Bolton Wanderers fans get into a mass brawl outside their stadium after the club ended up messing up their promotion hopes on Saturday.
A gathering built up as the afternoon went on at the University of Bolton Stadium, with fans showing their support as players arrived at the ground for their game against Exeter City in League Two.
Trotters knew going into the game that will be promoted if they win at home against the Grecians on Saturday and will also be promoted regardless of Morecambe and Tranmere don’t better their result.
Pierce Sweeney headed a stoppage-time winner to earn play-off hopefuls Exeter a 2-1 victory. That left Bolton with work still to do to clinch automatic promotion in the final League Two game of the camapign.
Third-placed Wanderers needed a win to seal a quick return to League One and when Gethin Jones scored his third goal of the season after 15 minutes, the Bolton looked to be on their way.
Hundreds of Bolton fans outside the ground, ignoring club advice to stay away from the University of Bolton Stadium, thought so too, letting off fireworks in celebration.
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Randell Williams fired in a 49th-minute leveller for a fourth goal of the season, seeing a twist in the encounter.
Bolton’s leading scorer Eoin Doyle headed over while Grecians striker Matt Jay chipped a great chance into the side-netting on the 67th minute.
Bolton brought on four substitutes and Exeter five replacements before Sweeney’s goal five minutes into stoppage time settled the contest.
However outside the ground, after some early celebrations after going 1-0 up, chaos descended with medics attending fans left hurt.
“Fans” fighting amongst themselves #bwfc pic.twitter.com/S8MB7llwM6
— nath (@nathjnzy) May 1, 2021
Bolton had insisted they were not trying to be party-poopers by requesting that fans stay at home on the day the club could potentially seal promotion.
After discussions with the police and local authority, the Whites issued a statement to supporters yesterday reminding them that large gatherings are still prohibited under the government’s Covid guidelines.
In what has become a delicate situation for the club, many supporters have stated publicly on social media that they intend to travel to the University of Bolton Stadium on Saturday regardless.
Joe Aspen wrote: “This is why Bolton Wanderers told us to stay away. Theyk now our fans are wankers. Cameron Aspen gets a bottle to the head when trying to celebrate a goal. Nice one.”
Greater Manchester Police confirmed they had gained a dispersal order on Tuesday evening, which gives them powers to move on crowds as a “last resort” in the event of anti-social behaviour.
A spokesperson for the Bolton Wanderers Supporters Trust told The Bolton News: “We have great sympathy with the fans who want to attend but understand that the club has had no choice but to put out the appeal.”
The Bolton Whites Hotel was closed between Friday, April 30 and Monday, May 3, including the outdoor seating and bar area.
Last weekend, a contingent of around 200 supporters gathered outside the stadium at Morecambe and were managed by local stewards and police without any major incidents.
Players saluted the fans from a safe distance after the 1-0 win, which put them on the edge of a return to League One.
Wanderers also released a statement morning, which read: “The club truly appreciates the support we have had from all our supporters this season, especially as you have not been able to watch games in person due to the restrictions associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“The club is engaging with both the local authority and Public Health England on the measures required to see the safe reintroduction of spectators when Government restrictions can be lifted.
“In the meantime, with public gatherings of more than six outdoors still not permitted, and with there still being a clear risk to public health, we are politely requesting that fans do not travel to the University of Bolton Stadium on Saturday.
“We all still have a big part to play in keeping down transmission rates and your safety and that of our colleagues and community is our primary concern.
“We are all looking forward to welcoming you back to the stadium once it is safe to do so and in the meantime we thank you for your loyal support, understanding and co-operation.”
Seems the Bolton fans instead ignored this and as you can see, get into mass brawl with bottles thrown outside their stadium.
Fans reacted as Bolton fans get into mass brawl with bottles thrown and then break into the stadium…
@tobymtfc: jesus did tesco run out of pyros?
@WAFC_TPC: Magnificent scenes. The thick scrubbers.
@LeeWolv: Embarrassing that lot
@Ftbl_Lixm: “CALM DOON”
@ElliotYoung17: Absolutely fucking embarrassing at full time, why are we fighting each other #bwfc
@MattAtherden: Some of our absolute prized nobheads on show today. If you were one of the few throwing glass bottles about, we don’t want/need your support #BWFC
@GLongworthBWFC: Least thogden had a wasted trip, every cloud #bwfc
@KyleChr27168364: Bottles launched. Fights. People broke into stadium . Knew something bad would happen. Can’t be trusted #bwfc
@TheChrisMcKeown: The club said don’t turn up at the stadium- some of the scenes didn’t exactly show much social distancing being met.. Only hope good people who obeyed the rules didn’t get caught up #bwfc
@BWFCL8N: I’m so ashamed to be a Bolton fan at the minute. Absolutely fucking disgraceful from our ‘fans’ scrapping each other and making a complete fucking tit of themselves. You’ve just made the club look horrendous, you’re not Bolton fans and you’re NOT welcome back at our ground. #bwfc
@Kxrt97: Some bolton fans are a absolute disgrace #BWFC
@TomSettle94: What you going to achieve from breaking into the stadium you fucking cretins #bwfc
@Islandhopper74: For anyone who isn’t for some reason cheered up quite enough yet, may I suggest heading over to the #BWFC timeline, some quite remarkable scenes! Always liked Exeter me. #wafc
@dalebwfc: no chance i’m going back next week. embarrassed to be a bolton fan.
@GCBolton2: Absolutely sickened to see the violence attacks and fighting outside the ground today! The club told you to stay away the abuse I got. Hope your all happy #BWFC
@bwfcharvey: Proper embarrassed to be a Bolton fan today, disgusting
@Hazaka_: If you started scraping your own fans today your a different level of cunt #bwfc
@jance_relph: Embarrassing little cunts. Hope they never get let in the ground ever again. #bwfc
@andygreen79: Did we honestly expect anything different ??
@emmarosetownson: Bolton fans scrapping with each other outside the reebok lmfao
@BwfcFans: Ban everyone who ran into the stadium. Toxic. #bwfc
@Tgee92: Fucking fans fighting between themselves are just as embarrassing #bwfc
@garysjackson: Not sure what’s the most embarrassing the second half performance or our pre-pubescent fans at the ground. On to next week. #coywm #bwfc
Unbelievably, this shirt wasn’t the worst thing I saw at the stadium today #bwfc pic.twitter.com/tCF6RoeYzs
— Ste Morris (@StemboatSociety) May 1, 2021
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