Bolton v Stoke

Early history

The club was founded in 1874 as Christ Church FC, but changed its name to Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) Wanderers in 1877. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888. Having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) have spent more time in the top flight (Premier League/old First Division) than out of it.

In 1894 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the final of football's oldest competition, the FA Cup, for the first time, but lost 4–1 to Notts County at Goodison Park. A decade later they were runners-up a second time, losing 1–0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace on April 23, 1904. On April 28, 1923 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) won the cup at their third attempt to win their first major trophy, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first ever Wembley final. The match, famously known as The White Horse Final was played in front of over 127,000 supporters. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets)'s centre-forward, David Jack scored the first ever goal at Wembley Stadium. They became the most successful cup side of the twenties, also winning in 1926 and 1929, beating Manchester City and Portsmouth respectively.

From 1935 to 1964, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) enjoyed an uninterrupted stay in the top flight – regarded by fans as a golden era, spearheaded in the 1950s by Nat Lofthouse. They would not return to the top flight until 1978, where they lasted but two seasons before a period of further decline set in. In 1953 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) played in one of the most famous FA Cup finals of all time - The Stanley Matthews Final of 1953. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) lost the game to Blackpool 4–3 after throwing away a 3–1 lead. Blackpool were victorious thanks to the skills of Matthews and the goals of Stan Mortensen.

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) Wanderers have not won a major trophy since 1958, when two Lofthouse goals saw them overcome Manchester United in the FA Cup final in front of a 100,000 crowd at Wembley. The closest they have come to winning a major trophy since then is finishing runners-up in the League Cup, first in 1995 and again in 2004.

At the end of the 1986–87 season, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) Wanderers suffered relegation to the Fourth Division for the first time in their history. But the board kept faith in manager Phil Neal and they won promotion back to the Third Division at the first attempt. The deciding goal was scored by Robbie Savage in a 1–0 win at Wrexham. Neal remained in charge until the summer of 1992 when he made way for Bruce Rioch, who a few years earlier had won two successive promotions with Middlesbrough.

In the early part of Rioch's tenure, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) gained a giantkilling reputation in cup competitions. In 1993 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) beat FA Cup holders Liverpool 2–0 in a third round replay thanks to goals from John McGinlay and Andy Walker. The club also defeated higher division opposition in the form of Wolves that year before bowing out to Derby County. In 1994 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) beat FA Cup holders Arsenal 3–1 in a fourth round replay, and went on to reach the Quarter Finals, bowing out 1–0 at home to local rivals (and then Premier League) Oldham Athletic. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) also defeated top division opposition in the form of Everton and Aston Villa that year.

Recent history

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the Premiership in 1995 under the management of Rioch, thanks to a victory over Reading in the Division One playoff final. Rioch left to take charge at Arsenal after the promotion success and was replaced by Roy McFarland, who was joined by his former assistant Colin Todd. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were bottom for virtually all of the 1995–96 Premiership campaign and Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) dismissed McFarland on New Year's Day 1996 and appointed Todd in his place. Todd was unable to save Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) from relegation but the board kept faith in him. The Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) board's loyalty in Todd was rewarded when they won promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt thanks to a season in which they achieved 98 league points and 100 goals in the process of securing the Division One Championship.

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were relegated on goal difference at the end of the 1997–98 Premiership campaign. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the 1999 Division One playoff final but lost to Watford. Todd resigned as manager soon after and was replaced by Sam Allardyce. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and play-offs but lost to Aston Villa and Ipswich Town respectively. In 2000–01 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were promoted back to the Premier League after beating Preston North End in the play-off final.

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) struggled in the following two seasons, but survived in the Premier League. They reached the League Cup final in 2004, but lost to Middlesbrough. Nevertheless, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) finished eighth in the league, at the time their highest finish for some time. In 2005 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) finished sixth in the league, thus earning qualification for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. The following season, they reached the last 32 but were eliminated by French team Marseille. In April 2007, towards the end of 2006–07 season, manager Allardyce resigned. In his final four seasons at Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets), Allardyce had recorded consecutive top ten finishes, a record of consistency bettered only by the big four of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Allardyce was replaced by his assistant Sammy Lee, who secured Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets)'s qualification for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. After gaining only one league win in eleven matches, Lee left Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) in October 2007 and was replaced by Gary Megson.

