Bolton travel and pub guide

Bolton Wanders
Reebok Stadium
Premier League
Saturday January 17, kick off 3pm

Tickets
Out of a capacity of 28,723, United have 2,800 tickets costing £27 for adults, £21 for over 65s and £13 for under 16s. They have all been sold and posted out, or will be posted out shortly.

Internet touts are selling away end tickets for £110 each.

Home end tickets went on open sale on December 31 but only to people with a booking history at Bolton. But they were pretty easy to buy outside the ground for face value last season.

TV
The match will not be shown live on any UK, but there will inevitably be pubs showing it live on Scandinavian channel Canal + and there will be plenty of internet streams showing it too.

Travel
Yes, it’s only up the road, so it won’t be a long guide, but some people may wish to know train times and where to park for free.

Car - £5.20
It’s very simple from Manchester. Take the M61 to junction 6, do a right at the roundabout and you’ll see the stadium in front of you.

Do a right at the next roundabout for Lostock Lane. For the Beehive, go straight on at that roundabout and you’ll see it right in front of you at the next roundabout.

If you’re using a satnav or a routeplanner, key in the postcode BL6 6JS. It’s 20 miles away and will cost £5.20 in petrol.

Parking
A space on the stadium car park costs £6 and there are a few industrial estates dotted nearby, like off Lostock Lane, with spaces for £3.

There’s an Asda supermarket adjacent to the ground. Non-customer parking is banned on matchdays, but there’s nothing to stop you going in to buy a newspaper before the game.

Depending on how far you want to walk, there are free spaces further down Lostock Lane and past the Beehive Pub. You can park at the Beehive for £5.

Train - £3.20
Get an off-peak single return ticket to Horwich Parkway, which is a two-minute walk to the stadium.

Last season, police were ensuring fans boarding at Victoria and Bolton had match tickets before getting on trains. They might not do so this time, but be prepared.

To the match
Direct trains leave Piccadilly at 10:46, 10:54 and then at 46 and 54 past the hour (add three minutes on to get the times from Oxford Road and six minutes for Deansgate). It takes roughly 30 minutes. There are also regular indirect services – changing at Bolton - that take 40 minutes.

Direct trains leave Victoria at 10:22 and then at 22 minutes past the hour. There are also regular services – changing at Salford Crescent - that take 40 minutes.

From the match
Trains leave Horwich Parkway to Manchester at 17:27, 17:45, 18:25, 19:27, 20:27

The first few trains after the game will go to Victoria (even though they are timetabled to go to Piccadilly) and won’t stop along the way.

Bus - £1.50
Bolton runs 13 bus services to and from the stadium on matchdays for £1 single and £1.50 return.

They start from Bury, Radcliffe, Swinton, Leigh, Farnworth, Bolton, Bromley Cross, Darcy Lever, Chorley, Wigan and Egerton. Timetable information is here.

You could, for example, catch the Metrolink to Radcliffe (on the Bury Line) and walk two minutes to Radcliffe bus station and catch the number 3 bus, listed above.

Coach - £13
United are running coaches to the game with places costing £13 each. Click here to book.

Pubs
Scotts, in between the train station and the ground, is only open to fans showing home end tickets on the door. There’s usually a fair bit of a room there on match days and you can get served quicker than you’d expect.

My favourite when visiting the Reebok is the Bromilow Arms in Lostock Lane. You can park there for £3 and they do brilliant food.

It can get quite packed pretty early and it can sometimes take 15/20 minutes to get served.

It’s technically a home fans’ pub but you won’t get any trouble from the locals, mainly because it’s popular with older fans who come for the real ales and with families who come for the decent food, especially the curry.

You can also park on the car park outside the Beehive in Chorley New Road (directions above, picture below).

Believe it or not, it’s a Grade Two listed building. It’s much bigger than the Bromilow, has an outdoor seating area at the front and is pretty much the main away fans’ pub for this ground. It opens at 11am.

But because of that, you tend to get lots of police and the (albeit small) chance of trouble. But it’s only a five-minute walk to the ground, as is the Bromilow.

If you’re after something a bit quieter, you’ll have to venture a bit further from the stadium, but it’s worth it.

Head towards the motorway roundabout and turn left at the next roundabout onto Chorley Road. At number 480, you’ll find the Royal Oak, which is a great little place for a pre-match pint.

And further down that road, you’ll find the Wagon and Horses, which is a decent little boozer.