2023–24 Bolton Wanderers F.C. season

Bolton Wanderers
2023–24 season
Owner	Football Ventures (Whites) Ltd (92%); British Business Bank (8%)
Chairman	Sharon Brittan
Manager	Ian Evatt
Stadium	Toughsheet Community Stadium
League One	3rd
FA Cup	Third Round
EFL Cup	Second Round
EFL Trophy	Quarter Final
Play-offs	Final
Top goalscorer	League: Dion Charles (14); All: Dion Charles (20)
Highest home attendance	25,738 (vs. Portsmouth, 13 April)
Lowest home attendance	2,150 (vs. Port Vale, 5 December)
Average home league attendance	21,022
Biggest win	8–1, vs. Manchester United U21, 26 September; 7–0 vs. Exeter City, 25 November
Biggest defeat	0–4, vs. Wigan Athletic, 19 August
Home colours	Away colours
	← 2022–23 2024-25 →

The 2023–24 season is the 135th season in the existence of Bolton Wanderers Football Club and the club's third consecutive season in EFL League One. It will cover the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024. In addition to the league, they will also compete in the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, and the EFL Trophy.

Bolton's kits for the 2023–24 design were voted on by Bolton fans from a choice of three kits for both. The choices for the home kit were between a remade version of the 1983–84 kit, a remade version of the 1993–94 kit, and a third alternate design. The choices for the away kit were from Teal Diamonds, Navy x Hot Pink, and Graphic Black. The 1983–84 and Graphic Black options won the votes.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Current squad[edit]

