Why Bolton are the hardest club to support in English football

Bolton Wanderers

Atletico Madrid had held out for 74 minutes, but they could withstand the pressure no longer. Sent off for spitting, a teenage Sergio Aguero glanced disconsolately across the Reebok Stadium as police tried to usher him down the tunnel. When he finally began his journey back to the dressing room, he heard the roar. El-Hadji Diouf had scored the winner. Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Atletico Madrid.

Back in 2008, Bolton knocked Atletico out of Europe and sat above them in the UEFA rankings. Above Manchester City and PSG, too. In the noughties, a survey claimed that Boltonians were among the happiest people in England.

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Chris Flanagan
Senior Staff Writer

Chris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from 20 countries, in places as varied as Jerusalem and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, Euro 2020 and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.