IAN Evatt is putting faith in youth as he builds Wanderers 2.0 this January.

Saturday’s line-up against Ipswich Town had an average age of 25.4 years – the youngest named by Bolton Wanderers for a league game since he took over as manager in the summer of 2020.

Midfielder Kieran Lee was the only player in the Bolton XI older than 27, and one of just three thirty-somethings in the matchday squad, alongside Nathan Delfouneso and Alex Baptiste.

His previous benchmark had been set in the first half of last season, with teams named for home encounters against Oldham Athletic and Mansfield Town weighing in a few weeks older.

At that stage of proceedings, Bolton’s young team was struggling to meet the demands placed on it. Young players like Jak Hickman, Tom White, Liam Gordon, Ronan Darcy and – rather notably – goalkeeper Billy Crellin, were eventually replaced with more experience, and the average age of the side increased to 29.6 years on a few occasions towards the back end of the campaign, including a 2-1 win against Cambridge, a 1-0 win at Port Vale and the goalless draw at home to Colchester United.

Things have now come a full circle and as the Wanderers boss attempts another January rebuild, he has stacked the team with younger, energetic players in a visible style shift.

Recruitment has been geared towards players with potential resale value, on longer contracts that have been offered to Bolton players for some time. And Evatt has shown with recent decisions to move on Antoni Sarcevic and Eoin Doyle that he does have a ruthless streak.

The remodelling of the squad has also meant a new captain in Ricardo Santos, and a new vice-captain, Gethin Jones. Both players have now been challenged to lead a young dressing room in the second half of the season, aided in the background by the veteran nous of Alex Baptiste.

Wanderers have also targeted Gillingham’s current captain Kyle Dempsey, who would be another big leader in the group if the club can get him on board.

Delving deeper into the statistics, Evatt has named younger sides in the cup competitions – with last season’s victory against Newcastle Under-21s in the Papa John’s Trophy achieved with a side averaging 24.5 years between them, beefed up by the inclusion of 33-year-old striker, Shaun Miller.

He also named a relatively youthful side in the FA Cup against Crewe last season, with the likes of Liam Gordon, Peter Kioso and Billy Crellin bringing the average down to 25.3 years. Crewe – it should be pointed out – had an even younger line-up at 24.2 years but the starting 11 was still the youngest named in the competition since detailed records began on the website transfermrkt.com.

This season’s youngest League One line up was jointly held at 26.3 years by the teams beaten at home by Wigan Athletic and Wycombe Wanderers.

The Bolton News:

Few fans will need a reminder that the youngest-ever Bolton squad for a league game was named in August 2019, with the team dubbed ‘Junior Whites’ going on to fight out a goalless draw with eventual champions Coventry City with an average age of just 19.6.

But an even younger starting line-up took the field in Keith Hill’s first official game in charge, a penalty shootout defeat against Bradford City in the Papa John’s Trophy – where once again 24-year-old James Weir was the oldest player in the squad. The bench that day had an average age of just 17.5.

Jimmy Phillips presided over the next youngest side in recent times, where the addition of Jason Lowe, Remi Matthews and Luke Murphy took the average up to 21.7 years for a 5-0 home defeat against Ipswich, at a time when the club’s future was still in some considerable doubt.

The youngest side of the Premier League era was named by Owen Coyle and averaged 25.5 years. His team – beaten 3-0 by Fulham in April 2012 - included 19-year-old Ryo Miyachi and 21-year-old Marcos Alonso.

That edged out a side averaging 25.6 years named by Colin Todd for a 3-0 defeat at West Ham in October 1997 And just to complete the set, caretaker boss Phillips named a side averaging just a shade over 24 years for a Championship game at Brentford in April 2016.

A 19-year-old Alex Finney made his full league debut, with 20-year-old’s Niall Maher and Tom Walker also in the team. Alex Samizadeh, aged just 17, made his debut from the bench.