by The Young Lions return to Wanderers for the first time in over twenty years tomorrow night.
The last England Under-21 international played at the then Reebok Stadium was against Yugoslavia in September 2002, a night which featured four future Bolton players.
Jlloyd Samuel – who would go on to play senior football for Trinidad and Tobago – and Shola Ameobi earned caps in a 1-1 draw, with Matty Taylor and Gary O’Neil on the bench.
Wanderers have five England Under-21 players earn while under contract at the club and another three – James Trafford, Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge earn while on loan from other clubs (Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, respectively ).
Although Trafford will not be returning to the Toughsheet Community Stadium after being drafted into the senior squad, there will be plenty of talent on display in Lee Carsley’s side, who won the Euros last summer.
But which Bolton players have earned caps for the Young Lions? We entered the history books.
MUMBAI FABRICE – Made an impressive 25 appearances for the Young Lions while wearing a Wanderers shirt, including an appearance in the 2009 European Championship final.
Muamba won a total of 33 caps, tying him with Tom Huddlestone as the fourth most capped player at that level, and made his debut against Romania while playing for Birmingham City in 2007.
NICKY DEBT – Won all 10 of his England Under-21 caps while playing for Wanderers, the first of which came against Holland in Hull on February 17, 2004.
Goalkeeper Hunt had been around the Bolton first team for the previous two-and-a-half years and by the time of his last cap – against Germany in Mainz in September 2005 – he had already played 80 senior games and nine days there. A later exit against Lokomotiv Plovdiv, a game made memorable by Jared Borgetti’s last-minute winner.
KEVIN NOLAN – Despite playing regularly for Bolton from the age of 17 and playing for England under-19s, Nolan has only gained one individual under-21 cap.
Nolan was forced to withdraw from the squad to face Slovakia and Macedonia in October 2002 due to injury but came off the bench for Shaun Wright-Phillips in a friendly against Italy in Carrowtown in February of the following year.
He made the squad to play against Portugal and Turkey in March and April 2003 but did not appear on the field to earn a cap.
Over the next few years Liverpudlian Nolan would become a key man for Wanderers and although his seniority meant he could be playing for the Republic of Ireland or Holland, he held out the opportunity to play for England.
‘Nobby’ played 401 Premier League games in his career – and only his former West Ham United team-mate Mark Noble has managed more without being capped for the Three Lions.
PETER REID – Reid was one of the most popular midfield talents in the country in a 12 month period between April 1977 and 1978.
He made his Wanderers debut in October 1974, coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 win against Leyton Orient at Burnden Park – which was also Ian Greaves’ senior debut.
He quickly became a first team regular and was part of the team that came close to promotion to the top flight twice in 1976 and 1977.
His England under-21 debut came against Scotland at Bramall Lane, a game which Laurie Cunningham settled with one goal.
Reid also missed the opportunity to play in the first ever televised game for England under-21s against Italy at Maine Road in March 1978 to play for Bolton. He scored in a 1-1 home draw against Brighton, and the Young Lions won their match 2-1 with two goals from Tony Woodcock.
Of course, he would go on to win 13 senior caps and play in the 1986 World Cup final.
ALAN THOMPSON – Both of Thompson’s under-21 caps came in a Bolton shirt, after helping the club to promotion to the Premier League.
His debut came against Latvia at Burnley’s Turf Moor, a 4-0 win with goals from Chris Bart-Williams, Neil Shipperley, Steve Watson and Andy Booth.
His second and final cap came a few months later and ended in utter disappointment. Two goals from Dani put Portugal 2-0 up before Thompson was shown a red card, ruling him out of the final qualifier against Norway. England duly drew that game 2-2 and failed to reach the Euro Championship.
Thompson won one senior cap, picked up by Sven-Goran Eriksson for a friendly against Sweden in 2004 while playing for Celtic.
MARK DAVIES – It goes without saying that the silky skills of one of Bolton’s most elusive players earned him two England under-21 international call-ups.
Davies was scheduled to play against Ecuador in February 2010 but had to pull out of the squad due to an ankle injury sustained against Arsenal – a reckless challenge by Williams Gallas which manager Owen Coyle described as an “attack” at the time . Referee Alan Wiley didn’t even award a free kick.
Davies was due to play for the England Under-21 team against Iceland in March 2011 but had to pull out of the squad due to a muscle injury.
England UNDER 23S – Before the arrival of under-21 football in the mid-1970s, Wanderers had also seen notable players turn out for the England Under-23 team, including Freddie Hill (10 caps), Eddie Hopkinson (six caps), Ray Parry (four ). cap) and Dennis Stevens (two caps).
