Bolton Wanderers vs Forest Green Rovers

MARLAND’S
MUSINGS
Sixty years ago, the Wanderers
were in the middle of an
enforced lay-off due to the ‘Big
freeze’ that was to bring sport
in the country to a halt for three
months.
After defeating Tottenham, who
were to finish First Division
runners up, on December 8th
1962, at Burnden, thanks to an
88th minute winner from Peter
Deakin, the Wanderers managed
just one more League game
before March 9th 1963.
That one League fixture that
was played took place on 16th
February (pictured with Wyn
Davies taking on Laurie Brown)
when the undersoil heating at
Highbury meant that the fixture at
Arsenal could go ahead. Things
were that bad that the Wanderers
had travelled to Cork three days
earlier to get some match practice
in with a friendly 4-2 defeat
against Manchester United who
were to win the FA Cup.
Despite goals from Freddie Hill
and Dennis Butler, Bolton went
down 3-2 to Arsenal, things finally
getting back to normal on March
6th when a Third Round FA Cup
visit to Sheffield United was
played at the 13th attempt. The
Blades ran out 3-1 winners with
Francis Lee getting Wanderers
consolation.
Three days later the Yorkshire
side visited Burnden for a
First Division fixture
with Bolton gaining
revenge with a 3-2
success thanks to a
hat-trick from Freddie
Hill. Wanderers
forward line that
day had an average
age of just 19, the
youngest being Brian
Bromley who was
just 16 years old.
WANDERERS
MATTERS WITH
CLUB HISTORIAN
SIMON MARLAND…
THE BIG FREEZE OF 1962/63.
That game set the team off on
a run of 20 games in 69 days
to complete the season on May
17th. It wasn’t until May that the
Wanderers staved off any worries
of relegation with two home
wins in three days over FA Cup
Finalists Leicester City (pictured)
and Liverpool. Manchester City
and Leyton Orient were relegated.
www.bwfc.co.uk
The Wanderer | 17