The Mighty Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers have gone from playing the likes of Manchester United in the Premier League to fighting for their survival against MK Dons in the Championship, and now they have just recently lost their battle in this league and are to be relegated into league 1 where they will play the likes of Swindon and Fleetwood.
They have always been a team with a massive following and the fans have shown great support even during all the games they have lost. Their final home game in the Championship was against Hull on Saturday the 30th April. The following video portrays what a couple of fans had to say about relegation…
The fans here say they will still come supporting their team and they hope for a better season next season. And like most fans they want their team to do well in the upcoming season, but are disappointed with being relegated into league 1.
I spoke with a life-long Wanderers fan, Mr Craig Williams. And he has supported Bolton since he was a young boy, and has always been watching them at home and away. Here is what he had to say about the news…
It is also clear to see from this twitter poll which a small number of twitter users took part in that fans do want to keep supporting their team after relegation.
However as this is only a small number of people and it isn’t a widely explored poll there may be numerous other fans that will stop going watching and only watch their team at home. For example here on twitter some fans responded differently…
Exploring this further and looking at previously relegated teams from the Championship here, It is clear to see from the following statistics that when a team is relegated they start to lose seat numbers rapidly. The average attendance at home has been proven to decrease after relegation…
For example, if you look at Yeovil’s average attendance in 2013/14 when they were in the Championship, they had over 6,000 seats filled. After they were relegated into league 1 their seat numbers dropped to 4,000. And Barnsley were nearly hitting 12,000 a game when they was in the Championship in the 2013/14 season, but once they were relegated into league 1 in 2014/15 the average attendance stooped to around 8,000.
The data here and in the previous twitter responses proves that once a team is relegated the number of seats filled at home decreases, therefore some fans stop buying season tickets and supporting their team. The fans may continue to support them in other ways like at home with their friends and family.
So where do Bolton go from here?
There has been an on-going financial issue which has caused numerous problems within the club. But the article below explains how Bolton were given an extended time to raise the money.
Inland Revenue officials wanted Bolton Wanderers to be wound up Registrar Clive Jones dismissed the winding up petition…www.dailymail.co.uk
With this being a massive help for the club, they have still got a long way to go, and lots of things to do. To push to get back into the Championship will be difficult but surely the new Manager will have plans set up for the upcoming season. Everyone is still questioning who this new Manager will be, and the decision needs to be made promptly if these plans are to get under way.
The transfer market also needs to be considered as players wages will be cut, who exactly will be staying and who will be going the other way. All the fans are asking the same questions and there has been mass speculation in the media and within the club.
But despite the issues the club has to face, Jimmy Phillips, the current interim boss believes the club is slowly improving and getting better. This following article displays everything he has said about their current situation.
JIMMY Phillips reckons he is getting it right with Wanderers. After notching up his first victory as interim boss at…www.theboltonnews.co.uk
Mighty Wanderers plan to come back stronger and once everything is backstage, it should all fall nicely into place for them next season, and they can put out a good fight for a historic come back.