As of 19 April 2024

No.	Name	Position	Place of birth	Date of birth (Age)	Signed from	Date signed	Fee	Contract end
Goalkeepers
1	Nathan Baxter	GK	Westminster	(1998-11-08) 8 November 1998 (age 25)	Chelsea	1 July 2023	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
13	Joel Coleman	GK	Bolton	(1995-09-26) 26 September 1995 (age 28)	Ipswich Town	1 July 2023	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
Defenders
2	Gethin Jones	CB	Perth	(1995-10-13) 13 October 1995 (age 28)	Carlisle United	4 August 2020	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
3	Jack Iredale	CB	Greenock	(1996-05-02) 2 May 1996 (age 28)	Cambridge United	1 July 2022	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
5	Ricardo Santos	CB	Almada	(1995-06-18) 18 June 1995 (age 29)	Barnet	3 August 2020	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
6	George Johnston	CB	Manchester	(1998-09-01) 1 September 1998 (age 25)	Feyenoord	1 July 2021	Free Transfer	30 June 2026
12	Josh Dacres-Cogley	RWB	Coventry	(1996-03-12) 12 March 1996 (age 28)	Tranmere Rovers	1 July 2023	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
15	Will Forrester	CB	Alsager	(2001-06-29) 29 June 2001 (age 22)	Port Vale	4 July 2023	Undisclosed	30 June 2026
17	Nathanael Ogbeta	LWB	Salford	(2001-04-28) 28 April 2001 (age 23)	Swansea City	26 January 2024	Loan	31 May 2024
18	Eoin Toal	CB	Armagh	(1999-02-15) 15 February 1999 (age 25)	Derry City	20 July 2022	Undisclosed	30 June 2027
20	Calvin Ramsay	RWB	Aberdeen	(2003-07-31) 31 July 2003 (age 20)	Liverpool	29 January 2024	Loan	31 May 2024
21	Caleb Taylor	CB	Burnley	(2003-01-14) 14 January 2003 (age 21)	West Bromwich Albion	1 February 2024	Loan	31 May 2024
26	Zac Ashworth	LWB	King's Lynn	(2002-09-06) 6 September 2002 (age 21)	West Bromwich Albion	20 July 2023	Loan	31 May 2024
27	Randell Williams	LWB	London	(1996-12-30) 30 December 1996 (age 27)	Hull City	5 January 2023	Undisclosed	30 June 2025
Midfielders
4	George Thomason	CM	Barrow-in-Furness	(2001-01-12) 12 January 2001 (age 23)	Longridge Town	6 January 2020	Free Transfer	30 June 2027
7	Carlos Mendes Gomes	AM	Pikine	(1998-11-14) 14 November 1998 (age 25)	Luton Town	24 July 2023	£300,000	30 June 2026
8	Josh Sheehan	CM	Pembrey	(1995-03-30) 30 March 1995 (age 29)	Newport County	1 July 2021	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
16	Aaron Morley	CM	Bury	(2000-02-27) 27 February 2000 (age 24)	Rochdale	11 January 2022	£100,000	30 June 2027
19	Paris Maghoma	CM	Enfield	(2001-05-08) 8 May 2001 (age 23)	Brentford	31 July 2023	Loan	31 May 2024
22	Kyle Dempsey	CM	Whitehaven	(1995-09-17) 17 September 1995 (age 28)	Gillingham	31 January 2022	£150,000	30 June 2026
Forwards
9	Jón Daði Böðvarsson	CF	Selfoss	(1992-05-25) 25 May 1992 (age 32)	Millwall	20 January 2022	Free Transfer	30 June 2024
10	Dion Charles	CF	Preston	(1995-10-07) 7 October 1995 (age 28)	Accrington Stanley	1 January 2022	£320,000	30 June 2026
11	Dan Nlundulu	CF	Paris	(1999-02-05) 5 February 1999 (age 25)	Southampton	24 June 2023	£250,000	30 June 2026
14	Victor Adeboyejo	CF	Ibadan	(1998-01-12) 12 January 1998 (age 26)	Burton Albion	27 January 2023	£500,000	30 June 2026
28	Aaron Collins	CF	Newport	(1997-05-27) 27 May 1997 (age 27)	Bristol Rovers	1 February 2024	£750,000	30 June 2027
35	Cameron Jerome	CF	Huddersfield	(1986-08-14) 14 August 1986 (age 37)	Luton Town	27 January 2023	Free Transfer	30 June 2024
39	Conor Carty	CF	Dunlavin	(2002-05-25) 25 May 2002 (age 22)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1 July 2022	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
B Team
40	Luke Hutchinson	GK		(2002-09-01) 1 September 2002 (age 21)	Academy	1 July 2021	—	30 June 2024
45	Sam Inwood	LWB			Academy	1 July 2023	—	30 June 2026
48	Sonny Sharples-Ahmed	CM			Academy	1 July 2023	—	30 June 2024
49	Ben Andreucci	CF	Bedford	(2004-10-05) 5 October 2004 (age 19)	Leeds United	1 July 2023	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
50	Noah Halford	CB			Academy	1 July 2023	—	30 June 2024
	Jack Flint	GK			Crewe Alexandra	22 August 2023	Free Transfer	30 June 2024
	Wes Frimpong	RWB			Academy	1 July 2023	—	30 June 2024
	Charlie Hayes-Green	CB		(2004-12-30) 30 December 2004 (age 19)	Liverpool	1 July 2023	Free Transfer	30 June 2024
	Lamine Toure	CB		(2003-12-24) 24 December 2003 (age 20)	Academy	1 July 2022	—	30 June 2024
	Matthew Tweedley	CM	Rochdale	(2004-04-16) 16 April 2004 (age 20)	Academy	1 July 2022	—	30 June 2024
Out on loan
25	Declan John	LWB	Merthyr Tydfil	(1995-06-30) 30 June 1995 (age 28)	Swansea City	1 July 2021	Free Transfer	30 June 2024
38	Nelson Khumbeni	CM	Lilongwe	(2002-10-14) 14 October 2002 (age 21)	Norwich City	1 July 2022	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
41	Luke Matheson	RWB	Manchester	(2002-10-03) 3 October 2002 (age 21)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1 August 2023	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
	Ellis Litherland-Riding	GK			Academy	1 July 2022	—	30 June 2025
	Max Conway	LWB		(2003-09-05) 5 September 2003 (age 20)	Academy	1 July 2022	—	30 June 2025
	Eric Yoro	CB	Dublin	(2004-02-19) 19 February 2004 (age 20)	UCD	15 July 2022	Undisclosed	30 June 2024
	Trevon Bryan	CF		(2005-03-08) 8 March 2005 (age 19)	Burnley	1 July 2023	Free Transfer	30 June 2025
	Finlay Lockett	CF	Marple	(2003-04-10) 10 April 2003 (age 21)	Academy	1 July 2021	—	30 June 2024
	Gerald Sithole	CF	Ashford	(2002-12-28) 28 December 2002 (age 21)	Gillingham	1 July 2022	Free Transfer	30 June 2024

Transfers[edit]

In[edit]

