Four defeats in five pre-season games hardly gave a hint of what was to follow — Bolton's best start to a Premier League campaign ever.
Bolstered by the arrival of striker Nicolas Anelka in August 2006 the Premier League campaign got off to a decent start with a home win against Spurs. Anelka's debut came in the game against Watford at the Reebok — though it was the boot of Gary Speed that earned the points. Anelka grabbed his first goal for the club in a League Cup win at Walsall in September.
Wins against Liverpool, Newcastle and Blackburn Rovers — where Jussi Jaaskelainen saved two penalties in the dying moments — meant Wanderers collected 20 points from their first ten games. That form dipped a little with defeats against Everton and Wigan, while Anelka struggled to find his shooting boots.
When Wanderers welcomed Arsenal to the Reebok on November 25, they were without a win for more than a month and Anelka was still searching for his first league goal. Faye gave Bolton an early lead and then Anelka struck. Kevin Davies hit a long ball out to him on the left, The Frenchman cut in from the left of the box and hit a shot that gave the Arsenal keeper no chance. Anelka bagged a second after the break as Wanderers clinched a confidence boosting victory.
In December the striker was hot. He scored four goals as the side recorded five successive victories. They ended the year with 39 points already in the bag. Premier League survival was already assured and Bolton were third in the table, above both Liverpool and Arsenal.
At that stage it looked like a quick dash for a European place was a formality but the second half of the season was a far trickier affair. On New Year's Day Liverpool ended Wanderers' winning streak with an emphatic 3-0 victory and in January the side failed to register a League win.
The FA Cup brought some cheer with a 4-0 win over Doncaster, which earned a trip to Arsenal. Bolton earned a replay with a fine display in a 1-1 draw and the return match was a real classic. Arsenal led 1-0 at the break and it could have been more. But Wanderers forced extra time when Abdoulaye Meite scored with a header in injury-time. Kevin Nolan then hit a post in extra time, only for the Londoners to clinch it late through Freddie Ljungberg and Emmanuel Adebayor.
In the league the dip in form continued and to add injury to insult, Nicky Hunt, Abdoulaye Faye, Tal Ben Haim, Kevin Nolan, El Hadji Diouf and Stelios were all sidelined.
On Saturday April 28 with form fragile Wanderers were due to take on Chelsea and earned a 2-2 draw but a day later Allardyce resigned. Less than 24 hours after he had gone, his assistant Sammy Lee was named as the new man in charge.
Amid all this off-the-field activity, Wanderers still had two games in which to try to clinch a UEFA Cup spot. Lee's first in charge was against a West Ham side who were fighting against relegation. His side were 3-0 down with just 29 minutes gone. Speed pulled a goal back in the second half but couldn't stave off a defeat.
In the final game at home to Aston Villa, Wanderers had to match or better the results of Reading and Portsmouth to ensure at least seventh place in the table and a UEFA Cup spot. A rain-soaked 2-2 draw and draws for both Reading and Portsmouth meant that a dramatic season ended in celebrations with Wanderers fans dusting off their passports once more.
