2016–17 Bolton Wanderers F.C. season explained

The 2016–17 season was Bolton Wanderers's first season in the third tier of English football since 1993 following their relegation from the Football League Championship. Along with Football League One, the club competed in the FA Cup, Football League Cup and Football League Trophy. The season covered the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.

Pre-season

On 20 May 2016, Bolton Wanderers announced their English pre-season schedule in full for both the entire squad and an XI squad. They also announced that there would be a training camp and further games abroad.^[1] These games were confirmed on 3 June as being against Danish teams HB Køge and FC Helsingør.^[2] On 17 June the away game at Ashton United was cancelled as the home side's pitch would not be ready.^[3] On 27 June the game at HB Køge was cancelled as it was felt that the date was too early in the pre-season.^[4] The Bolton XI game against Chester on 20 July was also cancelled as it was felt there was not enough first-team players to make up Bolton's team travelling to Tranmere Rovers a day earlier. Due to this, some of the Bolton XI traveled with the first-team for the game and both games were mixtures of first team players and the reserve players.^[5]

Competitions

League One

See main article: 2016–17 EFL League One.

Matches

On 22 June 2016, the fixtures for the forthcoming season were announced. Bolton will start the season at home to Sheffield United on 6 August and finish at home to Peterborough United on April 30, 2017.^[6]

FA Cup

See main article: 2016–17 FA Cup. Bolton entered the competition at the first round stage for the first time since 1993, alongside all other Football League One and Football League Two sides.

League Cup

See main article: 2016–17 EFL Cup.

Bolton entered the competition at the first round stage and were drawn to play away at Blackpool in the first round.^[7]

EFL Trophy

See main article: 2016–17 EFL Trophy.

Bolton entered the competition at the first round group stage and were drawn against Everton U-23, Blackpool and Cheltenham Town in Northern Group A.^[8]

Squad

No.	Name	Pos.	Nationality	Place of birth	Age	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee	End
Goalkeepers
13	Ben Alnwick	GK		Prudhoe		26	0	Peterborough United	31 August 2016	Free	2018
33	Mark Howard	GK		Southwark		29	0	Sheffield United	13 July 2016	Free	2018
Defenders
2	Lewis Buxton	RB		Newport		11	0	Rotherham United	5 August 2016	Free	2017
3	Dean Moxey	LB		Exeter		82	2	Crystal Palace	2 July 2014	Free	2017
4	Dorian Dervite	CB		Lille		83	1	Charlton Athletic	27 May 2014	Free	2017
5	Mark Beevers	CB		Barnsley		51	7	Millwall	3 July 2016	Free	2018
15	Derik Osede	CB		Madrid		51	0	Real Madrid	6 July 2015	Free	2018
20	Andrew Taylor	LB		Hartlepool		40	0	Wigan Athletic	10 August 2016	Loan	2017
23	Lawrie Wilson	RB		Collier Row		39	2	Charlton Athletic	5 August 2015	Free	2017
25	Reece Wabara	RB		Bromsgrove		1	0	Free Agent	15 February 2017	Free	2017
31	David Wheater	CB		Redcar		167	15	Middlesbrough	20 January 2011	Undisclosed	2017
Midfielders
6	Josh Vela	CM		Salford		132	12	Academy	20 March 2011	Trainee	2019
8	Jay Spearing	DM		Wallasey		173	10	Liverpool	9 August 2013	Undisclosed	2017
10	Jem Karacan	CM		Catford		5	1	Free Agent	11 March 2017	Free	2017
11	Viv Solomon-Otabor	LW		London		4	0	Birmingham City	31 January 2017	Loan	2017
16	Mark Davies	CM		Willenhall		208	16	Wolverhampton Wanderers	26 January 2009	Undisclosed	2017
17	Liam Trotter	CM		Ipswich		74	6	Millwall	1 July 2014	Free	2017
21	Darren Pratley	CM		Barking		168	15	Swansea City	1 July 2011	Free	2018
22	Filipe Morais	RW		Benavente		19	2	Bradford City	2 February 2017	Free	2017
24	James Henry	RW		Reading		35	2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	31 August 2016	Loan	2017
32	Tom Thorpe	CM		Manchester		25	1	Rotherham United	31 August 2016	Loan	2017
Forwards
12	Chris Long	CF		Huyton		10	1	Burnley	31 January 2017	Loan	2017
14	Gary Madine	CF		Gateshead		78	16	Sheffield Wednesday	8 June 2015	Free	2017
19	Max Clayton	CF		Crewe		30	2	Crewe Alexandra	18 September 2014	£300,000	2017
35	Conor Wilkinson	CF		Croydon		16	0	Millwall	2 July 2013	Undisclosed	2018
45	Adam Le Fondre	CF		Stockport		36	14	Cardiff City	31 January 2017	Loan	2017
Out on Loan
1	Ben Amos	GK		Macclesfield		45	0	Manchester United	1 July 2015	Free	2019
7	Chris Taylor	LM		Oldham		23	0	Blackburn Rovers	2 July 2016	Free	2018
9	Jamie Proctor	CF		Preston		29	1	Bradford City	1 July 2016	Free	2018
28	Tom Walker	MF		Salford		21	1	Academy	1 July 2014	Trainee	2017