Birmingham City were founded as Small Heath Alliance in 1875, and from 1877 played their home games at Muntz Street. The club turned professional in 1885, and three years later became the first football club to become a limited company with a board of directors, under the name of Small Heath F.C. Ltd.

From 1889–90 they played in the Football Alliance, which ran alongside the Football League. In 1892, Small Heath, along with the other Alliance teams, were invited to join the newly-formed Football League Second Division. They finished as champions, but failed to win promotion via the test match system; the following season promotion to the First Division was secured after a second place finish and test match victory over Darwen.

The club adopted the name Birmingham Football Club in 1905, and moved into their new ground, which became known as St Andrew's, the following year. Matters on the field failed to live up to their surroundings. Birmingham were relegated in 1908, were obliged to apply for re-election two years later, and remained in the Second Division until after the First World War.

Frank Womack's captaincy and the creativity of Scottish international playmaker Johnny Crosbie contributed much to Birmingham winning their second Division Two title in 1920–21. Womack went on to make 515 appearances, a club record for an outfielder, over a twenty-year career. 1920 also saw the debut of the 19-year-old Joe Bradford, who went on to score a club record 267 goals in 445 games, and won 12 caps for England. In 1931, manager Leslie Knighton led the club to their first FA Cup Final, which they lost 2–1 to Second Division club West Bromwich Albion. Though Birmingham remained in the top flight for 18 seasons, they struggled in the league, with much reliance placed on England goalkeeper Harry Hibbs to make up for the lack of goals, Bradford excepted, the other end. They were finally relegated in 1938–39, the last full season before the Second World War.

The club's current name of Birmingham City F.C. was adopted in 1943. Harry Storer was appointed manager in 1945. In his first season the club won the Football League South wartime league and reached the semifinal of the first post-war FA Cup; two years later they won their third Second Division title, conceding only 24 goals in the 42-game season. Storer's successor Bob Brocklebank, though unable to stave off relegation in 1950, brought in the players who were to produce the club's successes of the next decade. When Arthur Turner took over as manager in November 1954, he made them play; a 5–1 win on the last day of the season confirmed them as champions.

Their first season back in the First Division saw Birmingham make their highest league finish of sixth place. They also reached the FA Cup final, losing 3–1 to Manchester City in the game best remembered for City's goalkeeper Bert Trautmann playing the last 20 minutes with a broken bone in his neck. It was during this FA Cup campaign, in which all Birmingham's games had been away from home, that Harry Lauder's Keep right on to the end of the road was adopted as the fans' anthem. The following season the club lost in the FA Cup semifinal for the third time since the war, this time beaten 2–0 by Manchester United's "Busby Babes".

Birmingham became the first English club side to take part in European competition when they played their first group game in the inaugural Inter-Cities Fairs Cup competition on 15 May 1956; they went on to reach the semifinal where they drew 4–4 on aggregate with Barcelona, losing the replay 2–1. They were also the first English club side to reach a European final, losing 4–1 on aggregate to Barcelona in 1960 and 4–2 to A.S. Roma in 1961. In the 1961 semifinal they beat Inter Milan home and away; no other English club won a competitive game in the San Siro until Arsenal managed it over 40 years later.

Under manager Gil Merrick they saved their best domestic form for the 1963 League Cup competition. Though opponents in the final, local rivals Aston Villa, were pre-match favourites, Birmingham raised their game and won 3–1 on aggregate to lift their only major trophy to date. In 1965, after ten years in the top flight, they returned to the Second Division.

Businessman Clifford Coombs took over as chairman in 1965, luring Stan Cullis out of retirement to manage the club. Though Cullis's team played attractive football which took them to the semifinals of the League Cup in 1967 and the FA Cup in 1968, league football needed a different approach. Replacement Freddie Goodwin produced a team playing skilful, aggressive football that could win promotion as well as reach an FA Cup semifinal. Two years later, the club raised money by selling Bob Latchford to Everton for a British record fee of £350,000, but without his goals the team struggled. Sir Alf Ramsey briefly managed the club before Jim Smith took over in 1978. With relegation a certainty, the club sold Trevor Francis to Nottingham Forest, making him the first £1 million player; Francis had scored a total of 133 goals in 329 appearances over his nine years at Birmingham.

