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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Thomas Molloy

As Wanderers' promotion sent Bolton into party mode - these fans had an extra special reason to celebrate

For Bolton Wanderers fans, May 8 2021 is a date that will live long in the memory.

The team swaggered to a 4-1 win at Crawley to seal promotion back to League One at the first time of asking, sending an entire town into party mode.

Even as the clock ticked past 1am the next day, hundreds of fans gathered outside the University of Bolton Stadium to give the returning players a welcome back that they'd never forget.

But for Glen McGreavy and his family the day was extra special, as they got the chance to watch the match with one of his late grandad Jim's closest friends, after tracking him down online.

"We were out Remembrance Sunday," Glen, of Tonge Fold, recalled.

"We were reminiscing about the old days and my dad mentioned a friend of my granddad's called Arthur and whether we'd be able to track him down through social media.

"So I put it out there on Facebook on a few Bolton groups I know."

Despite including a reference to Arthur's distinctive wooden leg, Glen had no joy.

He turned to his friend Nicola Girling, a fellow Wanderers fan and genealogist, who founded 'people tracking' website Finder Guru.

Nicola started work trying to build a family tree for Arthur to try and find any clues to his whereabouts.

Eventually she struck gold.

Glen remembered: "Nicola asked me if he had twin girls so I asked my dad.

"He said 'I think so', he's not got the best memory... he can't remember when it's his round!

"But it just escalated from there, his daughter Sue rang me and we got a table booked at The Vulcan to watch the match.

"I was nervous going picking them up on Saturday as I was on my own and didn’t know what to expect but it was fine.

"Arthur is once again part of our family. My granddad would have been so happy to have that happen.

"My dad Paddy and my uncle Tony were absolutely buzzing as well."

For more information on tracking down long lost family members or friends, you can visit the Finder Guru website.

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