For a club that was once a mainstay of the English Premier League, Bolton Wanderers’ descent down the football pyramid has been alarming for all concerned.
The Trotters have, however, seemingly steadied the ship during the 2025/26 campaign. Finally, their supporters can begin to dream again: first stop, a return to the Championship.
And at the heart of those ambitions is a 26-year-old from Armagh who continues to impress…
Toal On the Right Road
Eoin Toal is now firmly established at the heart of Bolton’s defence. He has been an ever-present in each of their last eight League One outings; a run in which the Lancashire club have kept three clean sheets and won four times.
The Trotters are now firmly involved at the business end of the third tier of English football, to the point that their odds for those partaking in online sports betting are as short as 11/10 for promotion this term – behind only Cardiff City (1/25) and Lincoln City (5/6) in the pecking order.
Within range of Lincoln in second place, Bolton could yet earn automatic promotion – or instead have to face the dreaded play-offs.
✊ Steven Schumacher reacts to Derby Day delight!#bwfc
— Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) January 17, 2026
But they can face the second half of the campaign with confidence nonetheless, given that – at the time of writing – they have the third-best defensive record in League One, with only Exeter City and Stevenage conceding fewer goals.
Key to that, of course, is Toal, who has the dual role of being the defensive kingpin alongside that of team captain.
It’s a responsibility that the Irishman has taken to with aplomb, although he readily admits there are areas for improvement – including his own contribution to a side that hasn’t been particularly prolific in front of goal.
Bolton have registered the second-fewest goals from set pieces in League One, so Toal – who stands over 6ft 2in – is just one of those that should be adding more height and power at corners and free kicks.
“Us as centre-halves, the bigger lads, want to get forward and I know my one goal this season isn’t good enough. I need to add to that tally,” Toal admitted.
If he can, while continuing to contribute stellar defensive displays, Bolton can start to dream of a return to the Championship at long last.
International Ambition for Toal
And it’s not just domestically that Toal is hopeful of an improvement. He has won ten caps for Northern Ireland, but is ambitious to collect more as part of Michael O’Neill’s squad.
Toal played twice for the Green and White Army in 2025 and would love to be part of the starting eleven for the crunch World Cup 2026 play-offs in March. Northern Ireland must overcome Italy in Bergamo and then defeat either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina to book their place at the finals.
Eoin Toal in action with Northern Ireland tonight and in decent form too. Here's why he thinks Michael O'Neill's side have a "really good shot" of making the World Cup play-offs.https://t.co/eGwTQXTwUJ #bwfc
— Marc Iles (@MarcIles) November 14, 2025
It’s a tall order but not one without hope; Toal himself has described Ireland as having a ‘really good shot’ of earning their spot at the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Promotion and a World Cup appearance in the same season… it couldn’t get much better than that, could it?
