, Hamilton won the game with two quick goals through Andy Ryan and Stephen Hendrie. Bolton completed their Scottish tour with a trip to Falkirk four days later. Falkirk striker Lyle Taylor scored after just fifteen seconds, lobbing Ádám Bogdán, with Chris Eagles equalising 14 minutes later. The game finished as a draw, meaning that Bolton finished their time in Scotland without a win.
The club's first game after returning to England was against Crewe Alexandra. Crewe took the lead on thirteen minutes through Max Clayton, but Bolton equalised when Martin Petrov converted a penalty midway though the first half. With no further goals scored, Bolton still remained without a win during the pre season. The first win of the pre-season came in the following game, when two early goals from Chris Eagles and David Ngog, playing his first game after injury had kept him out of the previous fixtures, gave Bolton a 2–0 victory over Morecambe. This was followed by a 3–0 loss at Portsmouth, where the home side scored two goals through Kieran Djilali and Liam Lawrence, with Ashley Harris scoring a third in the second half. New signing Benik Afobe made his first appearance for Bolton as a substitute during the game. Afobe made his second appearance for the club, and scored a hat trick, in Bolton's penultimate pre season game, as they beat Tranmere Rovers 3–1, Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro replying for the home team. Bolton concluded their pre-season with a 2–2 draw at home at Barcelona B. The home side, playing their only pre-season game at The Reebok Stadium, twice came from behind, Marvin Sordell and a Sergi Gómez own goal cancelling out efforts by Cristian Lobato and Iván Balliu.
Reserves
Championship
The fixtures for the 2012–13 season were announced on 18 June at 09:00 BST, and revealed that Bolton would begin the season away from home at manager Owen Coyle's former club Burnley on 18 August 2012.Wanderers Start At Turf Moor Bolton Wanderers FC 12 June 2012 On 15 August, midfielder Fabrice Muamba announced his retirement, following his cardiac arrest earlier in the year.
August The season did not get off to the best of starts, with Bolton losing at Burnley. Goals from Martin Paterson and Charlie Austin gave the home side a 2–0 win. Keith Andrews and Benik Afobe made their debuts for Bolton, Andrews starting and Afobe coming on as a second-half substitute for Kevin Davies. This meant that Bolton began the season in the relegation zone, in twenty second place. Three days later, Bolton played their first home game of the season, against Derby County. After a goalless first half, Bolton took the lead through Kevin Davies with 13 minutes left before Chris Eagles doubled the lead in added time to give Bolton their first win of the season and move them to 14th in the table. The following Friday, Bolton played in front of the television cameras for the first time this season, at home against Nottingham Forest. Forest took the lead when Lewis McGugan scored from 30 yards out, but Eagles equalised shortly before half time after a Kevin Davies header came back off a post. Marvin Sordell gave Bolton the lead four minutes into the second half, before Andy Reid equalised for Forest, the game finishing as a 2–2 draw. After the weekend results, Bolton had climbed one place to 13th. Bolton's Player of the Month for August was Chris Eagles.
September Bolton began September away at Hull City on the first day of the month and took the lead through Chris Eagles' third goal of the season, a thirty five yard free kick. Sone Aluko scored an equaliser for the home side twelve minutes later before former Bolton player Abdoulaye Faye and Stephen Quinn scored two goals in quick succession shortly after half time to give Hull a 3–1 victory. Following their second defeat of the season, Bolton entered the first international break of the season in twentieth place in the division.
Bolton returned from the international break with a home fixture against Watford. A crowd of 16,608, Bolton's lowest league crowd since May 2001, saw Matt Mills score his first goal for the club early in the first half before Kevin Davies doubled the lead just before half time. Lloyd Doyley pulled one back for Watford, but Bolton held onto the lead and the victory took them up to 11th in the table. However, the next game saw them fall back to 15th as they lost 2–1 at Birmingham City. An early Leroy Lita goal was cancelled out by Chris Eagles just before half time, but Marlon King scored from the penalty spot soon after the restart to give the home side the win. The following Saturday, Bolton picked up their first away win of the season at Sheffield Wednesday. Marcos Alonso scored his first goal of the season late in the first half, but Wednesday replied with a second half penalty by Ross Barkley. However, Bolton claimed the win when Mark Davies, with his own first goal of the season, regained the lead almost immediately. The win took Bolton up to thirteenth position, but they failed to capitalize on this victory by losing 1–0 at home to Crystal Palace the following Saturday, Glenn Murray scoring the only goal of the game from the penalty spot after Zat Knight had fouled Wilfried Zaha. Bolton's Player of the Month for September was Chris Eagles again, winning it for the second month in a row.
