Bolton Wanderers took a baby step towards normality with the booking of the squad’s first friendly of pre-season.
It was announced on July 2 that Wanderers will travel to face York City at Bootham Crescent on Sunday, July 14 with kick-off scheduled for 2pm.
Bolton have faced York 21 times in the clubs’ shared history with Wanderers claiming victory on 11 of those occasions.
The two sides met most recently in January 2011 in a third-round FA Cup tie, Bolton’s 2-0 win was the first step on the road towards the ill-fated semi-final that season.
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On July 3, a second friendly was announced, another away fixture but this time at Oldham’s Boundary Park on July 27 at 3pm.
Wanderers last met League Two Oldham Athletic in the 2016/17 League One campaign, with both sides winning a game apiece that year.
A return to normality?
Hopefully, this can be the first step on the journey to a stable and very ordinary season for Wanderers and the club’s fans who have endured so much over the past year.
The announcement of the club’s first friendlies of pre-season, with more expected to come, will do a great deal to calm the nerves of many supporters.
However, there is still a long way to go for Bolton’s incoming owners.
As things stand, Bolton still only have 13 first team and third-year scholars on the club’s books. I think we can all agree that’s something that needs changing in the coming weeks.
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What’s happening with the manager?
Question marks still hang over the future of manager Phil Parkinson as it’s unclear whether Bolton’s incoming new owners want to bring in someone of their own choosing.
Meanwhile, Parkinson and his backroom staff have remained professional and have begun pre-season training with the few players the club has.
Hopefully, all that and more will become clear in the coming weeks. With just a month until Bolton’s first League One match of the season, time really is of the essence.