Bolton Wanderers face Wembley showdown In League One play-off final
Club hoping to continue recovery with promotion to the Championship
Last updated 18th May 2024
From "ground zero" to reaching the League One play-off final at Wembley.
That is how Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt has described the way the club has been rebuilt.
Bolton were in the Premier League 12 years ago, but dropped to the fourth tier after going into administration.
They take on Oxford later today, who Wanderers beat 5-0 back in March, having narrowly missed out on automatic promotion.
"It's hugely different," says 42-year-old manager Ian Evatt of the outfit he now leads. "I walked into a football club that was completely broken, ground zero almost.
"It had no connection to the town. We'd lost trust, we'd lost faith with the fanbase, which was completely understandable. The staff that worked here, everyone was miserable, they were not far away from food banks.
"But with adversity comes opportunity and I was given an unbelievable opportunity to build a football department and a football club back to something like it should be.
"Getting into the Championship was really our first primary goal. We feel like we're ready for it now but we have to earn it.
"Moments and occasions like this do give you the chance to have some perspective and to think about the journey so far.
"We've progressed every year. The statistics show that and we've now built a football department that is ready for the next level, which is something we're extremely proud of."
Evatt earned promotion in his first season, and Bolton have improved every year in League One.
Last season they lost in the play-off semi-finals but had success at Wembley in the EFL Trophy.