Statistics

|-|colspan=14|Out on Loan:|-|colspan=14|Player who left the club during the course of the season:|}

Goals record

Rank	No.	Nat.	Po.	Name	League One				Total
1	6		CM	Josh Vela	9	1	0	0	10
	14		CF	Gary Madine	9	1	0	0	10
3	10		SS	Zach Clough	9	0	0	0	9
	31		CB	David Wheater	9	0	0	0	9
5	5		CB	Mark Beevers	7	0	0	0	7
6	45		CF	Adam Le Fondre	6	0	0	0	6
7	22		RW	Sammy Ameobi	2	1	0	1	4
8	8		DM	Jay Spearing	3	0	0	0	3
	17		CM	Liam Trotter	2	1	0	0	3
10	22		RW	Filipe Morais	2	0	0	0	2
	24		RW	James Henry	1	1	0	0	2
12	9		CF	Jamie Proctor	0	0	1	0	1
	10		CM	Jem Karacan	1	0	0	0	1
	11		CF	Keshi Anderson	1	0	0	0	1
	12		SS	Chris Long	1	0	0	0	1
	19		LW	Max Clayton	1	0	0	0	1
	23		RB	Lawrie Wilson	1	0	0	0	1
	30		CF	Kaiyne Woolery	0	0	1	0	1
	32		CM	Tom Thorpe	1	0	0	0	1
Total					66	4	2	1	73

Disciplinary record

Rank	No.	Nat.	Po.	Name										EFL Trophy			Total
1	8		DM	Jay Spearing	12	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	0	0
2	6		CM	Josh Vela	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	12	0	0
3	5		CB	Mark Beevers	9	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	0
4	17		CM	Liam Trotter	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0
	31		CB	David Wheater	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0
6	20		LB		3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
	14		CF	Gary Madine	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
8	3		LB	Dean Moxey	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	16		CM	Mark Davies	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	35		CF	Conor Wilkinson	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
11	4		CB	Dorian Dervite	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	7		LM		2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	9		CF	Jamie Proctor	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	10		SS	Zach Clough	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	15		CB	Derik Osede	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	23		RB	Lawrie Wilson	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	32		CM	Tom Thorpe	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
17	2		RB	Lewis Buxton	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	11		CF	Keshi Anderson	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	12		CF	Chris Long	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	13		GK	Ben Alnwick	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
	21		CM	Darren Pratley	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	22		RW	Sammy Ameobi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	24		RW		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	30		CF	Kaiyne Woolery	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total					72	2	0	6	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	82	2	0

Transfers

At the completion of the previous season the club announced that twenty players would not be offered new contracts once their present ones concluded. These players included senior squad members Neil Danns, Stephen Dobbie, Tom Eaves, Liam Feeney, Robert Hall, Emile Heskey, Paul Rachubka, Oscar Threlkeld, David Wheater and Hayden White.^[9] These players were followed out of the club by young defender Tyler Garratt who signed for Doncaster Rovers on 28 June for an undisclosed fee.

On 1 July, it was reported that the transfer embargo that the club had been under since the previous season was to be at least partially lifted by the Football League^[10] and the day after former Blackburn Rovers midfielder Chris Taylor signed on a free transfer, followed the following day by Millwall defender Mark Beevers, also on a free transfer. They were followed on 5 July by Bradford City forward Jamie Proctor, also signed on a free transfer. Former Sheffield United goalkeeper Mark Howard then signed for the club. David Wheater re-signed on a one-year deal after initially being released at the end of the previous season. He was shortly followed to the club by defender Lewis Buxton after his release from Rotherham United.

