Bolton: Wandering to Wembley

Words: Debs Parr

Images: Debs Parr

Saturday dawns a glorious sunny day over the arch at Wembley Stadium and promises to be the hottest day of the year so far.

It’s the League One playoff final which means a day full of colour, rituals, passion, rivalry; pride and Bolton Wanderers prepare to meet Stockport County to fight it out for the ultimate goal; promotion to the Championship.

The Green Man pub at the top of the hill looking down on Wembley Stadium opens at 8am, by 9.30am it is packed to the rafters and it’s one in one out.

The beer garden is teeming with three generations of football fans wearing a variety of football shirts and ephemera but mostly white as the Gaffer has requested.

©Debs Parr/ Terrace Edition. Bolton Wanderers supporters.

Smells of cigarettes and vape smoke mingle with sunscreen and hotdogs and the air is filled with never ending chants, laughter and banter as the pre match tension builds.

Bolton Wanderers Football Club are one of the founding twelve of the Football League and ‘The Trotters’ average attendance at the Reebok of over 21,000, befits the significance of the club. Yet these sorts of gate numbers means little when it comes to the lottery of the playoffs.

Wanderers last trip to Wembley for the League 1 playoffs in 2024 saw a 2-0 defeat to Oxford United and no shots on goal.

Bolton fans like myself are forever hopeful and resilient, we are used to hardship, we don’t expect much so when it happens it’s the greatest feeling in the world.

We live for those stand out ‘pinch me’ moments. I Iove how football brings people together, I like the rivalry and the banter, the songs, the roar of the crowd, the noise, the emotion, the overwhelming sense of belonging to something much bigger and greater than the game or the sport itself.

Inside Wembley stadium the decibel levels are electrifying and the ‘sea of white’ is a sight to behold.

Flags are held aloft and waved in time to the chants. No one was expecting a goal three minutes in and the white wall erupts.

It’s definitely a game of two halves and VAR which league one teams are not used to! Bolton ramp up the pressure in the second half and are rewarded by an own goal and an outstanding bicycle kick by Sam Dalby

©Debs Parr/ Terrace Edition. Bolton Wanderers supporters vs Stockport County. Wembley.

The Stockport fans have all but departed the stadium….a final penalty in injury time seals the deal and Bolton storm to victory 4-1 and secure their place back in the Championship after seven years.

In my football fan series ‘everything but the game’ I like to be in the thick of it so that people can view my images with the feeling of what it is like to be a football fan and experience the match day and raw emotions that I am able to witness and capture.

The images I take are all about the fans, football culture and bringing fans’ identity to the fore.

It’s safe to say as the sun sets over the white and blue Wembley arch; Bolton fans will be carrying on the celebrations in the coming weeks, and waiting with great anticipation for the fixtures to be announced.

But for now, as the Gaffer says, “Let's rest and recover and get ready to go and have a crack at the Championship.”