For April 17th I'm going back ten years to 2011 to another FA Cup Semi-Final tie.
This Semi-Final between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City showcased two of the less fashionable clubs to have reached the Premier League since it began in 1992. Bolton hadn't been to an FA Cup Final for 53 years (since beating a Munich Air Crash depleted Manchester United in 1958) and Stoke City had never previously reached one so it was always going to be an historic occasion for one of the two sets of fans. Wembley didn't sell out however and that gave me the chance of a ticket. To be fair, the attendance that day wasn't so very far from being a full house at 75,064 so the argument that the game should have been played at Old Trafford isn't as strong as it could have been. My suspicion is that the fans of the two clubs would have been divided as to whether they preferred to go to Wembley or somewhere in the North-West instead.
En route to the Semi-Final, Owen Coyle's Bolton had put paid to the hopes of Non-League York City 2-0 in a game that I went to, Wigan Athletic after a replay, Fulham at Craven Cottage and then Birmingham City 2-3 at St Andrews in the Quarter-Final, another game that I attended. Stoke had beaten Cardiff City after a replay, Wolves at Molineux, and then Brighton and West Ham United, both games in the Potteries.
The Stoke Sentinel described the game as one of Stoke City's best ever performances. Magic indeed! On the other hand, many Bolton folk have described the game as their greatest ever embarrassment and identify it as the catalyst for their subsequent ten year downwards spiral. What is irrefutable is that Bolton have had a dreadful time of things since and, today, find themselves in the fourth tier of English football. Sad days indeed for a once proud club!
Stoke pretty well had the game won after just half an hour, racing into a three goal lead courtesy of goals from Matthew Etherington, Robert Huth and Kenwyne Jones. The second half brought no relief or even consolation for the Trotters as Jonathan Walters scored a brace to make the final score Bolton 0 Stoke City 5! I haven't seen any side achieve a greater winning margin than that on neutral territory. And who was Stoke City's manager for one of the greatest performances in their history? Tony Pulis. Yes that Tony Pulis! A manager much maligned for the style of football played by his teams. All I can say is that I certainly didn't hear any Stokies grumbling that particular day!
An interesting footnote or two. The following season and seven months after the Wembley debacle, Bolton met Stoke again, this time in the Premier League and at their home ground: the Reebok Stadium. The score? This time it was 5-0 to Wanderers! Stoke were however destined to have the last laugh and, on the final day of that same season Stoke sent Bolton down following a 2-2 draw. Had Bolton won they would have stayed up. Bolton haven't played in the top flight since. Oh and if you're wondering whether the fickle finger of fate points all the way from Stoke to Bolton, have a guess who Bolton were playing in 1946 on the day of the Burnden Park disaster when 33 Bolton supporters were crushed to death. Go on. Have a guess.
CRB Match No. 1808
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