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
2 July 2016					Free transfer	[11]
3 July 2016					Free transfer	[12]
5 July 2016					Free transfer	[13]
13 July 2016					Free transfer	[14]
5 August 2016					Free transfer	[15]
31 August 2016					Free transfer	[16]
2 February 2017					Free transfer	[17]
15 February 2017					Free transfer	[18]
11 March 2017					Free transfer	[19]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
28 June 2016					Undisclosed	[20]
1 July 2016			Harry Campbell		Released
1 July 2016			Channing Campbell-Young	Free agent	Released
1 July 2016			Jon Ceberio		Released
1 July 2016			Chris Cvetko		Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016			Ross Fitzsimons		Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016				Free agent	Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016					Released
1 July 2016			Yvan Wassi	Free agent	Released
1 July 2016					Released
7 July 2016					Released	[21] [22]
22 July 2016	CB		Rob Holding	Arsenal	£2,500,000	[23]
1 August 2016					Free transfer	[24]
1 August 2016	DM		Filip Twardzik	Free Agent	Released	[25]
8 August 2016			Daniel McKenna		Free transfer	[26]
12 August 2016	CB		Alex Finney		Released	[27]
31 August 2016	CF		Kaiyne Woolery	Wigan Athletic	£207,000	[28]
31 January 2017					£2,610,000	[29]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Until	Ref.
10 August 2016					End of Season	[30]
31 August 2016					3 January 2017
31 August 2016					16 January 2017
31 August 2016					End of Season
31 August 2016					End of Season
30 January 2017					End of Season	[31]
31 January 2017					End of Season	[32]
31 January 2017					End of Season	[33]

Loans out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Until	Ref.
5 August 2016					End of Season	[34]
26 August 2016					End of Season	[35]
31 August 2016					End of Season	[36]
31 August 2016					January 2017	[37]
31 January 2017					End of Season	[38]
31 January 2017					End of Season	[39]

Summary

Games played	54 (46 League One, 4 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 3 EFL Trophy)
Games won	28 (25 League One, 2 FA Cup, 0 League Cup, 1 EFL Trophy)
Games drawn	12 (11 League One, 1 FA Cup, 0 League Cup, 0 EFL Trophy)
Games lost	14 (10 League One, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 2 EFL Trophy)
Goals scored	75 (68 League One, 4 FA Cup, 2 League Cup, 1 EFL Trophy)
Goals conceded	47 (36 League One, 4 FA Cup, 4 League Cup, 3 EFL Trophy)
Goal difference	+28
Clean sheets	20 (17 League One, 2 FA Cup, 0 League Cup, 1 EFL Trophy)
Yellow cards	82 (72 League One, 6 FA Cup, 2 League Cup, 2 EFL Trophy)
Red cards	2 (2 League One, 0 FA Cup, 0 League Cup, 0 EFL Trophy)
Worst Discipline	Jay Spearing (13, 0 0)
Best result	4–0 vs Gillingham (12 Dec 16), 4–0 vs Gillingham (14 Mar 17)
Worst result	2–4 vs Blackpool (9 Aug 16)
Most appearances	Josh Vela (53)
Top scorer	Josh Vela, Gary Madine (10)
Points	86