Smith took Birmingham straight back to the First Division, but a poor start to the 1981–82 season saw him replaced by Ron Saunders, who had just resigned from league champions Aston Villa. Saunders' team could not score goals and in 1984 they were relegated. They bounced back up, but the last home game of the 1984–85 promotion season against Leeds United was marred by rioting, culminating in the death of a boy when a wall collapsed on him; this was on the same day as the Bradford fire, and the events at St Andrew's formed part of the remit of Mr Justice Popplewell's inquiry into safety at sports grounds. The club was in turmoil on and off the field. Saunders quit after FA Cup defeat to Altrincham, staff were laid off, the training ground was sold, and by 1989 Birmingham were in the Third Division for the first time in their history.

Then the Kumar brothers, owners of a clothing chain, bought the club. A rapid turnover of managers, the absence of promised investment, and a threatened mass refusal of players to renew contracts was only relieved by a victorious trip to Wembley in the Leyland DAF Cup. Terry Cooper delivered promotion, but the collapse of the BCCI bank put the Kumars' businesses into receivership; in November 1992 BCCI's liquidator put up for sale their 84% holding in the football club. The club continued in administration for four months, until Sport Newspapers proprietor David Sullivan bought it for £700,000, installed the 23-year-old Karren Brady as managing director and allowed Cooper money for signings. On the last day of the season, the team avoided relegation back to the third tier.

A poor start to the 1993–94 season saw Cooper replaced by Barry Fry, though the change did not prevent relegation. Fry's first full season brought promotion back to the second tier and victory in the Auto Windscreens Shield at Wembley, beating Carlisle United with a Paul Tait golden goal. After one more year, Fry was sacked to make way for the return of Trevor Francis.

Francis introduced players with top-level experience such as Manchester United skipper Steve Bruce. In his second season the club narrowly missed out on a play-off position, followed by three years of play-off semifinal defeats. They also reached the 2001 League Cup final against Liverpool at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Birmingham equalised in the last minute of normal time, but the match went to a penalty shootout which Liverpool won. By October 2001, lack of progress had made Francis's position untenable. After a 6–0 League Cup defeat to Manchester City, he left by mutual consent, replaced two months later by Steve Bruce. Bruce shook up a stale team, taking them from mid-table into the play-offs where they beat Norwich City on penalties to win promotion.

Motivated by the inspirational Christophe Dugarry, Birmingham's first top-flight season for 16 years finished in mid-table. 2003–04 saw loan signing Mikael Forssell's 17 league goals help Birmingham to a top half finish. Performances and results tailed off badly towards the end of the season. First-team coach Mark Bowen was sacked and replaced by Eric Black, international players were signed, but an injury to Forssell left the 2004–05 team struggling for goals. More transfer window loan signings ensured an unconvincing mid-table finish.

In July 2005, chairman David Gold said it was time to "start talking about being as good as anyone outside the top three or four" with "the best squad of players for 25 years". Injuries, lack of form, and a lack of investment during the transfer window saw them relegated before the last game of a season whose lowlight was a 0–7 FA Cup defeat to Liverpool. Pennant and Heskey left for record fees,many more were released, but Bruce retained the confidence of the board. His new recruitment strategy, combining young "hungry" players with free-transfer experience and shrewd exploitation of the loan market, brought automatic promotion at the end of a season which had included calls for his head.

In July 2007, Hong Kong-based businessman Carson Yeung bought 29.9% of shares in the club, making him the biggest single shareholder, with a view to taking full control in the future. On the field, the club prepared for the 2007–08 season by making eight permanent and four loan signings, most notably former French international Olivier Kapo, Dutch U-21 winger Daniël de Ridder, Aston Villa defender Liam Ridgewell, and Arsenal defender Johan Djourou on loan. On 19 November 2007 Steve Bruce left to become manager of Wigan Athletic.