Bolton Wanderers are facing a vital summer period now as they try to prepare for life back in League One after they secured automatic promotion from the fourth tier.

Ian Evatt managed to galvanise his side to an excellent run of form in the second half of the campaign to secure their automatic promotion, after initially finding consistent results hard to come by in his first few months in charge. However, confidence can be high now that after a few years of low points, the Trotters can now get back on the up and start to climb back up the leagues.

The last 20 years have been very eventful at Bolton, they have gone from a team capable of challenging for Europe in the Premier League to one that has nearly even gone under and had to endure a year in League Two. During that time there have been many excellent English players to have represented the club.

With that in mind, we have created a list of the top 10 English players to have played for Bolton in the last two decades. This was a very hard list to put together but see if you agree with our selections here…

Before kicking off the list it is worth noting that there were a number of players in contention that were unlucky to miss out on a place in the top 10. These include the likes of Adam Le Fondre, Anthony Barness, Josh Vela, Matt Mills, Darren Pratley, Michael Ricketts, Gary Madine and Fabrice Muamba. While Daniel Sturridge would have made had been there longer.

However, starting off the list is midfield Mark Davies who was an excellent servant for the Trotters and managed to make well over 200 appearances during his lengthy spell with the club between 2009 and 2017.

The midfielder was signed from Wolves in January 2009 and managed to become an important player straight away making ten appearances in the second half of the 2008/09 season.

Davies was an important part of the squad for the next three full campaigns in the Premier League, with him managing to fire in four goals in 35 appearances during the 2011/12 season but that was not enough to keep the club in the top-flight.

Injuries started to take their toll on Davies over the next few years in the Championship, but he was still a quality performer when he was at his best and fully fit. He eventually left the club in 2017 after they had earned promotion back to the second tier.

Another midfielder who makes it into the list here is Gavin McCann, who was a quality player for the Trotters in the Premier League during his three years with the club. However, he was unlucky with the injury he suffered that brought his time with them to a premature end.

McCann was signed by Bolton in 2007 from Aston Villa, and he immediately became an important part of the Trotters’ midfield in both the Premier League and the UEFA Cup in his first season. He managed to score his first goal for the club during a win against Red Star Belgrade in December. While he also netted in the 1-1 draw against Sporting Lisbon in the knockout rounds as well.

The midfielder was a quality performer for Bolton during what was a challenging 2008/09 season, with him making 33 league appearances and playing a pivotal role in helping them secure their safety in the top-flight that campaign.

The 2009/10 season saw McCann make just 11 appearances in the Premier League and 13 in all competitions as injury issues affected him and would eventually lead to him retiring from the game.

Without the injury issues, he could have gone to remain a key player at the club for a few more years than he was. However, he still deserves his place here.

The first defender to make this list is Zat Knight, and he was a very reliable performer for the Trotters for the majority of his five-season stay with the club. He managed to amass close to 200 appearances for the club and scored four goals for them as well in the process.

Knight was signed by Bolton in the summer of 2009 for a fee believed to be around £4 million from Aston Villa. He proved to be a very useful addition to the squad and managed to play a key role in helping them survive the drop under Owen Coyle scoring one crucial goal in a win against Wolves.

The defender was then a key part of the Bolton side that finished in 14th place in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in the 2010/11 campaign. However, the following season he could not prevent the club from being relegated down to the Championship.

Despite that, Knight’s deal with the club was extended by a further two years and he took on the role of captain when Kevin Davies was not on the field in the 2012/13 season.

The following year, he was named their permanent captain after Davies had left the club. He managed to make 43 appearances that term as they narrowly missed out on the play-offs. A further 31 league appearances were by Knight before departing for Colorado Rapids.

Making it deservedly into the list here is another midfielder in the shape of Jay Spearing. He was an excellent performer for the Trotters during his five-season stay with the club and made over 170 appearances for the club scoring some important goals in the process.

Spearing was a brilliant signing by Bolton in the summer of 2012 arriving initially on loan from Liverpool. He managed to make 37 Championship appearances in the 2012/13 campaign and weighed in with two goals as the Trotters just missed out on a place in the top-six. The midfielder was named Supporters Association Player of the Year and then the club’s Player of the Year as well.

The midfielder was unsurprisingly snapped up by Bolton on a permanent deal ahead of the 2013/14 campaign. He was a key performer for them that term making 45 appearances in the league and scoring another two goals.

Spearing was named as Zat Knight’s replacement as captain the following summer but he was less heavily involved in the next two years making 21 and 22 appearances respectively.

Following the Trotters’ relegation to League One, the midfielder was handed a prominent role once again and he managed to help them earn promotion with three goals in 37 appearances. He left the club the following summer.

Coming into the list here is another quality midfielder for Bolton over the last 20 years in the shape of Matty Taylor.

He was able to add some class to the side during his three-and-a-half seasons with the Trotters and managed to register 23 goals in his 139 appearances between 2007 and 2011.

Taylor was signed by Bolton in January 2007, after he had fallen down the pecking order at Portsmouth and he proved to be an excellent addition to the squad for the Trotters. He went on to make 19 appearances and scored three goals in the second half of the 2007/08 campaign. The following year, he was a brilliant performer and fired in ten goals in 34 games to help them survive.

