Stig Tøfting’s time at Bolton Wanderers was short but the club has never left him.
Back at the Toughsheet, where he was pictured with Wanderers legend John McGinlay, the Dane found plenty he recognised.
“It still looks almost the same and it smells a little bit like it did at that time too,” he said. “I’m very pleased to be back and see this. And it’s still raining! It’s almost the same.
“I still have Bolton in my heart and I still follow how things are going.”
Stig joined from Hamburger SV in 2002, having played in the Champions League in Germany.
“But I always wanted to try the Premier League,” he said. “Then I got the chance and I took it.”
Sam Allardyce gave him that chance, but the results ran against him. Stig remembers a run of games that didn’t go Wanderers’ way, whether he came off the bench to protect a result or started.
“Actually, I don’t think it was my fault,” he said. “But when you look at it as a manager, you think, ‘I put him on to make sure we got a point and we didn’t.’ That couldn’t have been the solution. If it had all turned the other way round, maybe I would have had a longer contract.”
A stress fracture in his left foot then sidelined him. He went on to play for Denmark at the World Cup that summer, but the fracture flared up again during the tournament.
“When I came back from the World Cup, it wasn’t that good a start,” he said. “But that’s how it is. I’m still happy I was here. I was here and I can say that I was a Wanderer.”
Settling in came easily, with Henrik Pedersen, Per Frandsen and Bo Hansen alongside him.
“It was very easy for me to adapt,” he said. “I liked the mentality and the atmosphere at the training ground. We had a good squad and some big-name players as well, like Jay-Jay Okocha and Youri Djorkaeff.”
Known in Denmark as “Plæneklipperen”, The Lawnmower, Stig covered every blade of grass. He was a combative, hard-tackling defensive midfielder and supporters still talk about the passion and commitment he brought. The feeling is mutual.
“I’m very pleased about that, because I like the fans as well,” he said. “I think it’s a working club, for me and for the fans, so it fits together very well. I’m just sad that I couldn’t play here more and for longer.”
His spell was shorter than he wanted, but Stig looks back without regret.
“Things happen in life and, as it’s tattooed on my stomach, no regrets. You have to deal with what life is. But Bolton still has a very big spot in my heart. I like being here. It’s marvellous.”
Stig also paid tribute to two supporters, Mike Garstang and Geoff Bradshaw, who looked after the Danish players during their time in Bolton.
“Those two guys helped us with everything,” he said. “They picked up our families, drove them back to the airport and really looked after us. I still see them. Mike lives up in the Lake District, so we went up there for two days, having something to eat and chatting about the old days.”
After Bolton, Stig spent half a year in China, returned to his old club in Aarhus, had a year in Sweden and finished his playing career at Randers. There, former Wanderers manager Colin Todd made him his assistant.
“He actually stopped my career because he thought I was too old,” Stig laughed. “I think he gave me one game and then I was his assistant manager.”
Today, Stig is a familiar face on Danish TV. He and former Denmark team-mate Thomas Gravesen have their own Viaplay show, Tøffe vs Graver. On it, the pair debate the biggest stories in the Superliga and Danish players abroad and share tales from their playing days.
Stig is taking home a Wanderers shirt bearing his name and the number 29 he wore at the club, and he will wear it on the show.
His message to Wanderers supporters was simple.
“I didn’t give as much as I would have liked. I would like to have given more, but I was happy, and I wish you the best. Keep on going."