'Big Sam liked to spoil the party," Stelios Giannakopoulos says as his mind wanders back to Bolton taking on Arsène Wenger's Arsenal in the Premier League. It was a clash of styles, the quick passing and attacking flair of Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry et al against the direct approach of Sam Allardyce with Kevin Davies as its figurehead.
The clubs meet again at the Emirates Stadium tonight in the Carabao Cup but a long way from being equals. Since the days of Allardyce Bolton have slipped from being Premier League mainstays to the brink of oblivion. They are back on firm ground in League One and, once again, are plotting an upset.
Giannakopoulos was one of the Allardyce foreign legion that created an unlikely mix of cult heroes. From Jay-Jay Okocha and Youri Djorkaeff to Iván Campo and Nicolas Anelka, it was a gloriously multicultural world in Lancashire in the early 2000s and they had something in common: they wanted to upset the elite.
Arsenal won four of 12 games against Allardyce's Bolton in the Premier League, a disappointing record considering their achievements in the Wenger era. "I enjoyed beating Arsenal more than anyone when I was in charge at Bolton," Allardyce wrote in his autobiography. "We'd really got to them and Arsène Wenger hated us."
At Bolton 28,000 packed into what was then called the Reebok Stadium in the expectation they could get something out of matches against teams such as Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea. "It was a place that was horrible to go to," the former Arsenal defender Justin Hoyte says.
This story is from the September 25, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the September 25, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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