Notes and References

1. News: Pre-season schedule confirmed . Bolton Wanderers FC . 20 May 2016.
2. News: Denmark fixtures added to pre-season schedule . Bolton Wanderers FC . 3 June 2016.
3. News: Ashton United friendly cancelled . Bolton Wanderers FC . 17 June 2016.
4. News: HB Koge friendly cancelled . Bolton Wanderers FC . 27 June 2016.
5. News: Chester FC friendly cancelled . Bolton Wanderers FC . 14 July 2016.
6. News: Bolton Wanderers' 2016/17 Sky Bet EFL League One fixtures revealed . Bolton Wanderers FC . 22 June 2016.
7. News: Wanderers drawn away to Blackpool in EFL Cup first round . Bolton Wanderers FC . 22 June 2016.
8. News: Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool & Manchester City among EFL Trophy rejections . BBC Sport . 27 July 2016.
9. News: Bolton Wanderers confirm player departures . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 13 May 2016 . 13 May 2016 . 23 June 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160623155226/http://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/article/bolton-wanderers-confirm-player-departures-3112552.aspx . dead .
10. News: Bolton Wanderers cleared by Football League to make double signing by weekend . . 1 July 2016 . 4 July 2016.
11. News: Bolton Wanderers sign Chris Taylor . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 1 July 2016 . 2 July 2016.
12. News: Mark Beevers: Bolton Wanderers sign defender following Millwall departure . BBC Sport . 3 July 2016 . 3 July 2016.
13. News: Bolton Wanderers sign Jamie Proctor . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 5 July 2016 . 5 July 2016.
14. Web site: Bolton Wanderers complete Mark Howard signing. Bolton Wanderers Official Website. 13 July 2016. 13 July 2016.
15. News: Lewis Buxton joins Bolton Wanderers . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 5 August 2016 . 5 August 2016.
16. News: Four new arrivals check in at Macron Stadium . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 31 August 2016 . 31 August 2016.
17. News: Filipe Morais signs for Bolton Wanderers . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 2 February 2017 . 2 February 2017.
18. News: Bolton Wanderers sign Reece Wabara . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 15 February 2017 . 16 February 2017.
19. News: Bolton Wanderers sign Jem Karacan . 11 March 2017 . 11 March 2017.
20. News: Tyler Garratt joins Doncaster Rovers . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 28 June 2016 . 28 June 2016.
21. News: Francesco Pisano leaves Bolton Wanderers . Bolton Wanderers F.C. Official Site . 7 July 2016 . 7 July 2016.
22. News: Francesco Pisano è un nuovo giocatore bianco . 25 August 2016 . 25 August 2016 . 24 September 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160924034728/http://www.olbiacalcio.com/news/comunicati/214/francesco-pisano-e-un-nuovo-giocatore-bianco . dead .
23. News: Rob Holding joins Arsenal . Bolton Wanderers F.C. Official Site . 22 July 2016 . 22 July 2016 . 21 August 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160821045635/http://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/rob-holding-bolton-wanderers-arsenal-england-under-21s-3200336.aspx . dead .
24. News: Bolton Wanderers Youngster Nat Phillips Joins Liverpool . The Lion Of Vienna Suite . 10 August 2016 . 18 November 2016.
25. News: Filip Twardzik leaves Bolton Wanderers . Bolton Wanderers F.C. Official Site . 1 August 2016 . 1 August 2016.
26. News: Prince Joins Witton . Non League Pitchero . 8 August 2016 . 18 November 2016.
27. News: Alex Finney leaves Bolton Wanderers . Bolton Wanderers F.C. Official Site . 12 August 2016 . 12 August 2016.
28. News: Wigan sign Adam Le Fondre, Nathan Byrne and Kaiyne Woolery . BBC Sport . 31 August 2016 . 31 August 2016.
29. News: Zach Clough makes Nottingham Forest switch . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 31 January 2017 . 1 February 2017 . 1 February 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170201212843/http://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/zach-clough-makes-nottingham-forest-switch-3549418.aspx . dead .
30. News: Bolton Wanderers sign Andrew Taylor on loan . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 10 August 2016 . 11 August 2016 . 22 August 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160822230939/http://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/bolton-wanderers-andrew-taylor-wigan-athletic-2016-17-3239360.aspx . dead .
31. News: Bolton Wanderers sign Chris Long on loan . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 30 January 2017 . 30 January 2017.
32. News: Adam Le Fondre joins Wanderers on loan . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 31 January 2017 . 31 January 2017.
33. News: Bolton Wanderers sign Viv Solomon-Otabor on loan . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 31 January 2017 . 31 January 2017.
34. News: George Newell joins AFC Fylde on loan . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 5 August 2016 . 5 August 2016.
35. News: Cardiff City sign goalkeeper Ben Amos and defender Joe Bennett . BBC Sport . 26 August 2016 . 26 August 2016.
36. News: Manchester City's Kean Bryan and Bolton's Tom Walker join Bury on loan . BBC Sport . 31 August 2016 . 31 August 2016.
37. News: Chesterfield: Tom Anderson and Conor Wilkinson join on loan . BBC Sport . 31 August 2016 . 31 August 2016.
38. News: Jamie Proctor links up with Carlisle United on loan . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 31 January 2017 . 31 January 2017.
39. News: Chris Taylor joins Oldham Athletic on loan . Bolton Wanderers Official Site . 31 January 2017 . 31 January 2017.