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Ref
24 June 2023	CF	Dan Nlundulu	Southampton	Undisclosed^[a]	^[5]
1 July 2023^[b]	CF	Ben Andreucci ‡	Leeds United	Free Transfer	^[6]
1 July 2023^[c]	GK	Nathan Baxter	Chelsea	Free Transfer	^[7]
1 July 2023^[d]	CF	Trevon Bryan ‡	Burnley	Free Transfer	^[8]
1 July 2023^[e]	GK	Joel Coleman	Ipswich Town	Free Transfer	^[9]
1 July 2023^[f]	RWB	Josh Dacres-Cogley	Tranmere Rovers	Free Transfer	^[10]
1 July 2023^[g]	CB	Charlie Hayes-Green ‡	Liverpool	Free Transfer	^[11]
4 July 2023	CB	Will Forrester	Port Vale	Undisclosed	^[12]
24 July 2023	AM	Carlos Mendes Gomes	Luton Town	Undisclosed^[h]	^[14]
1 August 2023	RWB	Luke Matheson ‡	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Free Transfer	^[15]
22 August 2023	GK	Jack Flint ‡	Crewe Alexandra	Free Transfer	^[16]
1 February 2024	CF	Aaron Collins	Bristol Rovers	Undisclosed^[i]	^[18]

^ The transfer was reported to be around £250,000 by The Bolton News.^[4]
^ The transfer was announced on 7 June, and would become official on July 1 once his Leeds United contract expired
^ The transfer was announced on 19 June, and would become official on July 1 once his Chelsea contract expired
^ The transfer was announced on 22 June, and would become official on July 1 once his Burnley contract expired
^ The transfer was announced on 20 June, and would become official on July 1 once his Ipswich Town contract expired
^ The transfer was announced on 21 June, and would become official on July 1 once his Tranmere Rovers contract expired
^ The transfer was announced on 14 June, and would become official on July 1 once his Liverpool contract expired
^ The transfer was reported to be around £300,000 by The Bolton News.^[13]
^ The transfer was reported to be around £750,000 by The Bolton News.^[17]

‡ Signed for 'B' Team

Out[edit]

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Ref
30 June 2023	GK	Mackenzie Chapman	Blackpool	Released	^[19]^[20]
30 June 2023	GK	Joel Dixon	Hartlepool United	Released	^[21]^[22]
30 June 2023	LW	Matty Grivosti	Warrington Town	Released	^[19]^[23]
30 June 2023	RW	Lloyd Isgrove	Sholing	Released	^[21]^[24]
30 June 2023	CF	Elias Kachunga	Cambridge United	Released	^[21]^[25]
30 June 2023	CM	Kieran Lee		Released	^[21]
30 June 2023	RWB	Lynford Sackey		Released	^[19]
30 June 2023	RB	Adam Senior	FC Halifax Town	Released	^[19]^[26]
30 June 2023	AM	Connor Stanley	Hereford	Released	^[19]^[27]
12 July 2023	DM	MJ Williams	Milton Keynes Dons	Undisclosed	^[28]
1 September 2023	RW	Kieran Sadlier	Wycombe Wanderers	Mutual Consent	^[29]^[30]
2 February 2024	CM	Arran Pettifer	St Patrick's Athletic	Undisclosed	^[31]

Loaned in[edit]

Date	Pos	Player	Loaned from	On loan until	Ref
20 July 2023	LWB	Zac Ashworth	West Bromwich Albion	End of season	^[32]
31 July 2023	CM	Paris Maghoma	Brentford	End of season	^[33]
26 January 2024	LWB	Nathanael Ogbeta	Swansea City	End of season	^[34]
29 January 2024	RWB	Calvin Ramsay	Liverpool	End of season	^[35]
1 February 2024	CB	Caleb Taylor	West Bromwich Albion	End of Season	^[36]

Loaned out[edit]

