Football Season Guide

League 2

England

League 2

2020/2021

Bolton Wanderers

In

Billy Crellin (Goalkeeper, Fleetwood Town, Season-long loan), Matt Gilks (Goalkeeper, Fleetwood Town), Alex Baptiste (Defender, Doncaster Rovers), George Taft (Defender, Cambridge United), Gethin Jones (Defender, Carlisle United), Jak Hickman (Defender, Free agent), Jamie Mascoll (Defender, Wycombe Wanderers), Liam Gordon (Defender, Dagenham and Redbridge), Reiss Greenidge (Defender, Free agent), Ricardo Santos (Defender, Barnet), Andrew Tutte (Midfielder, Morecambe), Antoni Sarcevic (Midfielder, Plymouth Argyle), Brandon Comley (Midfielder, Colchester United), Tom White (Midfielder, Blackburn Rovers, Season-long loan), Eoin Doyle (Attacker, Swindon Town), Nathan Delfouneso (Attacker, Blackpool)

Out

Remi Matthews (Goalkeeper, Sunderland), Aristote Nsiala (Defender, Ipswich Town, Loan ended), Brandon Fleming (Defender, Hull City, Loan ended), Jack Hobbs (Defender, released), Joe Bunney (Defender, released), Josh Emmanuel (Defender, Hull City), Kean Bryan (Defender, Sheffield United, Loan ended), Yoann Zouma (Defender, released), Anthony Georgiou (Midfielder, Tottenham Hotspur, Loan ended), Callum King-Harmes (Midfielder, Bamber Bridge, Season-long loan), Ethan Hamilton (Midfielder, Manchester United, Loan ended), George Thomason (Midfielder, Bamber Bridge, Loan), Jacob Mellis (Midfielder, Gillingham), Jason Lowe (Midfielder, Salford City), Luke Murphy (Midfielder, released), Will Buckley (Midfielder, released), Chris O’Grady (Attacker, released), Connor Hall (Attacker, released), Daryl Murphy (Attacker, Waterford), Joe Dodoo (Attacker, released)

Ian Evatt made the brave decision to leave National League Champions Barrow this summer and take over at fallen giants Bolton Wanderers. There is little comparison between the two clubs when it comes to history and tradition but they will be competing in the same league this season. Evatt faces the unenviable task of turning around a club on a downward spiral. The Trotters were doomed to relegation from League 1 after being handed a 12-point deduction for falling into administration. Evatt takes over from the experienced Keith Hill, who failed to find any momentum after the points deduction and oversaw a depressing campaign. Evatt has wasted no time in completely revamping his squad and the stand-out capture is that of striker Eoin Doyle, who finished last season as League 2’s leading goalscorer with Champions Swindon Town. Midfielder Antoni Sarcevic looks to be another shrewd addition and, if the Trotters can quickly find some momentum, they could take some stopping. Crowds could easily reach five-figures with fans desperate for success after a desperate few years. Evatt will want to bring some stability and will need to time to shape his new squad into a team but there is real cause for optimism at the Bolton Stadium.

Target

Automatic promotion. A club of the Wanderers size should always be looking for promotion, especially at this level, and Evatt brings with him recent success and a sense of hope.