Stephen Crainey thinks he can bring something special to Bolton Wanderers’ League One campaign.
This week, the 43-year-old Scot left Wigan Athletic to work in Ian Evatt’s backroom at the Toughsheet Stadium, where he was a teammate at Blackpool.
Crainey, a former Celtic defender who played for 19 years and over 400 games, also served as Fleetwood Town’s interim manager in the second half of the 2021–2022 season after hanging up his boots.
He was elevated to Shaun Maloney’s first team staff after working with Wigan’s junior squad the previous term, but he thought it was impossible to pass up the chance to work with Evatt at Bolton.
“I am excited about it,” he remarked. When the gaffer called me to join his coaching staff, I was thrilled to accept because I had worked in U21 team management in the past and had some expertise in first-team positions and responsibilities.
“I wanted to be here as soon as he made that contact to try and support an already incredibly skilled staff, and perhaps I can add to that.
Since Bolton is a huge club, attending made perfect sense. I’m quite eager to take on the job, and the bonus is that I’ll be there for both the preseason and the trip to Portugal.
“I can’t wait to lay on the grass. I think that’s when I really start to click with them and get to know the guys. That aspect of things excites me, and I’m eager for the challenge that lies ahead.
The players will be arriving fresh since they have had a good night’s sleep, and ideally we can get things going quickly.
Following their loss in the previous season’s play-off final, Wanderers carried out a detailed analysis to see what aspects they felt needed to be improved in order to turn things around this time.
“Hopefully we can all come together and have a really good season,” Craigie said. “I had a really good relationship with the manager and we had some unbelievable times at Blackpool as players. That’s all in the past and now we’re on the other side in a coaching capacity and we’re excited for the new season ahead.” Chairman Sharon Brittan says the club will direct available funds towards the playing squad to ensure it is as competitive as possible, knowing full well that some substantial budgets are about to enter League One.
“Our goals for the season are to participate in every game, win as many as we can, and see where it leads us—ideally to a successful conclusion.
In addition to the incredible experience of the people we already have, I hope that my six or seven years of involvement in League One will be of use. With any luck, I can improve it and add to it so that we can all support one another. Football games are the ultimate goal, and that’s what we’re here to do.
“The players in this group are really talented.” Last season, I seen that firsthand, so maybe we can add to that as well Okay. The manager will definitely check into that. Top League One players are currently in the building, and maybe they can demonstrate not just what they accomplished last season but even more.
After declaring they had reached an agreement to pay Wanderers for Crainey’s services, Crainey’s previous team, Wigan Athletic, sent him best wishes.
An announcement said, “Wigan Athletic can confirm that Stephen Crainey has left the Football Club to accept a position as assistant manager at Bolton Wanderers following an agreement on a compensation package between the two clubs.”
After four years with Fleetwood Town, Craigey returned to the Brick Community Stadium in November 2022 to take up the position of head professional phase coach for the team.
“At the beginning of the 2023–24 season, first team manager Shaun Maloney elevated Crainey to the position of first team coach after he spent a season coaching the club’s U21 squad.
After a year in his new position, Crainey said that he would like to seize an opportunity to play alongside his former Blackpool teammate Ian Evatt at Bolton Wanderers. Consequently, a compensation package has been decided upon with Bolton.
“We wish Stephen well and thank him for his efforts while he was at Wigan Athletic.”
