The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
in
Horwich
Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...
,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
, England.
Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors
Reebok
Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming rights deal with Italian sportswear company
Macron. It was renamed the
University of Bolton
, established = 2004 – gained University Status 1982 – Bolton Institute of Higher Education
, type = Public
, endowment = £160,000 (2009)
, administrative_staff = 700+
, chancellor ...
Stadium in 2018. In UEFA matches, it is called Bolton Wanderers Stadium due to
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
regulations on
sponsorship
Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...
.
A hotel forms part of the stadium and some of the rooms offer views of the pitch.
History
University of Bolton Stadium is an
all-seater stadium
An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football and Ame ...
with a capacity of almost 29,000 and was completed in 1997, replacing the club's old ground,
Burnden Park
Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footba ...
.
Burnden Park, which at its peak had held up to 60,000 spectators, was becoming increasingly dilapidated by the 1980s, and a section of terracing was sold off for redevelopment as a supermarket to help pay off the club's rising debts. Bolton Wanderers had dropped into the Third Division in 1983 and later spent a season in the Fourth Division. In January 1990, the
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...
required all clubs in the first and second tiers of the English league to have an all-seater stadium by the
1994-95 season. Bolton were still in the Third Division at this stage, but were aiming for promotion - which was finally achieved in 1993. By this stage, the club's owners had decided to relocate to a new all-seater stadium away from Burnden Park, and by 1995 had identified a location at
Horwich
Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...
as the preferred site of a new stadium.
![ReebokStadium](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/ReebokStadium.jpg)
The lead consultant/architect of the project was Lobb Sports, while local firm
Bradshaw Gass & Hope
Bradshaw Gass & Hope is an English architectural practice founded in 1862 by Jonas James Bradshaw (–1912). The style "Bradshaw Gass & Hope" was adopted after his death referring to the remaining partners John Bradshaw Gass and Arthur John Hope ...
acted as planning supervisors and
quantity surveyor
A quantity surveyor (QS) is a construction industry professional with expert knowledge on construction costs and contracts. Qualified professional quantity surveyors are known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS) in the UK and Cer ...
s, the contractor was
Birse Construction, and Deakin Callard & Partners provided structural engineering services. The value of the contract was £25 million (US$42.1 million). The stadium is noted for its distinct gabled architecture, first pioneered by the
John Smith's Stadium
Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of football club Huddersfield Town and rugby league si ...
.
The stadium was opened in 1997 by
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...
, a
Labour Party politician who was the
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom is a minister of the Crown and a member of the British Cabinet. The office is not always in use, and prime ministers may use other offices, such as First Secretary of State, to indicate the seni ...
at the time.
The stadium consists of four stands: The Carrs Pasties (North) Stand at one end; the South Stand (Franking Sense and also the away end) at the other end; the West Stand at one side of the pitch; and the Nat Lofthouse (east) Stand at the other side.
When the stadium was named after long-time team sponsor Reebok in 1997, fans considered the title impersonal and believed that too much emphasis was being placed on financial considerations. This opposition considerably lessened after the stadium was built, as fans grew accustomed to the name and were bolstered by Reebok's status as a local company.
The Macron title was applied in July 2014 after the Bolton Wanderers club finalised a partnership with the large Italian sportswear brand. In April 2014, long-serving club chairman Phil Gartside stated that he was "proud" to be associated with Macron and had "been very impressed with their
acron'spassion for football". A four-year duration was negotiated for the Macron deal and the club had the option to extend at completion.
When the deal with Macron came to an end in August 2018 the stadium was again renamed, this time as the University of Bolton Stadium.
Footballing firsts
![Reebokstadium inside](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Reebokstadium_inside.jpg)
* The first competitive – and Premier League – match at the stadium was a 0–0
draw
Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to:
Common uses
* Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them
* Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...
between Bolton and
Everton on Monday 1 September 1997. Bolton's
Gerry Taggart
Gerald Taggart (born 18 October 1970) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer. He played for Barnsley, Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City, Manchester City and Stoke City as well as the Northern Ireland national team.
A former defend ...
had a header that crossed the line wrongly ruled out, and the points it would have won would have saved Bolton from relegation at Everton's expense.
* The first player to score at the stadium was
Alan Thompson, a
penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
* Penalty ...
in the 1–1 draw against
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
, on 23 September.
Chris Armstrong, who later in his career had a short spell with Wanderers, got the equaliser.
* On 6 September 2002, it hosted its first international, a friendly between
England under-21 and
Yugoslavia under-21. It ended in a 1–1 draw with 10,531 in attendance. Visitor
Danko Lazović
Danko Lazović ( sr-Cyrl, Данко Лазовић, ; born 17 May 1983) is a Serbian former footballer who played as a forward or winger. He represented the Serbia national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
Partizan
Lazović sta ...
scored the first goal and
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips (born 25 October 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. He played in the Premier League and Football League for Manchester City, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers, in Major L ...
equalised.
*
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...
were the visitors in the first
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
match at the stadium, on 15 September 2005. Boban Janchevski scored first for the visitors, but late goals from
El Hadji Diouf
El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf (; born 15 January 1981) is a Senegalese former professional footballer. Throughout his career, Diouf played as a winger or a forward.
Having started his professional football career in France with Sochaux, Rennes an ...
and
Jared Borgetti
Jared Francisco Borgetti Echavarría (; born 14 August 1973) is a Mexican former professional Association football, footballer who currently works as a commentator for ESPN Deportes and ESPN Latin America, ESPN Mexico.
As a player, Borgetti wa ...
secured a 2–1 home victory in the first competitive European match in Bolton's history.
Other events
![Reebokstadium01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Reebokstadium01.JPG)
The stadium has hosted concerts by
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
,
Pink
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
,
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
,
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...
