Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt has criticised Wigan Athletic following their 1-0 loss away at the DW Stadium on Tuesday night, with a player from the home team’s celebrations sparking a bit of a coming together on the pitch.
Understandably rumbling not only the away support but the players on the pitch, it wasn’t long before individuals began confronting each other, including both Evatt and Latics boss Shaun Maloney, with multiple club staff and match officials needed to separate people and calm things down.
Addressing the furious finish to the game, Evatt said, “We just won’t accept one of their players celebrating in front of our fans” and was also quick to remind the home side that there is quite a gulf between the two sides in the table.
“It’s not acceptable — go and celebrate with your own fans, no problem with that, don’t celebrate in front of ours”, Evatt continued, adding: “You certainly shouldn’t be celebrating when you’re mid-table, that’s what I think”.
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Bolton sit joint second in League One on 66 points with an extra game in hand on Derby County above them; meanwhile, the Tics are currently in 13th place having played one more game than their fierce rivals, though they have taken all six points from their two meetings this season.
The 42-year-old head coach went on to admit that he was frustrated with the result and felt “apologetic to the fans” as he felt they and the squad deserved more from the game, insisting that Wigan “probably know they’ve got away with one” and the celebrations merely proved the Trotters were “a big scalp”.
Elsewhere, opposite number Maloney said the result should serve as wind in the sails for his players, telling BBC Radio Manchester: “Tonight was just a real deep desire to not concede, a really strong mentality. It’s definitely a question I’ve put to us as a team and as a group.
“I know we’re really young, we’ve got a lot of academy boys there that have not played a full season before, but I want that mentality and tonight they showed it”, he added — citing Godo in particular as one of the top performers on the night.
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Nevertheless, as Evatt hastened to add both in defiance and to quell and simmering derby day hangover amongst Bolton fans, there are still “12 big games” left in the season and it’s his team that is fighting for promotion back to the Championship after more than half a decade out of the second tier.
You can watch the highlights from the fiery clash between Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanders here:
Bolton fans split opinion with pitch invasion but they were the difference in the play-off semi-final
Danny Jones
The Toughsheet was hit with a huge pitch invasion by Bolton fans after the Wanderers narrowly secured their place in the League One play-off final this week, but the behaviour from those in the stadium has split opinion, to say the least.
Last Friday’s 3-1 win in the away leg gave the Trotters just enough cushion to survive the 3-2 defeat to Barnsley on Tuesday night, scraping through 5-4 on aggregate.
A tense affair was putting it mildly, especially after the home side began to let their two-nil lead from the first half slip and seeing the Tykes get just a goal away from tying things up with over a quarter of an hour still to go.
Bolton boss Ian Evatt put it best by simply saying, “We got the job done”, but as he’s stressed all season long as automatic promotion began to look less and less likely, he didn’t want his players to be premature or complacent come these final weeks. Safe to say the fans didn’t get that memo.
Although many have been defending the supporters for celebrating a massive victory which could see them back in the Championship after five years, not to mention it being the last home game of the season, plenty of others have been labelling the pitch invasion “nothing short of embarrassing”.
There have been countless comments to that effect, with people writing, “Bolton fans are weird. Pitch invasion and they aren’t even promoted yet” and “Pitch invasions for anything nowadays”. One user went so far as to argue, “Even the players must feel embarrassed”.
On the other hand, the defence that many of those are giving is that the Wanderers were close to liquidation just a few short years ago and unable to even pay their players, resorting to roping in academy players and dropping all the way to League Two in the 2020/21 season.
Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that it was a big night for Boltonians and it’s hard to pretend that being part of it would be anything other than up there with your most memorable sporting moments.
As for Evatt, he told BBC Radio Manchester that the crowd was “the best it’s been since I’ve been here”, insisting that “the atmosphere was absolutely incredible” from start to finish.
When you talk of the ‘twelfth man’ in football, it’s these games that come to mind and it’s no exaggeration to say that it was the fans in the stands that helped their team ride out the storm for what must have felt like an eternity.
What do you think, is a pitch invasion before you’ve actually won anything a bit premature or do these lot deserve to soak it all in after how far they’ve come over the past year or so?
Pubs can extend their opening hours if England make it to the Euro 2024 semi-finals
Emily Sergeant
Pubs are to be permitted to extend their opening hours if England make it through to the semi-finals of EURO 2024 this summer.
With the Premier League, and the English and Scottish football leagues, all drawing to a close over the next couple of weeks, our nations are already looking ahead to what is gearing up to be a massive summer of sport – with both the UEFA EURO 2024, and the 2024 Olympics coming up before August is out.
And now, it’s been revealed by Home Secretary James Cleverly that if either England or Scotland’s mens national football teams make it to the semi-final of European football’s flagship tournament, then pubs will be allowed to stay open for longer.
But, there’s a bit of a catch… because isn’t there always?
The Government has said that venues will be allowed to stay open for an extra two hours on match days if either or both teams reach the last four or the final of the competition, but this only applies to pubs that already have a license to open until 11pm anyway.
The move to extend opening hours comes after a consultation at the end of last year, and is hoped to provide a boost to the hospitality industry – which has notably been hit hard during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
The Home Secretaries in England and Wales, under Section 172 of the Licensing Act 2003, can make an order relaxing licensing hours to mark occasions of “exceptional national significance”, but the Scottish and Northern Irish Governments have to set their own rules.
“We have listened to the public through our consultation,” explained Home Secretary James Cleverley, “and we will be extending pub licensing hours should England or Scotland reach the semi-finals or final of Euro 2024.”
The EURO 2024 semi-finals are to be held on Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 July / Credit: UEFA
Mr Cleverley said the move will “allow friends, families and communities to come together for longer to watch their nation hopefully bring it home”.
This legislation is set to be laid in Parliament today (Wednesday 8 May) to ensure there is enough time for it to be debated and passed before the tournament begins on Friday 14 June, the Government has confirmed.