During the 2009/10 season, Taylor continued to provide some much-needed attacking quality for Bolton and he fired in a further eight goals in his 43 appearances that campaign to again help them over the line towards safety.

The 2010/11 season was his final one with the club and he scored twice in 42 games to help them to a 14th place finish and the semi-finals of the FA Cup. He then left for West Ham in the summer.

Deservedly making the top five on this list is defender Nicky Hunt, who was an excellent servant for the Trotters throughout his lengthy spell with the club.

He managed to make over 160 appearances for them between 2001 and his eventual departure from the club in 2010.

Hunt was part of the squad that cemented themselves in the Premier League under Sam Allardyce and after making his debut in the 2000/01 promotion-winning campaign. He finally became a regular in the side in the 2003/04 season. The defender made 38 appearances in all competitions to help Bolton to an eighth-place finish and reach the League Cup final that term.

The following season, Hunt played a key role in helping Bolton secure an impressive sixth-place finish in the Premier League making 29 appearances in the league for them.

The defender was key for the Trotters as they continued to compete for the European places in the Premier League under Allardyce and the side that competed in the UEFA Cup in the 2006/07 campaign.

His involvement in the side slowed down during the 2007/08 season and he made just 24 appearances in all competitions. He was then loaned out to the likes of Birmingham City and Derby County in the next two years before his eventual departure from Bolton.

Coming into the list in fourth place is defender David Wheater. He had to feature here for both the longevity of service and also for the role he played once Bolton had dropped down to the third tier of English football. Overall, he managed to make 216 appearances for them between 2010 and 2019.

Wheater was signed by Bolton in the January transfer window in 2010 and he made 11 appearances in all competitions in the second half of the 2010/11 campaign.

He then made a further 24 in the Premier League the following season and scored two goals but that was not enough to keep them in the top-flight. The defender then suffered a ruptured ACL that kept him out for nearly a year.

He came back to fitness and was a key part of the squad for the next three seasons in the Championship, but he could not prevent Bolton from suffering relegation down to the third tier in the 2015/16 season. In League One, Wheater was a class act and he played an instrumental role in therm bouncing straight back earning the club’s Player of the Year award.

The next season saw the defender play a key role in helping them survive the drop in the Championship on the final day of the season with a 2-1 win against Nottingham Forest.

However, he would leave the club in the summer of 2019 after they had been relegated back down to the third tier.

In third place on this list is a player who is arguably the finest defender we have seen play for Bolton in the last 20 years, let alone the best English one.

Gary Cahill was an exceptional player for the Trotters and he managed to earn England recognition on the strength of his form with the club. He made over 140 appearances and scored 15 goals in the process.

Cahill was signed by Bolton in January 2008 from Aston Villa and he proved to be one of the best signings the club have made during the last 20 years. The defender made 17 appearances in all competitions during the second half of the 2007/08 season.

He then went on to be a crucial player the following year scoring three goals in 33 league games and won the Players’ Player of the Year award.

The defender scored an impressive tally of seven goals in all competitions the following season as he helped to keep the club in the Premier League once again. Then he played a vital role in helping them reach the FA Cup semi-finals in the 2010/11 season weighing in with three goals in 41 appearances.

The 2011/12 season saw him leave the club in the winter window when he joined Chelsea in which was a sign of how highly rated he was at that time. Without him their side Bolton suffered relegation to the Championship.

Second place on this list is midfielder Kevin Nolan, who was a magnificent servant for Bolton during his lengthy spell between 1999 and 2009.

He managed to make well over 340 appearances for the Trotters in which he registered 40 league goals and added a further ten to that total in cup competitions.

The midfielder made his breakthrough with Bolton in the 1999/2000 season, but he did not become a regular until the following campaign when he scored three goals in his 37 appearances to help the club earn promotion to the Premier League.

Nolan managed to adapt to the top-flight straight away and scored eight league goals the following season to help them stay up.

Nolan enjoyed his best goal-scoring season with the club firing in 12 goals in all competitions during the 2003/04 season and played a key role in getting Bolton to the League Cup final. For the next few years he was a vital part of the side that challenged for European places and also played in the UEFA Cup.

The midfielder’s lengthy spell with the club ended halfway through the 2008/09 campaign when he made the move to Newcastle United in the winter window. He was an excellent servant and of of the finest players they have had in the last 20 years for sure.

Undoubtedly for us Bolton’s best English player to have played for them in the last 20 years is forward Kevin Davies.

He was a brilliant performer for the Trotters throughout his ten-season stay with the club and he managed to amass over 400 appearances in which he fired in more than 80 goals for the club.

Davies arrived at Bolton in the summer of 2003 from Southampton and he instantly became an integral part of their squad firing in ten goals in his first season with the club.

The following year he found the net eight times in the Premier League and then helped the club challenge for European football in the next two campaigns scoring eight and nine goals respectively.

He had a down year in the 2007/08 season and scored just four goals, but he enjoyed his best goal-scoring season the following year firing in 12 goals in all competitions.

His form in the next two years was enough to earn him England recognition and he managed to score ten goals in all competitions in the 2010/11 campaign.

The forward managed to score another eight goals the following season, but that was not good enough to keep the club in the Premier League.

The 2012/13 campaign proved to be his last one with the club and he managed to score six goals in his 38 appearances before leaving the club at the end of the season.