,
The Killers
The Killers are an American rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingd ...
,
Little Mix
Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British ver ...
and
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
.
The stadium also hosted the
UK Open Darts Championship,
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
matches with local boxer
Amir Khan and in 2011
Premiership rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
, when
Sale Sharks
Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...
lost to
London Irish
London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...
. It will also host group matches and the quarter-final of the
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was ...
in 2021.
The venue's Premier Suite is home to the UK's leading amateur mixed martial arts event, Full Contact Contender.
In August 2019, the stadium hosted a campaign rally by
Labour Party leader
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
.
In March and April 2021 the stadium held
Crown Court
The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...
cases due to the large amount that had built up as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
whilst the actual Courts were closed. In the same year it was a venue for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Snooker
The
2021 Champion of Champions (also known as the 2021 Cazoo Champion of Champions for the purposes of sponsorship) professional snooker tournament was hosted at the stadium between 15 and 21 November 2021
Rugby League
The stadium has also hosted seven rugby league matches.
Rugby League Test Matches
World Club Challenge
Challenge Cup
In 2018, the stadium hosted the first ever double-header semi-finals of the
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
, repeated in 2019.
Bolton Wanderers Free School
In 2014, the club established
Bolton Wanderers Free School
Bolton Wanderers Free School was a free school sixth form located in the Lostock area of Bolton, in the English County of Greater Manchester. The sixth form was established by Bolton Wanderers Football Club through the (not for profit) Eddie ...
at the stadium. It was a
sixth form centre
A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as GCE Advanced Level, A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the Internation ...
offering sports and related courses for 16- to 19-year-olds, and utilised the facilities of the stadium for most of its teaching and learning. However, this closed in 2017 due to low pupil numbers which made it 'not financially viable'.
Attendances
Record attendances
Record attendance: 28,353 v
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
, 28 December 2003
(
FA Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
)
Lowest attendance for a competitive match: 1,540 v
Everton U23s, 30 August 2016
Football League Trophy, Northern Group Stage, Game One
Lowest Premier League attendance: 17,014 v
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
, 2 January 2008
Record
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
attendance: 26,163 v
Atlético Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...
, 14 February 2008
Last 32 1st leg
Record
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
attendance: 23,523 v
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, 12 March 2005
quarter finals
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
Record
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
Attendance: 18,037 v
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
, 27 October 2004, Third round
Average attendances
Nat Lofthouse statue
![Nat Lofthouse statue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Nat_Lofthouse_statue.jpg)
Bolton Wanderers unveiled a bronze statue of their most famous player,
Nat Lofthouse
Nathaniel Lofthouse (27 August 1925 – 15 January 2011) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Bolton Wanderers for his entire career. He won 33 caps for England between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals, with o ...
(1925–2011), prior to a game against
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
on 24 August 2013. The statue, which cost £100,000 due to the generosity of public donations and sponsors, is situated near to the south-west corner of the stadium and was officially revealed by club owner Eddie Davies in a special ceremony.
Club chaplain Phil Mason, chairman
Phil Gartside
Philip Andrew Gartside (27 April 1952 – 10 February 2016) was an English businessman who was chairman of Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers Football Club.
Career
Philip Andrew Gartside was born in Leigh, Greater Manchester, Leigh, England ...
and the son of Nat Lofthouse – Jeff Lofthouse, also took part in the ceremony as did sculptor
Sean Hedges-Quinn
Sean Hedges-Quinn is a British sculptor, animator, and film model and prop-maker.
Life
Hedges-Quinn was born in Ipswich in April 1968. After graduating from the University of Hertfordshire, Hedges-Quinn worked in the film industry as a model-m ...
. Hedges-Quinn had taken 18 months overall to complete the project having worked successfully on the statues such as that of
Bob Stokoe
Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...
at
The Stadium of Light,
Ted Bates at
St Mary's Stadium
St Mary's Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Southampton, England, which has been the home stadium of Premier League club Southampton F.C. since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the largest football stadium ...
and
Sir Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
and
Alf Ramsey
Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he represented the England national team and captained the side, but he is best known for his time as England manager fr ...
at
Portman Road
Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internatio ...
.
Transport
The stadium's West Stand lies about 200 metres from
Horwich Parkway railway station
Horwich Parkway is a railway station serving the town of Horwich and Middlebrook near Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. Located within the historic county of Lancashire the station is north west of Manchester Piccadilly on the Manchest ...
. The station lies between
Lostock and
Blackrod
Blackrod is a List of towns in England, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, northeast of Wigan and west of Bolton. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, it had a po ...
on the
Manchester to Preston Line
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...
. Football specials operate to and from this station on matchdays. Bus services are laid on by the club from across the borough when the Wanderers are at home.
On non-matchdays Horwich Parkway is served by three services an hour in each direction, operated by
Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
or
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major c ...
. Numerous routes serve bus stops near or at the ground, operated by
,
Vision Bus
Vision Bus is a bus operator based in Blackrod, Bolton, England. Vision operate several routes in Greater Manchester including tendered and school bus services.
Services
Most of the Vision Bus routes serve Bolton or Leigh
Leigh may refer to:
...
and
Diamond Bus North West
Diamond Bus (North West) Ltd., trading as Diamond North West, is a bus operator providing services in the districts of Bolton and Wigan in Greater Manchester operating an extensive commercial network along with tendered services on behalf of Tra ...
.
References
External links
* on Bolton Wanderers FC
Reebok Stadium websiteBolton Wanderers Free School
{{Authority control
Sports venues completed in 1997
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton
Football venues in England
Premier League venues
Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton
Rugby League World Cup stadiums
Sports venues in Greater Manchester
Darts venues
Music venues in Greater Manchester
Reebok
English Football League venues
Bradshaw, Gass & Hope buildings
1997 establishments in England