Early history (1877–1929)

The club was founded by the Reverend Thomas Ogden, the schoolmaster at Christ Church in 1874 as Christ Church FC. It was initially run from the church of the same name in Egerton, Bolton, but broke away following a dispute with the vicar. The club changed its name to Bolton Wanderers in 1877. The name was chosen as the club initially had a lot of difficulty finding a permanent ground to play on, having used three venues in its first four years of existence.

In the 1887–88 FA Cup, Bolton Wanderers were involved in a protracted first round match against Everton. Welsh international Bob Roberts scored the only goal of the initial match played on 15 October 1887, but the result was declared invalid as Bolton had fielded an ineligible player, Robert Struthers.There then followed two drawn matches (with Roberts again scoring in the first), before Everton won the second replay (the fourth match altogether) 2–1.This time, however, Everton were disqualified for fielding two professional players who had been registered as amateurs,and the match was awarded to Bolton, who were then defeated 9–1 by Preston North End.

Bolton were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888.Having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton have spent more time in the top flight (Premier League/old First Division) than out of it.
Bolton won the celebrated 1923 FA Cup Final
Chart showing the progress of Bolton Wanderers F.C. through the English football league system from the inaugural season in 1888–89 to 2007–08 when Bolton came sixteenth in the Premier League.

In 1894 Bolton reached the final of football's oldest competition, the FA Cup, for the first time, but lost 4–1 to Notts County at Goodison Park. A decade later they were runners-up a second time, losing 1–0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace on 23 April 1904. On 28 April 1923, Bolton won the cup at their third attempt to win their first major trophy, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first ever Wembley final. The match, famously known as The White Horse Final was played in front of over 127,000 supporters. Bolton's centre-forward, David Jack scored the first ever goal at Wembley Stadium. They became the most successful cup side of the twenties, also winning in 1926 and 1929, beating Manchester City and Portsmouth respectively.