Toughsheet Community Stadium

The Toughsheet Community Stadium in Bolton, including a review of the logistics, catering and matchday experience, along with details of visits to the stadium on this site.

I was lucky enough to borrow a friend’s season ticket for Bolton Wanderers v Oxford United League One (Third Tier) match on 12 March 2024, as they could not attend. Here is my take on the stadium and the game.

Arrival

Arriving at night, the stadium is pretty impressive. A modern 28,800 seater (1997) bowl on the outskirts of Bolton, the stadium is easily accessible from the M61, surrounded by parking and a retail estate. No idea what the parking cost, as Vickie had loaded her card in advance, really easy to get into, much less easy to get out of at the end of the match. I made a completely gratuitous use of the McDonalds at the end of the match, just to sit the queue out (I was pretty light on battery to get home with).

Program

The match program costs £3.50 at Bolton, on the face of it cheaper than most Premier League programs, but its a fraction of the size. Not all of the program vendors have card readers, so if you turn up without cash, you might have to take a tour round the stadium to find one that does (as I did).

Food

The food was really good, but expensive, I had a Carrs’ Steak pasty which was really good. Pies are £3.95, Pasties £3.30, bovril £2.95. A little more expensive than nearby Premier League clubs Burnley, Liverpool, Everton - and the Bovril tastes really unBovril like.

The Match

The atmosphere in the stadium was ace for the most part. Oxford had only brought around 100 supporters with them - bizarrely the only thing they chanted all game was “Yellow”, even though their team was playing in sky blue.

The game itself was a really one sided affair, given that Bolton were in the lead play-off position at kick-off, and Oxford challenging for the final play-off spot, I’d expected a competitive game. Oxford rarely challenged the Bolton goal. Ogbeta and Dacres-Coley putting Bolton firmly in front at half time, goals from Thomason, Collins and Sheehan concluded a one-sided affair by the 70th minute.

The match statistics speak for themselves - Bolton had 64% of the ball, 20 shots to Oxford’s 4, 8 on target to Oxford’s 0. But for Bolton taking the foot off the gas nearer the end, it could have been a far heavier defeat.

Bolton are Massive!

I resisted the urge to get away early, I’d heard about the horrendous queues, and seen them for myself attending a Pink concert here last summer. Instead I stayed and soaked up the atmosphere, “Bolton are massive everywhere we go” and “Away to the Championship” rounded out a lively evening. Lose the drum though, proper football clubs do not need drums!

I think that the attendance was announced at 21,000, and while I don’t think the ground was as full as that, thats pretty much the capacity at the Turf.

Getting Away

I didn’t even bother to join the queue, I was already worried about how much battery I had left. I patronised the McDonalds over the Road for half an hour while it cleared. Taking the opportunity to walk through the restaurant itself this time, unlike when I surreally queued through the drive through last summer.

By the time I’d eaten, the queue had pretty much cleared, and I decided to play safe and stop at the services on the M61 where EG have built both a ridiculous volume of EV charging units, and tons with Chademo sockets too!