The 2013–14 season was Bolton Wanderers' second consecutive season in the Football League Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in 2012.
It covered the period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014.
Pre-season On 29 May, the club announced a new shirt sponsorship deal with pay day loan company QuickQuid, replacing 188BET who sponsored the club's shirts for the previous two seasons. The deal sparked protests from fans and local politicians alike, with a petition asking the club to rethink the decision reaching over a thousand signatures within just over twenty four hours. Bolton South East MP, Yasmin Qureshi, called the deal "completely wrong" and joined fellow local MPs David Crausby and Julie Hilling, alongside Bolton Council leader Cliff Morris and Bolton at Home chief executive Jon Lord in calling upon the club to reconsider the decision.
Two days later, on 31 May, it was confirmed that former captain Kevin Davies would be given a testimonial, and that the decision had been ratified by the Football League.
On 5 June 2013, Bolton announced that they would no longer be entering into a sponsorship agreement with QuickQuid due to "the adverse reaction to the sector of business in which the sponsor operated". In the same announcement, Bolton announced that their new shirt sponsor would be FibrLec, who work with the town's university. FibrLec are a new Bolton-based sustainable energy company that specialise in commercialising the university's innovative smart materials.
On 17 May 2013, Bolton announced a total of eight pre-season fixtures split between the first team and a Bolton XI. After travelling to the south of Spain for a week-long training camp on 7 July 2013, Bolton returned to play against Rotherham United, a game they lost 2–1 despite taking the lead through Marvin Sordell. They next played Shrewsbury Town, to whom Tom Eaves was on loan towards the end of the 2012–13 season. The game ended in a 3–3 draw, with a Sordell brace and a goal from Chris Eagles. The penultimate game was at Carlisle United where Bolton lost 1–0 after an early goal. Bolton announced their home pre-season friendly on 3 June 2013, facing Real Betis on 26 July at the Reebok Stadium. Bolton lost their final pre-season friendly 2–0 courtesy of goals from Jorge Molina and Joan Verdú either side of half-time.
A Bolton XI played against Skelmersdale United, winning 1–0 through a Josh Vela penalty. The development squad also played against Chorley for the Harold Taylor Memorial Trophy. Bolton won 2–1 with goals from new signing Gary Fraser and Tom Youngs. This was followed by a match against F.C. United of Manchester at Bury's Gigg Lane. The game ended in a 1–1 draw with Conor Wilkinson grabbing Bolton's goal. The development squad's next game of pre-season came away at Chester. With first team players such as Craig Davies, Tyrone Mears and Matt Mills featuring, Bolton could only secure a stalemate at the Exacta Stadium. The squad's penultimate pre-season game finished with a win for the Whites as a Tom Eaves in the second half settled the affair. The Bolton XI finished their pre-season preparations with a win over Stockport County at Edgeley Park.
At a fans' forum held at the Reebok Stadium on 29 July, manager Dougie Freedman confirmed that Zat Knight had been made team captain for the forthcoming season. On the same day, the club website confirmed that Stuart Holden had torn his anterior cruciate ligament in his right leg while playing for the United States in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final against Panama. This also meant that Holden was the third Bolton player to suffer an ACL injury in 2013, alongside Mark Davies and Joe Riley.
Reserves
Championship
The fixtures for the 2013-14 Football League Championship season were released on 19 June 2013. However, on 18 June the Football League announced six opening day fixtures, all involving the eight founder members who are currently playing in the Football League, as part of the league's 125th anniversary celebrations.
They will finish the season at the Reebok Stadium, playing Birmingham City on 3 May 2014.
August For the second consecutive season, Bolton visited fellow founder members Burnley at Turf Moor on the opening day of the season. After falling behind to a Danny Ings shot that deflected off David Wheater in the 26th minute, the goal eventually being given to Ings by the Football League, Bolton equalised through Darren Pratley in the 37th minute. No further goals were scored to give Bolton a draw in their first match of the season. Bolton's first home game of the season was against relegated Reading. Darren Pratley got his second goal in as many league games to put Bolton in the lead, but Reading equalised through a Nick Blackman penalty early in the second half. On 17 August Bolton travelled to the City Ground to face Billy Davies' Nottingham Forest. Bolton conceded after two minutes to a Jamie Mackie goal, which was followed by two further goals in the second half for Nottingham Forest to hand Bolton their first defeat of the season, with Darren Pratley being sent off during the match. Bolton's second home game of the season came against QPR, who had been relegated from the Premier League the previous season. The game was preceded by the unveiling of a statue of Nat Lofthouse outside the Reebok Stadium. After a goalless first half, QPR edged ahead through Andy Johnson in the 54th minute. This was Bolton's first home loss in 2013, ending a 12-game unbeaten home run, and left them without a win in the new season. Bolton's winless run continued against local rivals Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, where they fell to a 4–1 loss. This left Bolton at the foot of the table going into September.
