From Colin Todd’s 1995/96 and 1997/98 Premier League sides through to Sam Allardyce’s thrice consecutive top 8 finishers and Gary Megson’s (now Owen Coyle’s) strugglers, Bolton Wanderers have had some pretty horrible kits - a crime not unique to them, admittedly, given the collective loss of plot apparently suffered by kit designers across the country at the beginning of the 1980s. But there have been some smart number amongst the dross.
Using the Premier League era as our source, Sport.co.uk picks the best and worst Bolton Wanderers kits to have coloured Burnden Park and the Reebok Stadium over this period…
BOLTON WANDERERS’ BEST: 2001-2003 home kit
This triumph of simplicity is a winning nod to Bolton kits of yore and such were its magical powers that it actually inspired Michael Ricketts to become a goal machine for a season. Stockings aside, it is pleasingly similar to the getup in which the Trotters won three FA Cups in the 1920s and it eschews the use of red which, despite being the colour of their first kit as Christ Church FC in 1871, has tended to over-complicate other Bolton kits of the modern era.
Classic moment: April 2003 – Jay-Jay Okocha scores the all-important goal as Wanderers beat West Ham United 1-0 at the Reebok Stadium, a win that would see them stay up at the Hammers’ expense and set them up for the relative success of the following three seasons.
Suggested name & number: Djorkaeff, 2
BOLTON WANDERERS’ WORST: 2004-2006 away kit
Why the belt across the chest? Was it a girdle for Kevin Davies’ man-boobs? What were they thinking? It would have been ok without it. With it, it’s just another hideous example of why kit designers MUST resist the temptation to justify their employment by saying “let’s do something a little different”. Shame on you, Reebok.
Classic moment: Er…none, really. Bolton only really had cause to wear this abomination at Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur, and they weren’t happy hunting grounds for the Trotters over this period.
Suggested name and number: Campo, 16