Today I'm going back 11 years to 2011 and York City's FA Cup 3rd Round tie away at Bolton Wanderers Reebok Stadium.
Memories about meals that I had eleven years ago tell me that the meal concerned must have been particularly good (or bad!). This trip to Lancashire conjures up memories of a fine sausage casserole and accompanying pint of craft / real ale at The Crown in Horwich. Martin and I always try to combine a trip to some distant football ground with a pub from the Good Beer guide and this Holts outlet didn't disappoint. The interior of the pub had an atmosphere resonant of stepping back in time but was none the worse for that and, with the casserole acting like internal central heating, we made our way to the Reebok Stadium with that inner glow (a bit like the one you used to see around kids on the Ready Brek adverts.
Since falling out of the Football League, the opportunity to play clubs from the Premier League doesn't come round too often for York City. In fact it's only when York make it all the way to the FA Cup 3rd Round that such a chance arises at all so this was a giant killing opportunity not to be missed! Impressively, City took around 5,000 fans to the Reebok and more than matched their opponents for most of the game. It remined goalless until the 83rd minute when Bolton's Kevin Davies finally smashed one in off the underside of the bar and then shortly afterwards the score line was given an unrealistic look when Bolton grabbed a second following a classy shot from outside the box by Swedish striker Johan Elmander.
Bolton's legendary manager Sam Allaryce had left the club in 2007 to be succeeded by Sammy Lee, Gary Megson and then programme cover star Owen Coyle. Besides a short stint at Bolton Wanderers as a player, Coyle spent most of his playing career north of the border and is another of those players who had "more clubs than Jack Nicklaus" as the old joke goes. Indeed Coyle has carried on the wandering habit into his football management career and is currently to be found managing in the Indian Premier League at Jamshedpur (no me neither).
Bolton finished their top flight season in 14th place, comfortably clear of the relegation places which were occupied by Birmingham City, Blackpool and West Ham United that season. Four Divisions further down the pecking order, York finished 8th in the Football Conference. Bolton went on to beat Wigan Athletic after a Replay in the FA Cup 4th Round, Fulham away in the 5th Round and Birmingham City away in the Quarter Finals (another game that I attended) before crashing spectacularly 0-5 against Stoke City in the Wembley Semi Final (I was at that one too). Bolton's star has fallen somewhat since 2011 and today they are to be found at the third level of English football having spent a spell at the fourth level too.
CRB Match No. 1786
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