Bolton road trip

By European Football
August 26 2005

Bolton Wanderers 2 Newcastle United 0. Or perhaps subtitled ‘yes we have no attackers, we have no attackers today.’ Unlike the previous game at Arsenal, which was done on the hop the planning to go to Bolton was actually done on the last day of the season, before the fixture list even came out.

I was sitting in a bar in Newcastle with an old University friend of mine who had come up for the game with Chelsea and we were discussing the important business of who’s round it was, and which stripper was more likely to blow us out first (any hopes of not being blown out receded many years ago). When my friend Darren suggested that I come down to his place and watch the Bolton match.

Now Darren is a good lad, one of the best, we were joint participants in drinking our way through University, but he is one of those people I never truly understand, an adoptive Geordie.

He chose to follow Newcastle, hailing originally from Manchester and he chose to follow them in the 80s, if nothing else I think this hints at a masochistic streak, but never the less he can hold his beer and knows his football.

I had work to do on this trip, so I had to forego the dubious pleasures of the van, for a rather more comfortable car, but it did mean my drinking was limited, still no others farting but myself, which I always take as a bit of a bonus.

Now Bolton no doubt has many fine and beautiful bits to it, wonderful bits of architecture and pleasant open spaces, but if it has I missed them all, really I have no idea how much it would cost someone for me to re-locate to Bolton, but I would guess something in the low trillions.

But it does have beer, and the people for the most part are friendly enough, I met with Darren who’s wife kindly provided food, and we went off to the pub where I was meeting up with some of the lads travelling down in the van from Tyneside.

And to be honest that was about the highlight of the night, the match was dreadful, we never looked likely to score and during the second half I worked out that this season already I had travelled somewhere in the region of a thousand miles, and I am yet to see a goal.

It made you think back fondly to those days under Keegan, free flowing football, real class. But that was a different time, and if we are ever to get back to seriously challenging at this sort of standard again, then serious investment is needed.

The arrival of Luque is welcome, more than welcome, but we still need another, whether its Anelka, Owen or someone as not yet mentioned we still need more.

Bolton, for their part are a tidy side, who big Sam has done a good job moulding and I would think a European place should be comfortably theirs again.