October A home game against Leeds United followed three days later. Kevin Davies scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season, but another conceded penalty, converted by Luciano Becchio, and a Sam Byram goal gave Leeds the draw. Bolton's last game before the next international break was away at Millwall. The home side took the lead through Darius Henderson midway through the first half but Chris Eagles equalised early in the second before missing a penalty. Bolton were ultimately punished for this miss by Henderson, who scored his second in stoppage time, giving Millwall the win. This meant that Bolton entered the international break in 18th place.
Three days later, on 9 October, manager Owen Coyle was relieved of his duties by the club, with Academy Director Jimmy Phillips and head of academy coaching and development, and former club manager, Sammy Lee being placed in temporary charge. Their first game in temporary charge was against Bristol City on 20 October. The away side took the lead early in the first half with Steven Davies scoring an overhead kick. He followed this up with a second from the penalty spot on 20 minutes. Chris Eagles scored from a free-kick ten minutes later, his sixth of the season, to make the score 2–1 to Bristol City at half-time. Jay Spearing scored his first goal for the club midway through the second half to equalise and Martin Petrov scored with eight minutes to give Bolton a 3–2 win, which moved them up to 15th.
Bolton began a run of two away games on 23 October at Wolverhampton Wanderers with Phillips still in charge. Bolton took the lead through Benik Afobe's first league goal of the season but Wolves replied before half-time with two Kevin Doyle goals within a three-minute period. With time running out, former Wolves player Mark Davies scored in the first minute of stoppage time, his second of the season, to equalise. Despite getting a point, Bolton dropped a place in the table to 16th. Dougie Freedman was named Bolton manager on 25 October with Phillips remaining in charge of team affairs for Bolton's next game away against Middlesbrough on 27 October. Bolton took the lead through Lee Chung-yong's first goal of the season shortly before half-time but two goals from Scott McDonald in the second half gave Middlesbrough the win. Following this loss, Bolton dropped two more places in the table to 18th. Bolton's Player of the Month for October was again Eagles, winning the award three months in a row.
November After watching from the stands against Middlesbrough, Freedman took charge against league leaders Cardiff City on 3 November. Bolton fell behind in the 40th minute to a Craig Noone goal. In the second half, Freedman brought on David Ngog for captain Kevin Davies and Ngog had a goal incorrectly disallowed for offside before winning a penalty in the sixty ninth minute after being tripped by Kim Bo-kyung. Martin Petrov converted the penalty to equalise and then Ngog himself scored in the 74th minute to give Bolton a 2–1 lead before being sent off in stoppage time for a second bookable offence. Bolton held on for the three points, which moved them up one position in the table to seventeenth.
Bolton's next game was three days later against Leicester City with the game finishing goalless, which kept Bolton in 17th. An away game at Blackpool followed on 10 November, marking Freedman's first away game as manager. Bolton took the lead early in the first half with Mark Davies' third of the season, but Blackpool equalised three minutes later through Tom Ince. Bolton regained the lead late in the second half through Lee Chung-yong's second of the season but Blackpool equalised again ten minutes later, with Nathan Delfouneso scoring. The game finished 2–2 and the point kept Bolton in seventeenth position for the third match running. The following weekend, Bolton's played at home against Barnsley. Kevin Davies opened the scoring midway through the first half with his fifth goal of the Season but Barnsley equalised through Craig Davies midway in the second half. The game finished 1–1, Bolton's third consecutive draw, and the point kept Bolton in seventeenth position for the fourth match in succession.