Bolton Wanderers have unveiled the new logo that will adorn the exterior of their stadium following its official renaming to Toughsheet Community Stadium. Bolton Wanderers’ stadium will be renamed following the conclusion of its previous naming rights deal with the University of Bolton.

Toughsheet Community Stadium - new Bolton Wanderers’ home

Earlier this year, on February 19, it was revealed that the stadium for Bolton Wanderers would get a new name after its existing naming rights agreement with the University of Bolton expired. The university will be replaced by Bolton-based manufacturer of recyclable building products Toughsheet. Toughsheet, a Westhoughton-based company founded in 1968, has approximately 85 employees and is run by directors Dougi Mercer and Paul Mullineaux, both of whom are Bolton supporters. The club described the five-year agreement to rename Bolton's stadium as the biggest sponsorship deal in the club's history.

Since the sponsorship agreement was revealed, the renaming of Bolton's stadium to the Toughsheet Community Stadium has undoubtedly garnered a lot of attention. While many Wanderers supporters are content with the name, some are still skeptics. This fan commented: Call it what you want, it’ll always be the Reebok. I was still hoping it was all a bad joke, said another supporter. And finally, this fan echoed the humorous sentiment that many have offered: If you don’t like it well…. Toughsheet. Fans from Bolton as well as from other cities are also very involved in betting on football matches, so in addition to visiting stadiums they also go to betting site football.

© Peter J Dean (cc: by-nc-nd)

25 years of stadium in Bolton

The stadium was built in times of great post-Taylor reform in England and the project raised significant controversy. Some fans questioned its location outside Bolton (previous Burnden Park was within walking distance for many) and some had trouble accepting Reebok as name holder. However, as Reebok was a long-standing sponsor of Wanderers and in fact a local company, the name became less of an issue over the years, with most fans referring to the stadium simply as 'The Reebok'.

The Macron branding was applied in July 2014, after the Bolton Wanderers club finalised a partnership with the large Italian sportswear brand. A four-year duration was negotiated for the Macron deal and the club had the option to extend at completion. When the deal with Macron came to an end in August 2018, the stadium was again renamed, this time as the University of Bolton Stadium.

The venue was designed by Populous (then HOK Sport) and has a very distinctive appearance with steel trusses dominating the local skyline, with roof supports and floodlight pylons integrated with one another. Interestingly, the seating capacity of over 28,000 could have been higher, but corner sections of the upper tiers were never approved due to poor evacuation routes, thus seats weren’t installed there.

© fragglehunter aka Sleepy G