Bolton Wanderers under 21 team play their home games at the Eddie Davies Academy in Bolton.

Notable graduates of the squad include former captain Kevin Nolan, Republic of Ireland international Joey O'Brien and eventual first team regulars such as Nicky Hunt, Ricardo Vaz-Te, Josh Vela, Zach Clough, and Rob Holding.

Of the current squad, graduate Max Conway has featured most often at senior level, whilst Luke Hutchinson, Sam Inwood, Conor Lewis, Daeshon Lawrence, Harrison Rice, Harley Irwin, and Toby Ritchie have also made appearances for the first team squad.

History Bolton’s first ever reserve team was set up in 1921.The Bolton News: "Bolton re-structure means end of the road for reserve team football"

They have won the Central League twice in 1955 and 1995. Their most recent success came in the FA Premier Reserve league in 2007.

Previous years have seen the club compete in the Avon Insurance Premier League, FA Premier League North and Professional Development League 2.

They also participated in the Manchester Senior Cup and Lancashire Senior Cup in previous years, winning their third Manchester Senior Cup as recently as 2015 and winning the Lancashire Senior Cup twelve times, the last occasion coming in 1990–91 season.

In August 2016, the U21 side was renamed as the U23 side, after a consultation involving all 31 clubs in the Professional Development League 2, voted in favour of the new age parameters.

Abolishment and Re-formation Due to Bolton dropping to Category Three in March 2020 Bolton had no Development Squad in the 2020–21 season. This was the first time since the reserves were created in 1921 that Bolton had not had a reserve team.

After nearly a year without reserve team football, Bolton started setting up reserve friendlies in March 2021 so that their fringe players could get game time and plan to relaunch a reserve team for the 2021–2022 season.The Bolton News: "Bolton boss Ian Evatt on potential return of second-string football" Bolton Reserves entered The Central League for the 2021–2022 season having previously been part of that competition between 1911 and 1999. They also took part in the Central League Cup.

Starting with the 2022–2023 season, the reserves rebranded to "Bolton Wanderers B" and though they originally considered leaving the Central League to instead schedule friendlies against other B teams and U23 teams, they instead decided to stay in the League and also do said friendlies as extra matches.The Bolton News: "Ian Evatt reveals Bolton Wanderers will launch B team amid major overhaul"BWFC: "'B' Team Plan In Place"

In the summer of 2026, Bolton reverted back to an under-21 format to replace the B team structure that had been in place for four years.Darby takes charge of under 21s, Bolton Wanderers FC, 30 June 2026

Grounds Previous reserve grounds at Bolton include their old home at Burnden Park, Hilton Park the former home of Leigh Centurions, Bury's ground at Gigg Lane, Spotland Stadium, home of Rochdale and Rochdale Hornets and County Ground (Leyland).

Since re-forming in 2021, the reserve team play at the Eddie Davies Academy in Lostock.

Occasionally matches are played at the first team ground at the University of Bolton Stadium.

The Academy

The Bolton Wanderers Academy was established in 1998 and is based at the club and the main training ground. It replaced the older, more informal youth system, and enabled the club to focus their youth development and scouting, employing new techniques and FA standards.

It is currently overseen by Dave Gardiner. It provides a stepping stone for youngsters to progress to the highest levels of football at Bolton Wanderers.

Scouts attend many local youth matches looking for talented boys. A boy will then be invited to attend training sessions at the academy. They are taken in as young as the age of eight. At this age, the boys start by simply attending after-school training sessions, but as they reach their middle-teens, their academic needs will be taken over by the academy if they are deemed athletically talented enough.

Between the ages of eight and twelve the boys play in eight-a-side games of three twenty-minute periods. It allows the boys to play as defenders or as attackers in small groups within a system and is not as physically demanding as playing eleven-a-side matches.

The first player to graduate from the academy to the first team was the former club captain, Kevin Nolan who had previously been on the youth books of Liverpool. He has since been followed into the first team by Joey O'Brien, Ricardo Vaz Tê, Nicky Hunt. Josh Vela, Zach Clough and Rob Holding amongst others.

In December 2012, the Bolton Academy was awarded Elite status by the Premier League.

In June 2015, it was announced that the club had sought to downgrade from a Category One status in order to save money. In March 2020, the club announced it would down grade to Category Three. In July 2026, the club announced that it had returned to Category Two status.

Players

Academy (Under-18s)

As of July 2026.

Name Position Scholarship Level Nationality Gabriel Davidson Goalkeeper 1st Year James Shillinglaw Goalkeeper 2nd Year Rowan Baucutt Defender 2nd Year Zak Doyle Defender 1st Year Josh Duggan Defender 1st Year Louie Evans Defender 2nd Year Levi Kendrick Defender 2nd Year Joe Lamb Defender 1st Year Charlie Quirk Defender 2nd Year Alfie Baxter Midfielder 1st Year Oliver Best Midfielder 2nd Year Denver Clement Midfielder 2nd Year Quines Fakhy Midfielder 2nd Year Alfie Healy Midfielder 2nd Year Sam Hopkinson Midfielder 2nd Year Na'im Zuill Midfielder 1st Year Sonny Coyne Forward 1st Year Asa Littler Forward 1st Year Aidan Mee Forward 1st Year Daniel Ogburu Forward 2nd Year

Managerial History

Reserves/Development Squad/B Team/U21 Team 1991–2000: Steve Carroll 2000–2005: Neil McDonald 2005–2008: Jimmy Phillips 2008–2010: Alan Cork 2010–2012: John Henry 2013–2014: Jamie Fullarton 2014–2016: Iain Brunskill 2016–2020: David Lee 2021–2022: Sam Hird 2022–2023: Matt Craddock 2024–2026: Andy Taylor 2026–: Julian Darby

Youth Team/Academy 1985–1991: Steve Carroll 1991–1998: Dean Crombie 1998–2000: Martin Dobson 2000–2008: Chris Sulley 2008–2020: Jimmy Phillips 2020–2022: Mark Litherland 2022–2026: Julian Darby 2026–: Danny Clarke

Staff Senior Professional Development Phase Coach.: Julian Darby Player/Coach: Andrew Tutte Head of Academy: Dave Gardiner Academy Lead Professional Development Phase Coach: Daniel Clarke Academy Lead Youth Development Coach: Andy Parrish Academy Lead Goalkeeping Coach: Mackenzie Chapman Academy Video Analyst: Matt Stephens Academy Strength & Conditioning Coach: James Welsh Academy Physiotherapist: David Newbold Academy Physiotherapist: Matt Pearce Head of Academy Education: Alex Norwood

In addition, the academy employ staff from the first-team.

Graduates

The following players have been associated with the Bolton Wanderers Academy and have gone on to play league football for Bolton or other clubs since the academy was founded in 1998.

Academy Graduates who have made at least one senior appearance for the Bolton Wanderers first team.

Other players associated with the academy who have made at least one senior appearance for league clubs in Britain or abroad.

Notes

External links Bolton Wanderers FC Official Website The Academy Team/Reserves Squad Profiles Reserves Fixtures and Results Under-18s Fixtures and Results