WE delved into the archives to find out what was happening at Wanderers on this day in history.

FROM The Bolton News - April 9, 1997

COLIN Todd popped the champagne corks and unleashed months of pent-up emotion as Wanderers celebrated their glorious and overwhelming Championship success.

"This is Utopia for me!" the Burnden boss admitted with unbridled passion and unashamed pride after seeing his runaway leaders claim the title with a demolition of derby rivals Manchester City.

"Winning promotion with five games to go then the title with four games left and in a derby game is a tremendous feeling. It just gets better and better.

"What a way to win it! I'm a very low-key person but inside the adrenalin's really flowing. Personally this is a very exciting achievement.

"There were a lot of people ready to fire the gun at me at the start of the season - some of our own supporters included. The bookies had City as favourites and didn't fancy our chances.

"But I knew I could be a winner myself - I showed that previously when I was manager at Middlesbrough and we got to the play-offs. But this is a much greater achievement and you can't take anything away from what we have done.

"We've won the Championship in the style of Champions."

Meanwhile, John McGinlay, an influential figure in Wanderers’ success story, was determined not to miss the grand finale at Burnden Park.

The 27-goal top gun of the record-breaking Bolton attack, limped out the City win with a thigh strain and missed games against Oxford and Oldham.

But McGinlay insisted: “It’s not too bad and shouldn’t be too long a job, maybe just the one match.

“I certainly don’t want to miss the Charlton game because that’s going to be something special.”

Wanderers’ two goals at Maine Road set a new club record of 110 goals in all competitions, eclipsing the previous best of the 1934-35 side which won promotion from the old Second Division.

Colin Todd’s champions were just six short of that pre-war team’s record of 96 League goals.

FROM The Bolton News - April 9, 2019

WANDERERS’ game against Ipswich Town on was only allowed to go ahead after the EFL provided the club with a cash advance in order to pay staffing costs.

The University of Bolton Stadium was slapped with a prohibition notice by Bolton Council a week earlier, effectively banning supporters from entry and putting the fixture in doubt.

The notice was served due to doubts over the club’s ability to meet the conditions of the ground’s security certificate, with security and medical personnel threatening a boycott over a non-payment of salaries for the month of March.

The Bolton News later revealed that a third party – later discovered to be future director Michael James – had also put cash in to pay staff. Bolton were scheduled to receive payment from the EFL in late April but the league brought that forward in order to ensure emergency services were paid.

FROM The Bolton News - April 9, 2007

THE leader of a campaign to help nurses suffering hardship came to Bolton to thank Wanderers players who are backing the cause.

Wanderers players and manager Sam Allardyce donated a day’s pay to a hardship fund for nurses and were due to hand over the sum of money on the final day of the season.

Wanderers captain, Kevin Nolan, whose then-fiancée, Hayley, was a nurse at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, was one of the first players to pledge his support to the campaign.

The midfielder said: “Nurses actually love doing their job, like footballers love doing theirs, but they don’t get paid such high wages.

“It’s great that they have got support from us, but I also hope the whole country gets behind them to give them more recognition for what they do.

“I understand the hours they work for the pay they get.”

ON this day - April 9, 1955

Eric Bell, who had just received notification of his selection by the Football Association of his selection for a League XI tour of the Caribbean, broke his leg in Wanderers’ 2-2 draw against Lancashire rivals Preston North End.