sport news Derby and Bolton both stared into the abyss... now the two proud clubs are ... trends now
It was around the 55-minute mark, as the contest finally opened up with Derby attacking and Bolton counter-thrusting, that Pride Park exploded with noise.
‘Derby are massive, everywhere we go,’ sang the home support with the chant rippling around all four of the packed stands.
‘Bolton are massive,’ replied the 3,000 from Lancashire in the corner and this stadium’s biggest crowd since December 2016 sang with one voice to the same beat.
Debates about how ‘massive’ particular clubs are will rage for eternity but, given both were founder members of the Football League in 1888, are former FA Cup winners and enjoyed decent Premier League stints, neither claim was invalid.
On a superb occasion like this, as these promotion contenders went toe-to-toe before a full house, it warmed the heart that it was happening at all.
Derby got the better of Bolton in a clash between former top flight sides with promotion hopes
Derby moved into second in the League One table after a 1-0 victory over Bolton
Just a few years ago, it was a very different outlook for these two famous names of English football.
Indeed, instead of a League One summit meeting, this could well have ended up a clash between two phoenix clubs in the depths of non-League.
Derby reached for the stars under former owner Mel Morris but overstretched and ended up owing £29million to the taxman and £15m to their creditors, after failing to get back into the Premier League.
They were docked 21 points in a season by the EFL and struggled on under a transfer embargo with just a handful of senior professionals and a lot of kids. They were a week from extinction when local property developer David Clowes paid £55m to save them in June 2022, including £22m to buy Pride Park.
Then there’s Bolton, who spiralled down after dropping out of the Premier League in 2012 and, by the end of 2015, were £172.9m in debt.
The Trotters were then hit with so many winding-up petitions that HMRC had them on speed dial — from 2017 to 2018, there were four in 14 months.
Towards the end of that sorry campaign, they
