Reebok Stadium

The Reebok Stadium is the home stadium of English Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers, and is located on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester.^[1] It is commonly known as 'The Reebok'. It has four stands: The Bolton Evening News (North) Stand at one end, the South Stand (the away end) at the other end, the West Stand at one side of the pitch and the Nat Lofthouse (east) Stand at the other side. The stadium has a hotel built into it giving views of the pitch from some of the rooms. The hotel is operated by the De Vere Group.

History

It is a modern, all-seater stadium with a capacity of 28,723 which was completed in 1997, replacing the club's old ground, Burnden Park. Despite the improved facilities and larger capacity (and resultant larger ticket revenues), this move was unpopular with many of the club's fans. This was partly due to the new stadium being built out-of-town, and partly due to sentimental attachment to the old stadium and its history. In recognition of this, the street on which the stadium is situated is called Burnden Way.

The lead consultant/architect of the project was Lobb Sports, but the local firm of Bradshaw Gass & Hope acted as planning supervisors and quantity surveyors. The value of the contract was £25 million. The stadium is noted for its distinct gabled architecture.

The stadium was opened on 1 September 1997 by the recently appointed Labour Party deputy prime minister John Prescott.

The Reebok Stadium is named for long-time team sponsor, Reebok. Again, this was unpopular with many fans, as it was considered impersonal, and that too much emphasis was being placed on financial considerations. This opposition has considerably lessened since the stadium was built, however, as fans have grown accustomed to the name and since Reebok is a local company.

Football firsts

• The first competitive – and Premier League – match at the stadium was a 0–0 draw between Bolton and Everton on Monday 1 September 1997. Nineteen days later, Bolton drew 0–0 with Manchester United - the dominant team of that era.
• The first player to score at the stadium was Alan Thompson, a penalty in the 1–1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, on 23 September. Chris Armstrong, who later in his career had a short spell with Wanderers, got the equaliser.
• The first League Cup match took place on 30 September 1997. Bolton drew 4–4 with Leyton Orient but won the penalty shootout.
• The first club to win a competitive match at the Reebok Stadium was Aston Villa, 1–0 on Saturday 4 October, in the stadium's fifth match. Savo Milošević scored the goal.
• The first FA Cup match at the stadium took place the following season, on 1 January 1999. It finished Bolton 1–2 Wolves.
• Lokomotiv Plovdiv were the visitors in the first UEFA Cup match at the stadium, on 15 September 2005. Boban Janchevski scored first for the visitors, but two late goals from El Hadji Diouf and Jared Borgetti secured a 2–1 home victory in Bolton's first European match. It was also the first European competitive game that the club had played in its history.
• The first Premier League crowd of under 20,000 at the Reebok Stadium was recorded against Aston Villa on 28 October 2007.

Other events

In addition to hosting football games, the stadium also offers other services, such as a hotel and function rooms.

The stadium has been used to host concerts by famous acts such as Oasis, P!nk, Elton John & Coldplay.

Footage from the Coldplay concert was used in the video for the single, "Fix You", which shows lead singer Chris Martin entering the stage as the song reaches its climax.

The rugby league football World Club Challenge took place there in 2001 between the National Rugby League (NRL) Grand Final premiers Brisbane Broncos and the Super League grand final premiers St. Helens. Another World Club Challenge took place in February 2007, on this occasion St. Helens were the eventual winners.

The stadium has also held Great Britain rugby league internationals, The UK Open Darts Championship, boxing matches with local boxer Amir Khan and 16 April 2011 will host its first rugby union match when Sale Sharks host London Irish.