FourFourTwo's Bolton Wanderers season preview 2023/24 – can Ian Evatt progress the Trotters again and find a return to the second tier?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The Bolton Wanderers season preview 2023/24 is full of optimism, with another strong season expected in the north west.
In what looks a weaker league than last term, the Trotters will hope Nathan Baxter can replace James Trafford in goal, with other new faces adding positivity to the side's chances. Boss Ian Evatt has always delivered progress year on year, so a continuation of that trend should mean only one thing – promotion from League One.
While Bolton Wanderers will have to get over their play-off defeat to Barnsley, the majority of the squad has stuck around at the Toughsheet Community Stadium to push for the Championship.
Bolton Wanderers season preview 2023/24, the fan's view: Chris Flanagan (@CFlanaganFFT)
Last season was a step in the right direction: we made it into the play-offs and thrashed champions Plymouth 4-0 at Wembley to win the EFL Trophy.
This season will be different because loanees James Trafford and Conor Bradley have departed, and they were our two best players last season. Each of them has a really bright future.
Our key player will be Dion Charles. He scored 21 goals last season and will need to get that number again – we’ve relied on him a bit too much.
The opposition player I’d love here isPortsmouth's Colby Bishop. He’s a good targetman who scores goals, and he played well with Charles at Accrington.
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Dion Charles will be key to Bolton's promotion chances (Image credit: Getty Images)
The opposition player who grinds my gears isBarnsley’s Luca Connell, an ex-Bolton player who rubbed fans up the wrong way during five league, cup and play-off encounters last season.
Look out for Aaron Morley, a clever passer of the ball with a penchant for great goals from outside the box.
The active player I’d love to have back is Dapo Afolayan, one day. His January sale to St. Pauli was very sad, because he’d won the hearts of Bolton supporters in his two years at the club.
Fans think our owner is a truly great Brittan. Sharon Brittan has got the club back on its feet since the dark days of Ken Anderson’s reign.
The thing my club really gets right is fan engagement. As a result, we have sold 15,000 season tickets in League One – a remarkable number for us.
Ian Evatt had a brilliant first season in charge of Bolton (Image credit: Getty Images)
The one change I’d make would be to sort out the PA system around the stadium, as it sounds like it’s stationed on the moon.
I’m least looking forward to playingBurton, who consistently manage to stop us winning, despite barely having a touch of the ball.
Our most underrated player is Gethin Jones, a dependable member of our defence who also links up really well in attack from the right of a back three.
I won’t be happy unless we convert our dominance of games into more goals. Remember Spain vs Morocco at the World Cup, when Spain had all of the possession but just couldn’t score? Yeah, we know the feeling.
We’ll finish 2nd.
Season previews for the Premier League, League One and League Two are all available HERE
Chris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from more than 20 countries, in places as varied as Ivory Coast and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, AFCON and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.
