When was the last time?

The 2020/21 season has been to say the least, weird. The first full season to be played with full Covid-19 regulations in place, fans across the country, from Premier to Non League, have had to settle for watching their teams play to desolate stands from the comfort of their armchairs.

For some Bolton Wanderers supporters, this season has been the first watching our team play in the fourth tier of English football since 1988. For others, myself included, the first time ever. The drastic decline of our club over the past few years has been incomprehensible, and frankly in recent times, enough has been said about K*n Anders*n and his toxic reign to leave a bitter taste in the mouth of any fan for a lifetime. We’ve had a lot to endure. From the Wembley loss against Stoke up to today, there have been few peaks and many troughs.

New ownership and management wiped the slate clean for our 2020/21 season, but HMS Piss the League remained fully anchored in the harbour. Our start to the campaign was rough to say the least, and many doubted whether the current set up was the one to take us forward. Which, when you consider the turbulence and abuse of trust witnessed in the last decade or so, it’s hard to blame them. Even in the 2016/17 promotion season or the sequential Championship survival, the good times felt somewhat tarnished given the cancerous mismanagement behind the scenes.

At the time of writing, Bolton Wanderers have just beaten Forest Green Rovers, stretching their unbeaten run to thirteen games - currently in the best form of any team in the entire four divisions. They sit fourth in the League 2 table, on the periphery of the automatic promotion places by only goal difference - four points behind league leaders Cambridge with a game in hand, and despite being in League 2, have the fifth highest iFollow Streaming figures in the whole of the EFL.

So, let me ask. When was the last time it felt like this to support Bolton Wanderers?

Our squad is full of players playing for the badge, not just here to fill a short term gap, or for a quick paycheck. They care about the club.

Even in the face of adversity, our manager stuck to his guns and is implementing a style of football we can look forward to watching.

Our owners are investing in the future - providing a much needed backbone after the previous years of financial ruin.

We’re seeing lump-in-the-throat content such as current club heroes engaging with past favouries on social media (Santos & Fabrice, I’m looking at you).

Long standing club records are being broken, and things are exciting again.

It’s been a strange season for sure, and I don’t for one minute think it’s done yet. But right now, I can’t remember the last time I felt this connected to a Bolton team.

So Shaz & the Brittans, Ian, the boys and the rest of the club staff, thank you for giving us something to shout about again. It’s mint.

Up the massive, pissboiling, thirteen game unbeaten Whites.