Bolton Wanderers crest

Bolton Wanderers

Value$50MHeartbreak#7517.1

Bolton, Manchester · England · Championship

Major cups
4
last 1958
Top-4 finishes
8

Power-ranking history

Rank (1 = best)1561Score (per-season normalised)0.00.51.059/6064/6569/7074/7579/8084/8589/9094/9599/0004/0509/10

Against expectation

Every English top-flight match this club has played, scored against the odds an Elo rating gave it before kick-off. Over 73 seasons from 1888-89 to 2011-12 it has fallen short of them by −4.3 match points.

1888-89 to 2011-12one bar per season · height in match points

Best season against expectation
1958-59 +9.1 league pts
50 points on 40.9 expected as Bolton Wanderers
Worst season against expectation
1995-96 −10.8 league pts
29 points on 39.8 expected as Bolton Wanderers

Season points use that season’s own scoring, two for a win before 1981-82 and three after; the bars use match points so the whole series is comparable. The rating only starts telling you much after about 1960. Before that, knowing the era’s home-and-away split is almost as good as knowing the teams.

Manchester against expectation →How this is measured →

Who controls the club

The entity that holds control today, one per franchise; co-controllers and minority holders are listed, never summed.

How this is measured

Exactly one control entity is recorded per franchise, so a portfolio can never count a club twice. Co-controllers and minority holders are shown as published and carry no weight in any total.

The chip names the evidence. Sourced: a primary source is linked (league, club, filing or tier-one outlet). Cross-checked: matched against the ownership-change sweep. Contested: disputed or mid-sale. Rows are reviewed weekly.

Stakes are as published, often only “majority”, and are not pro-rated. A record of control is not a claim about anyone’s intent or conduct.

Who controls the clubFootball Ventures (Whites) Ltd (Sharon Brittan)
Football Ventures (Whites) Ltd (Sharon Brittan)consortium· 92%
Sourcedas of 24 Sep 2026

Minority holders: British Business Bank (8%, converted Future Fund loan)

Football Ventures (Whites) Ltd, chaired by Sharon Brittan, completed its takeover on 28 August 2019.

Football Ventures (Whites) Ltd (Sharon Brittan) on the owners board →

Greatest games

Bolton Wanderers's top matches by the club Game Score: closeness, stakes, quality and upset over one unified rating of league and European play. H, A and N mark home, away and a neutral venue; a ★ is a curated all-time classic (tap it for the model's own score).All-time board.

1
1953-05-02 · FA Cup · Final
77.0
game score
2
1926-04-24 · FA Cup · Final
72.0
game score
3
1935-03-02 · FA Cup · Quarterfinals
71.8
game score
4
1923-03-24 · FA Cup · Semifinals
71.5
game score
5
1904-04-23 · FA Cup · Final
70.4
game score
6
1915-03-27 · FA Cup · Semifinals
69.5
game score
7
1894-03-10 · FA Cup · Semifinals
68.8
game score
8
1890-02-15 · FA Cup · Round 3
68.6
game score
9
1929-02-16 · FA Cup · Round 5
68.3
game score
10
1899-04-29 · First Division
68.0
game score

Footprint

Tiers played
L1, L2, L3, L4
Top-flight (L1) seasons
73
Lower-tier league seasons
54
First season
1889
Most recent season
2026

The Heartbreak Index17.1 · #75

The Damned · Major trophy, 1958

17.1
Heartbreak
#75
of 1,138 clubs
#31
in Football
14.6
agony · 2.5 despair
The clocks
  • Major trophy since 19589.1
  • Major final appearance since 20043.0
Priced pangs
  • The Administration · 2019 · 0.70 pangs
    Hours from expulsion from the Football League; near-death of a founder member
Heaviest wounds

relegated from the top flight, 2012 · relegated from the top flight, 1998 · relegated from the top flight, 1996 · relegated from the top flight, 1980

One formula, every club the site covers. See the whole board →

YouTube

+69,711
views gained since 23 Oct 2026
+100
subscribers gained since 23 Oct 2026

Open the official channel on YouTube

Calculated by Citizen of Nowhere from YouTube channel statistics, as of 3 Nov 2026. Not part of the Fan Attention Index. Not ranked.

Data from YouTube API Services · YouTube Terms of Service · How we use YouTube data

Season-by-season

Most recent season first. Covers Levels 1 through 5 of the English pyramid. Rows tagged "national playoff" are pre-modern formats where the workbook records only playoff participants, not round-robin standings.

2027
Championship (2) · P19● live
13 P · 4-2-7 · 18:26 · -8
14
pts
2026
League One (3) · P5↑
46 P · 19-18-9 · 70:52 · +18
75
pts
2025
League One (3) · P8
46 P · 20-8-18 · 67:70 · -3
68
pts
2024
League One (3) · P3PO
46 P · 25-12-9 · 86:51 · +35
87
pts
2023
League One (3) · P5
46 P · 23-12-11 · 62:36 · +26
81
pts
2022
League One (3) · P9
46 P · 21-10-15 · 74:57 · +17
73
pts
2021
League Two (4) · P3↑
46 P · 23-10-13 · 59:50 · +9
79
pts
2020
League One (3) · P23↓
34 P · 5-11-18 · 27:66 · -39
26
pts
2019
Championship (2) · P23↓
45 P · 8-8-29 · 29:77 · -48
32
pts
2018
Championship (2) · P21
46 P · 10-13-23 · 39:74 · -35
43
pts
2017
League One (3) · P2↑
46 P · 25-11-10 · 68:36 · +32
86
pts
2016
Championship (2) · P24↓
46 P · 5-15-26 · 41:81 · -40
30
pts
Domestic Cup Finals

Most recent first. Every domestic cup final the club has played, including losses. Scheduled finals (date not yet passed) are flagged.

2004
League Cup
Runner-up
1995
League Cup
Runner-up
1958
FA Cup
Won
1958
Community Shield
Won
1953
FA Cup
Runner-up
1929
FA Cup
Won
1926
FA Cup
Won
1923
FA Cup
Won
1904
FA Cup
Runner-up
1894
FA Cup
Runner-up
European competition appearances

Most recent first. One row per entry showing the deepest round reached. A Cup Winner badge marks tournaments the club won: gold for the European Cup / Champions League, silver for every other UEFA or Intercontinental trophy.

2007-08
UEFA Cup(UC)
Round of 16
2005-06
UEFA Cup(UC)
Group stage