Unfashionable Bolton were a team fans and pundits alike loved to hate with the brand of football not universally accepted as a means of winning games. Trotters boss Sam Allardyce had finally tuned his team into playing football in the air with long balls up to the centre forwards the name of their game – and it worked. Despite finances being tight at the Reebok Stadium, Allardyce forged a reputation of bringing players in and turning their careers around with the likes of Jay Jay Okocha, El Hadji Diouf and Kevin Davies all benefiting from it. The 2004/05 season saw them achieve monumental success finishing 7th in the league and qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
