Brand New BWFC Book

THE GOOD THE BAD THE UGLY - SUPPORTING THE WHITES LATE 70S-MID 90S

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Brought to you by White Love Publications


A 178-page book following some of Bolton’s more memorable, more forgettable and more troublesome matches from the late 70s right up to the mid 90s.


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Preston keeper Simon Farnworth a former Wanderer of the wilderness years, couldn’t stop John McGinlay sweeping the penalty home and my life was elevated into a zone of anticipation and excitement. I remember nothing about the last 15 minutes except the final whistle that brought them to an end. It also brought 10 years of misery to a conclusion.Bruce Rioch had taken us through the door to footballing respectability and I found myself on my knees in the Lever End penalty box looking up to a clear blue sky. Bolton Wanderers and Burnden Park were finally out of the lower divisions and the old pitch was a writhing mass of joy. PRESTON NORTH END 1993


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Keystone cops’ football from the home side was helping the Quakers on their way. As BWFC sunk ever more deeply in to uncharted depths of lower divisions football it was an evening to wonder just when the club’s fortunes would reach rock bottom and begin to rise again. DARLINGTON 1985


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Within minutes the fighting had spread to the terracing and the Lever End was a bloodbath, according to the B.E.N., bricks, darts and golf balls were thrown and the St. John’s Ambulancemen were overwhelmed. As were casualty at Bolton Royal Infirmary, with many people, mainly innocent bystanders, suffering headwounds. CHELSEA 1977


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“The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, digs deep in the heart and soul of the football supporter who follows his club through everything that’s thrown at them. The ups, the downs and the blows taken while following the Whites is on every page of this unique historical and social account of a club we call our own.” AW, Walkden


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“What a great read. For the fans who got through the 70s, 80s and 90s at Burnden Park, with its ups and downs, what a journey it was and somehow always a pleasure. My recollections over the years have blurred, but “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” has reopened my eyes and has recreated some of those lost memories for me. Absolutely loved reading it, a great book for any Wanderers fan.” SH, Bolton


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“What a great read for any Bolton fan of a certain age. “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” captures the rollercoaster ride that so many football fans will be familiar with. Amazing how easy it is to remember the Good and surprisingly the Ugly. The Bad not so much! Brings the mood of Burnden Park back to life as realistically as anything I have read.” IC, Yeadon


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“Very interesting history of our fantastic club. Having been to many of these matches, it brought back a lot of good (and bad!) memories. Great reminder of my youth spent following Bolton all over the country!” SH, Helsinki



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“Some colourful and fantastic memories from a not too distant era but a time when football was not tainted by Sky or the cleansed products of today. A proper thrills pills and bellyache memoir of old school football. A fantastic read.” GB, Euxton



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AVAILABLE FROM MONDAY 4TH JULY – visit white love dot co dot uk


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New Bolton Wanderers book released by fanzine White Love - review

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A whole generation of Wanderers fans has grown up without the joy of reading a fanzine, a back-handed love letter from the terraces compiled by fans and sold before every game.

A staple of eighties and nineties football culture, the fanzine ranged wildly in terms of quality and tone, from tongue-in-cheek sarcasm to hard-hitting politics.

Bolton’s supporters were treated to some brilliant takes from the likes of Wanderers Worldwide, Here We Go Again, Now We Want Pele, Normid Nomad or Tripe and Trotters before the world wide web kicked in, and folk decamped to forums, message boards and social media to make their point.

Fanzines were – in a sense - a reaction to the mainstream media, with fans no longer happy to just read detailed match reports or interviews in the BEN, or to waste a few quid of ClubCall. And some were willing to put their time and money into filling that void.

In most cases, fanzines also countered the loutish stereotype with which football fans were still saddled at the time. Though content could often ruffle the feathers of the establishment, there were some genuinely fine pieces of writing being sold in the drizzle along Manchester Road.

So how wonderful to see that some of that writing has been given a 2022 update courtesy of another bastion of the fanzine movement in Bolton, White Love.

Along with the launch of a new website, original contributors Dick Smiley and Paul Hanley have produced a book entitled: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, detailing long-forgotten games from the late seventies up to the mid-nineties.

As the title would suggest, it is split into three distinct chapters. The first details minor triumphs – not the well-aired tales of Wrexham away or the Reading play-off final, but punchier, more personal stories, laced with humour and impressive detail.

The Bad is the first chapter’s antithesis – here we learn more about relegation against Aldershot, humiliation at Scarborough and other drab afternoons that the hardy few at Burnden will have tried hard to forget. Again, the diary-esque format works well, breaking each one down into a couple of pages, which makes it easy to pick and choose without worrying about a narrative thread.

The Ugly is the final chapter, which retells just how bad football had become before the Hillsborough, the Taylor Report and the Premier League’s glitz and glamour changed the face of the game forever.

In truth, there are moments that can be an uncomfortable read. The book in no way glamorises hooliganism, as some have done before, but you sense this section of copy is the one which has undergone the heaviest re-edit from the original versions.

If nothing else, it underlines just how ‘normal’ the violence around football had become and that even well into the nineties as the interior of stadia became more fan friendly, the exterior could still be a scary place.

For those who watched Wanderers home and away during the late seventies, eighties and nineties, there will be plenty to stir the memory banks. Faith is tested, pragmatism drips from every page, and every mention of Ian Greaves, Bruce Rioch and Colin Todd is accompanied with a giddy shiver down the spine.

For younger fans this is a history lesson, and a reminder how the themes of joy and despair come around a full circle at this wonderful football club.

To order the book (cover price £12.99) or back copies of the original fanzine, go to whitelove.co.uk

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Thanks for the post KP. Was pretty blown away by the review yesterday from Marc.

Smiley wrote:Thanks for the post KP. Was pretty blown away by the review yesterday from Marc.

Would that, by any chance, be the same Marc that claimed Gordon Hargreaves funded the Reebok Stadium?

Sorry Smiley, you might think that Iles M is special but he 'don't impress me much'.

Would have thought you were more of a Vesta Tilley man, Bob. I know I am.

Ten Bobsworth wrote:

Smiley wrote:Thanks for the post KP. Was pretty blown away by the review yesterday from Marc.

Would that, by any chance, be the same Marc that claimed Gordon Hargreaves funded the Reebok Stadium?

Sorry Smiley, you might think that Iles M is special but he 'don't impress me much'.

How about you give it a read then and you can give us your thoughts on it?

karlypants wrote:

How about you give it a read then and you can give us your thoughts on it?

Sorry KP but there's a few other things higher up on the Bobsworth agenda. As it happens we still have a few copies of White Love and Tripe 'nTrotters at Bobsworth Towers.They were quite entertaining in their day and in their way.