Date	Pos	Player	Loaned to	On loan until	Ref
4 February 2023	CF	Conor Carty	St Patrick's Athletic	30 November 2023	^[37]
18 August 2023	CM	Arran Pettifer	Warrington Town	18 September 2023	^[38]
24 August 2023	LWB	Max Conway	Rochdale	6 October 2023	^[39]^[40]
25 August 2023	GK	Luke Hutchinson	Hyde United	31 August 2023	^[41]^[42]
1 September 2023	LWB	Declan John	Salford City	End of season^[a]	^[43]^[44]
21 September 2023	CF	Gerald Sithole	Altrincham	21 November 2023	^[45]^[46]
7 October 2023	LWB	Max Conway	AFC Fylde	End of season^[b]^[c]	^[47]^[48]
7 October 2023	CM	Nelson Khumbeni	AFC Fylde	5 January 2024^[d]	^[47]^[48]^[49]
8 December 2023	CB	Lamine Toure	Bamber Bridge	24 March 2024^[e]	^[50]^[51]^[52]
15 December 2023	CM	Sonny Sharples-Ahmed	Bamber Bridge	15 January 2024	^[53]
16 December 2023	GK	Luke Hutchinson	Marine	19 February 2024^[f]	^[54]^[55]^[56]
3 January 2024	CF	Conor Carty	Doncaster Rovers	2 February 2024^[g]	^[57]^[58]
10 January 2024	CF	Trevon Bryan	FC United of Manchester	End of season^[h]	^[59]^[60]
1 February 2024	CB	Eric Yoro	Cliftonville	End of season	^[61]
1 February 2024	CM	Nelson Khumbeni	Morecambe	End of season	^[62]
9 February 2024	CF	Ben Andreucci	Buxton	11 April 2024^[i]	^[63]^[64]^[65]
22 February 2024	RWB	Luke Matheson	Bohemians	30 June 2024	^[66]
28 March 2024	AM	Gio Loureiro	Nantwich Town	End of season	^[67]
28 March 2024	CF	Finlay Lockett	Southport	End of season	^[68]
28 March 2024	CF	Gerald Sithole	Chorley	End of season	^[69]
19 April 2024	GK	Ellis Litherland-Riding	Bamber Bridge	End of season	^[70]

^ On 5 January, John's loan at Salford City was extended until the end of the season.
^ On 7 November, Conway's loan at Fylde was extended until the end of January.
^ On 31 January, Conway's loan at Fylde was extended until the end of the season.
^ On 7 November, Khumbeni's loan at Fylde was extended until the end of January. He was recalled earlier in January.
^ On 8 January, Toure's loan at Bamber Bridge was extended until the end of the season. On 24 March, Toure was recalled early.
^ On 18 January, Hutchinson's loan at Marine was extended until the end of the season. On 19 February, he was recalled from his loan.
^ On 2 February, Carty's loan at Doncaster Rovers was cut short due to injury.
^ On 14 February, Bryan's loan at FC United of Manchester was extended until the end of the season.
^ On 13 March, Andreucci's loan at Buxton was extended until the end of the season. On 11 April, he was recalled from his loan after sustaining an injury.

Pre-season and friendlies[edit]

On 26 May 2023, the club announced its first set of pre-season fixtures with trips to Bamber Bridge, Curzon Ashton, Chester and Salford City.^[71] Three fixtures were also announced for the B Team on the same day with trips to Lancaster City, Longridge Town and Atherton Collieries.^[72] On 8 June, a home friendly against Premier League side Everton was later added.^[73] Bolton were due to face 'top-flight' European opposition in their final friendly but the agreement broke down at the last moment despite their best efforts.^[74] West Bromwich Albion were confirmed to be the replacement on 12 June.^[75]

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

8 July 2023 Friendly	Bamber Bridge	0–1	Bolton Wanderers	Bamber Bridge
15:00 BST		Report	Williams 80'	Stadium: Sir Tom Finney Stadium

11 July 2023 Friendly	Curzon Ashton	1–3	Bolton Wanderers	Ashton-under-Lyne
19:45 BST	Mols 50' (pen.)	Report	Dacres-Cogley 3' Jones 26' Jerome 64'	Stadium: Tameside Stadium Attendance: 702

12 July 2023 Friendly	Lancaster City	1–1	Bolton Wanderers B	Lancaster
19:00 BST	Trialist 51'	Report	Bryan 2'	Stadium: Giant Axe Attendance: 224

15 July 2023 Friendly	Chester	1–1	Bolton Wanderers	Chester
15:00 BST	Taylor 45'	Report	Thomason 35'	Stadium: Deva Stadium Attendance: 1,419

18 July 2023 Friendly	Bolton Wanderers	5–2	Bradford City	Bolton
13:00 BST	Charles Adeboyejo Böðvarsson Nlundulu Jerome	Report	Cook Smith	Stadium: Eddie Davies Academy Attendance: Behind closed doors

18 July 2023 Friendly	Longridge Town	2–5	Bolton Wanderers B	Longridge
19:00 BST	Halford 50' (o.g.) Ing 82' (pen.)	Report	Pettifer 40' Bryan 44' Andreucci 56' Lockett 62' Loureiro 68'	Stadium: Recycling Lives Ground Attendance: 202

22 July 2023 Friendly	Atherton Collieries	2–5	Bolton Wanderers B	Atherton
12:00 BST	Hayes-Green 48' (o.g.) Evans 70'	Report	Matheson^[76] 10' Lockett 38' Andreucci 40' Graham 62' Frimpong 80'	Stadium: Alder House

