User:Thingymajig1/sandbox

= 2013-14 Bolton Wanderers F.C. season =

The 2013-14 season is Bolton Wanderers' first in the Premier League since the 2011-12 season, when they were relegated.

Due to finishing as runners-up to Liverpool in the 2012-13 Capital One Cup, Bolton competed in the UEFA Europa League, as Liverpool qualified for the UEFA Champions League at the end of the previous season. This was the first time Bolton had competed in the Europa League since the 2007-08 season.

Pre-season
Bolton announced on 1 July that the 2013-14 season would be preceded by three friendlies against Bordeaux, Hellas Verona and Granada.

August
Bolton began their season on 18 August 2013 against QPR at Loftus Road. On the last day of the 2011-12 season, QPR had stayed up at Bolton's expense. Bolton's second match was against Aston Villa. Bolton's final match of August was against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

September
On 7 September 2013 the Republic of Ireland played the Netherlands and drew 2-2. Ireland then won against Russia at the Luzhniki Stadium.

Bolton's first match of September was against Stoke City. Bolton went ahead through Ricky van Wolfswinkel's fifth goal of the season, but were pegged back by Ryan Shawcross' 89th minute header. Bolton's second game of September was against Everton at Goodison Park. Bolton won 2-0. Bolton's final match of September was against Brighton. Bolton lost 5-0.

October
Bolton's first match of October was against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Bolton narrowly lost 1-0. Bolton's next match was against West Brom at home. Ex-Wanderer Craig Dawson was ruled out because of injury.

Ireland played Germany and Switzerland in international friendlies. Oliver McCourt made his international debut for Northern Ireland against Austria, while Kris Commons played for Scotland against Greece. Dedryck Boyata was called up for Belgium but did not feature.

Bolton's first game after the international break was Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. Bolton final league game of October was against Southampton.

November
Bolton's first game of November was against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Bolton won 2-0. This was followed by a local derby against Wigan Athletic at the Reebok Stadium. Bolton made it two losses from two games when they capitulated against Liverpool at Anfield.

On 16 November 2013, Ireland played the Netherlands in an international friendly. Ireland then played Norway. Ireland drew and won the games, respectively.

Bolton's first game after the international break, during which 'keeper Andy Lonergan was called up for England for the first time and Dedryck Boyata and Stu Holden played for Belgium and the United States, respectively, was against Newcastle United. Bolton won 1-0 courtesy of a first half goal from Lee Chung-Yong, his second of the season. In Bolton's final match of the month, Bolton won 4-1 at Stamford Bridge. Various sections of the press called it a "thrashing of a top-class team at their supposed fortress" and "a complete battering".

December
Bolton's first league game of December was against bottom of the league Middlesbrough. Bolton drew 1-1.

January
Bolton's first game of the new year was against Sunderland, against whom they had played in mid-December. Against Manchester City in their second match of the month, Bolton played valiantly in the first half, but found themselves a goal behind thanks to Spanish midfielder David Silva. Bolton continued to battle and it paid off as they scored three goals in the final fifteen minutes of the game to come out of the match victorious.

February
Bolton's first game of February was against Liverpool, whom they had recently knocked out of the League Cup. Bolton would not allow them to gain retribution, however, as goals in either half from Matthew McClure and Danny Guthrie comfortably settled the affair.

During the international break, Ireland faced Paraguay. They won 4-1, with Stephen Ireland bagging a hat-trick and Óscar Cardozo scoring a consolation goal for Paraguay. Robbie Keane scored the other. For Bolton, all seven players who were called up to their respective squads made appearances. Johan Elmander started for Sweden against New Zealand in a 2-1 win while Stu Holden and Mark Davies squared off against each other for the United States and England, respectively, with Davies coming off the bench to earn his first cap for the national team. Meanwhile, Aaron Mooy started in Australia's 2-0 loss to France and Kris Commons and Oliver McCourt came off the bench for Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively, in a 1-1 draw and a 3-0 loss. Lee Chung-Yong starred for South Korea in a 1-1 draw. Ireland then edged past India in a tense affair.

Bolton's first post-international break game saw them face Brighton & Hove Albion on a rainy day at the seaside. Bolton won 2-0.

March
Bolton's first league game of March and their first after winning the League Cup was against ninth placed Everton. Bolton fell behind for the second match in succession, but clawed their way back into contention for fifth place with goals from Stu Holden and Ricky van Wolfswinkel. Bolton lost their next game against Middlesbrough, meaning they dropped a place to sixth.

Ireland's first match of the international break was against Slovakia. Ireland won 5-2. Dedryck Boyata, Kris Commons, Blerim Džemaili, Johan Elmander, Stu Holden, Aaron Mooy and Ricky van Wolfswinkel all started for their respective countries, while Ádám Bogdán was called up for Hungary but did not feature. Ireland then comprehensively won against Sweden by four goals to one, with Bolton's Johan Elmander scoring for the visiting nation.

Bolton's first game after the international break was against Chelsea. Bolton started the match with the intention of closing the gap between the clubs to two points. Bolton drew 2-2.

April
Bolton's first match of April was against Southampton. Bolton fell behind twice, but both times pulled it back through goals from Blerim Džemaili and Ricky van Wolfswinkel. Bolton scored their third 2-2 draw in a row at home to Europa League-chasing Tottenham Hotspur. They then secured their first win of April away to West Brom, bagging the points with a late Danny Ward winner. In their final match of April, Bolton faced third placed Arsenal.

