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Bolton Wanderers were formed in 1874 by Thomas Ogden, a school teacher and were to begin with called Christ Church FC. After a discussion with the vicar, who objected to meetings being held in the school without his presence, the club moved its base to a local public house in 1877 and adopted the name of Bolton Wanderers. Four years later the club moved to a new ground and entered the FA Cup for the first time. Season tickets were made available at a guinea (£1.05) each . Although eclipsed by local rivals Blackburn Rovers, Bolton built a strong name for themselves within the county and in 1886 they won the Lancashire Cup, as well as the Bolton and Derbyshire Charity Cups. On the strength of their achievements, Bolton were asked to join the Football League in 1888. That same year, the club adopted what became their famous plain white football shirts and dark blue knickers . Previously the club had turned out in a motley assemblage including a unique white jersey with red spots as well as red, navy and white stripes.
Bolton played well in the League and in 1894 reached their first FA Cup final. Relegation became a regular event in the Edwardian period but on each affair the club bounced back more or less straight away . The 1920′s were a golden era for the club which brought three FA Cup wins in 1923 (the renowned “Wembley white horse final”) 1926 and 1929. The team adopted a simplified version of Bolton’s coat of arms in 1921 and this continued to appear on the home football shirt until the forties (although some team photographs show the crest was not always present). The reason for the inclusion of an elephant in the design are obscure but date from around 1799 and elephants appear on buildings all over Bolton.
During the nineteen thirties Bolton played out two seasons in Division Two but otherwise they continued as a reliable if unambitious Division One side, with an unbroken spell in the First Division from 1935 to 1964.
Immediately after the 2nd World War , black shorts were worn alongside the white football shirts, maybe because post-war austerity meant these were easier to get hold of than the traditional navy ones. It appears that the traditional colours were restored in 1950 when the club also adopted their own crest, a design that took its inspiration from the older version but which now incorporated the club’s initials as well as a Lancashire rose. This was dropped in 1966, when crests were considered old-fashioned .
My goal here is to talk about not only the game of soccer itself but also getting in shape for the soccer season.