22 July 2023 Friendly	Salford City	1–2	Bolton Wanderers	Salford
15:00 BST	Hendry 50'	Report	Thomason 73' Morley 86'	Stadium: Moor Lane

25 July 2023 Friendly	Bolton Wanderers	0–0	Everton	Bolton
19:45 BST		Report		Stadium: Toughsheet Community Stadium Attendance: 13,242 Referee: Matt Donohue

29 July 2023 Friendly	Bolton Wanderers B	3–0	Everton U21	Bolton
12:00 BST	Pettifer Lockett Andreucci	Report		Stadium: Eddie Davies Academy Attendance: Behind closed doors

29 July 2023 Friendly	Bolton Wanderers	4–3	West Bromwich Albion	Bolton
15:00 BST	Dempsey 45', 59' Forrester 64' Morley 90+5'	Report	Wallace 10' Thomas-Asante 53', 69'	Stadium: Toughsheet Community Stadium Attendance: 4,900 Referee: Simon Mather

Competitions[edit]

Overall record[edit]

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
League One	5 August 2023	27 April 2024	Matchday 1	3rd	46	25	12	9	86	51	+35	054.35
FA Cup	4 November 2023	16 January 2024	First round	Third round	4	2	1	1	10	3	+7	050.00
EFL Cup	8 August 2023	29 August 2023	First round	Second Round	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	050.00
EFL Trophy	5 September 2023	30 January 2024	Group stage	Quarter Final	6	5	1	0	18	2	+16	083.33
Play-offs	3 May 2024	18 May 2024	Semi-Final	Final	3	1	0	2	5	6	−1	033.33
Total					61	34	14	13	121	65	+56	055.74

Last updated: 18 May 2024
Source: Soccerway

League One[edit]

League table[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Portsmouth (C, P)	46	28	13	5	78	41	+37	97	Promoted to EFL Championship
2	Derby County (P)	46	28	8	10	78	37	+41	92	Promoted to EFL Championship
3	Bolton Wanderers	46	25	12	9	86	51	+35	87	Qualified for League One play-offs
4	Peterborough United	46	25	9	12	89	61	+28	84
5	Oxford United (O, P)	46	22	11	13	79	56	+23	77
6	Barnsley	46	21	13	12	82	64	+18	76

Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) 12-point sending off offences^[77]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results summary[edit]


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
46	25	12	9	86	51	+35	87	15	5	3	52	27	+25	10	7	6	34	24	+10

Last updated: 27 April 2024.
Source: Soccerway

Results by round[edit]

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	8	9	10	11	12	14	15	16	7¹	17	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	29	28⁵	30	31	32	33	34	18³	35	27⁴	36	13²	37	38	39	41	42	43	44	40⁶	45	46
Ground	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A
Result	W	W	W	L	D	W	L	D	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	L	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	D	D	W	D	W	L	L	W	D	D	W	L	D	W	W	D	D	W	D
Position	3	1	1	2	3	2	7	7	4	3	6	4	3	3	3	1	1	2	2	5	3	3	2	2	4	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Points	3	6	9	9	10	13	13	14	17	20	20	23	26	29	32	35	38	39	39	39	42	45	48	51	51	54	57	58	59	62	63	66	66	66	69	70	71	74	74	75	78	81	82	83	86	87

Updated to match(es) played on 27 April 2024. Source: Soccerway
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed
Notes:

¹ Matchday 7 (vs Shrewsbury Town) was postponed due to the international call-ups.
² Matchday 13 (vs Barnsley) was postponed due to the international call-ups.
³ Matchday 18 (vs Cambridge United) was postponed due to the international call-ups. It was rearranged again after being abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch.
⁴ Matchday 27 (vs Wigan Athletic) was postponed due to FA Cup involvements.
⁵ Matchday 28 (vs Cheltenham Town) was rescheduled after the previous match was abandoned due to a fan suffering a cardiac arrest.
⁶ Matchday 40 (vs Shrewsbury Town) was postponed due to the international call-ups.

Matches[edit]

The fixtures for the 2023–24 EFL League One season were released on 22 June and sees Bolton opening their campaign at home to Lincoln City on 5 August. The regular season will conclude on 27 April away at Peterborough United.^[78] On 3 July the club announced that both games against Wigan Athletic would be moved forward to a 12.30 kick off time on police advice.^[79]