September At home to Leeds United, Bolton conceded to an early Luke Varney goal from a corner and failed to respond; with Bolton registering only one shot on target throughout the match. The loss, Bolton's fourth in a row, left them winless in the new season, though they moved off the foot of the table courtesy of Millwall's poorer goal difference. Despite halting their four-game losing run with a 2–2 draw in their next game against Derby County, Bolton slipped to the bottom of the table again as Millwall beat Blackpool. Defender Alex Baptiste scored his second goal of the season to put Bolton ahead on five minutes before Johnny Russell scored two to put Derby in front. Chris Eagles equalised after forty minutes to earn Bolton the point. In their eighth match, Bolton faced Brighton & Hove Albion at Falmer Stadium. After taking the lead through a Lee Chung-Yong cross that deflected off David López, Bolton went in at half-time a goal to the good. However, after conceding three goals in four minutes in the second half, Bolton left Brighton with no points. In their final game of September, Bolton faced the Glovers, Yeovil Town. Yeovil took the lead after 'keeper Ádám Bogdán spilled an Ed Upson shot before Alex Baptiste headed in his third goal of the season in the 90th minute to equalise and push Bolton off the foot of the table, with Barnsley dropping below them.
October Aiming to finally get their first win of the season, Bolton kicked off at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road. Striker Jermaine Beckford hit the woodwork, while Kevin McNaughton and Neil Danns made their debuts and Liam Feeney earned his first start, but Bolton could not break the deadlock and the game finished 0–0, giving Bolton just their third clean sheet away from home since their win against QPR on the opening day of the 2011–12 season and ending Blackpool's season-long run of scoring in every match. After naming an unchanged side for the game against Birmingham City, Bolton took the lead with Jermaine Beckford's first league goal of the season before loanee Neil Danns scored against his former club to double the lead. Bolton were pegged back by substitute Nikola Žigić's header which looped over Ádám Bogdán, but held on to earn their first win of the season. Žigić's goal was later credited to Lee Novak. After the international break, Bolton played host to Sheffield Wednesday, the only team in the league without a win. Jermaine Beckford followed up his goal in the previous game by opening the scoring but Alex Baptiste put through his own net for Wednesday to equalise. In the last five minutes, Wednesday's José Semedo was sent off for a tackle on Jay Spearing but Bolton were unable to capitalise on the advantage as the match ended 1–1. The following match took place against Ipswich Town, with Bolton looking to win at home for the first time. After taking the lead through a free-kick taken by Medo Kamara, David McGoldrick equalised for Ipswich, leaving Bolton five games unbeaten but just one place above the relegation zone.
November Bolton first game of November came against Bournemouth at the Goldsands Stadium. Late in the first half, David Ngog rounded Bournemouth 'keeper Lee Camp to open the scoring. Bolton held out for the second half until Jermaine Beckford scored his fourth goal of the season in the 90th minute to seal the win which left Bolton with a six-match unbeaten run with four draws and two wins. Bolton's next game against Millwall extended that run with their first home win of the season as Robert Hall, Jermaine Beckford and André Moritz all scored past David Forde in a 3–1 victory. Extending their unbeaten run to eight matches and earning their third consecutive away win, Bolton edged past Watford at Vicarage Road in their next match. When Manuel Almunia dropped a Neil Danns cross, Jermaine Beckford was there to score his fifth goal in six games and give Bolton the three points. On the final day of November, Bolton travelled to the Riverside Stadium to face Middlesbrough for new manager Aitor Karanka's first home game for Boro. The match was decided by two penalties; Grant Leadbitter scoring his after Tim Ream fouled Marvin Emnes in the box, before substitute André Moritz won a penalty only for Jermaine Beckford to miss. This 1–0 loss ended Bolton's eight-match unbeaten run.
December