Bolton reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, Worthington Cup and play-offs but lost to Aston Villa, Tranmere Rovers and Ipswich Town respectively. In 2000–01 Bolton were promoted back to the Premier League after beating Preston North End in the play-off final.
Bolton struggled in the following two seasons, but survived in the Premier League. The 2001–02 season began with a shock as they destroyed Leicester 5–0 at Filbert Street to go top of the table. They won their next two games, including a narrow victory over Liverpool, and were suddenly the Premiership's pace setters. Despite a memorable 2–1 win away at Manchester United, becoming the first team since the formation of the Premier League to come from behind and win a league game at Old Trafford, they went into an awful slump during the middle of the season and needed a Fredi Bobic hat-trick against Ipswich Town to survive. Despite losing the final three games, 16th place was secured. The arrivals of experienced international players Bobic and Youri Djorkaeff proved vital, as did the emergence of Kevin Nolan and Michael Ricketts.
In the 2002–03 season Bolton made a poor start and, despite another win away at Manchester United, they were bottom until a vital and spectacular 4–2 win against Leeds at Elland Road. Despite suffering from a lack of consistency, Bolton ground out the results needed and secured survival in a final day 2–1 victory over Middlesbrough. The star of the season, Jay-Jay Okocha, was another high profile signing and went on to be a legend at the Reebok Stadium.
Bolton reached the League Cup final in 2004, but lost to Middlesbrough. Nevertheless, Bolton finished eighth in the league, at the time their highest finish in their Premiership history. In 2005 Bolton finished sixth in the league, thus earning qualification for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. The following season, they reached the last 32 but were eliminated by French team Marseille as they lost 2–1 on aggregate. In April 2007, towards the end of 2006–07 season, manager Allardyce resigned.In his final four seasons at Bolton, Allardyce had recorded consecutive top ten finishes, a record of consistency bettered only by the big four of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. However, the style that the media branded Bolton as playing during this time led them to be voted the seventh most-hated club in English football in a 2008 poll.
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