May
Bolton began the final month of the season with a trip to the DW Stadium to face local rivals Wigan Athletic. Bolton won 1-0 with an early Johan Elmander goal. Bolton then sealed a historic double against Manchester United, which would also mean that Liverpool, and not Manchester United would win that year's league title. Next, Bolton drew against Aston Villa before winning two on the bounce against QPR and Stoke City.

FA Cup
Bolton will enter the FA Cup at the 3rd round, with all other Premier League and Championship clubs. Bolton's first test in the FA Cup was Chelsea, whom they had beaten 4-1 at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season. In an end-to-end game, Bolton finished on the right side of a five-goal thriller, winning 3-2. After drawing 1-1 against Wigan Athletic in the 4th Round proper, Bolton were knocked out of the FA Cup when they lost 3-0 in the replay.

League Cup
Bolton will enter the League Cup at the 3rd round, with all other Premier League clubs involved in European competitions. Bolton first match of the competition was against Championship outfit Huddersfield Town at the John Smith's Stadium. Bolton then won 1-0 against Brentford. Bolton were drawn to play fellow Premier League side Fulham on 3 December 2013, two days before their Europa League group stage game against Sporting Lisbon.

Semi-final
After winning 3-0 on aggregate against Liverpool, Bolton progressed to the final of the League Cup, which would be Bolton's second appearance in the final of the competition in two years. Matty Taylor opened the scoring from the spot in the second leg of the semi-final at Anfield in the thirty-fifth minute. Magaye Gueye then scored on his début before Johan Elmander rounded off the scoring following a quick counter-attack.

Final
After defeating Liverpool over two legs in the semi-final, Bolton faced Stoke City at Wembley; the scene of their 5-0 demolition in the 2010-11 FA Cup semi-final, also against Stoke. Bolton went behind in the second half, but goals from Johan Elmander and Lee Chung-Yong secured a comeback and earned Bolton their first piece of major silverware since the 1958 FA Cup in which Nat Lofthouse scored against Manchester United's Harry Gregg.

Europa League
Bolton entered the Europa League at the play-off round as the runners-up in the League Cup.

Play-off round
In order to progress to the group stage of the Europa League, Bolton were required to beat Swiss team Luzern over two legs. They did so, winning 5-1 on aggregate.

Group stage
Bolton's first group match was against Utrecht. They won the match 3-1, with the goals coming from a brace by Swiss midfielder Blerim Džemaili, either side of Ricky van Wolfswinkel's sixth goal of the season. Bolton then played SK Brann in Bergen and won 3-0 through a goal from Michael O'Halloran and two from Tom Eaves. Bolton's third match of the group stage was at home to Sporting Lisbon. Bolton won 2-0 through David Wheater and Marcos Alonso's first goals of the season. Bolton fell behind in the ninth minute, but a brace from Ricky van Wolfswinkel ensured Bolton left Utrecht with a win. Bolton's penultimate game of the group stage was a thrilling affair against Sporting Lisbon. Lee Chung-Yong and Blerim Džemaili put Bolton 2-0 up, but Sporting scored three in succession to make it 3-2. However, goals from Ricky van Wolfswinkel - against his former club - and Craig Davies gave Bolton the final say in the matter, and they left Lisbon with three points. After winning all of their group matches, Bolton progressed to the knockout phase of the competition.

Round of 32
Bolton were knocked out over two legs by Rosenborg BK, despite being the better team.

Summer
Bolton's summer started with the sale of Marvin Sordell and Darren Pratley, to Sunderland and Hamburger SV, respectively. Sordell had finished the 2012-13 season as Bolton's top scorer, and Darren Pratley topped the assists table for the club. To combat the loss of Sordell, Dutch striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel was brought in for £7.5m. This was Bolton's third highest transfer fee paid, behind the £9m and £8m it took to bring Johan Elmander and Nicolas Anelka to the club, respectively. Elmander was re-signed for £1.2m, as he had one year left on his contract with Galatasaray. Also exiting the club were Tyrone Mears, to West Brom, and Chris Basham, to Fulham. Penultimately, Bolton signed the following players, each for less than one million pounds; El-Hadji Diouf, Matty Taylor, Nicky Hunt, Eiður Guðjohnsen and Dedryck Boyata, all of whom had played for the club previously. Finally, Bolton spent £4m on midfielder Blerim Džemaili from Napoli, who had also played for the club previously, although without making an appearance.

Winter
In the January transfer window, Bolton signed 35 year-old ex-Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho from Real Madrid for a nominal fee, as well as Manchester United reserve 'keeper Ben Amos to cope with the loss of Andy Lonergan to OGC Nice. Lonergan had the third-highest number of clean sheets in the league. Gaining £1.1m from the sale of Matt Mills to QPR, Bolton bolstered their midfield options with Magaye Gueye from Everton and ex-Wanderer Danny Guthrie from Reading.

Transfer summary
Total income = £17,450,000 Total outgoings = £22,401,500

Net expenditure = £4,784,000

Statistics
Last updated: 25 May 2014

Captains
Last updated: 25 May 2014

Top scorers
Last updated: 25 May 2014

Assists
Last updated: 25 May 2014