The club was formed in 1874 under the name of Christ Church FC but following a dispute with the vicar of the school where meetings were held, the club moved location to a public house, the Gladstone Hotel, and re-named itself Bolton Wanderers.

The early club colours were numerous but the two most significant were the red and white halved shirts which were later adopted by the Dutch team, Feyenoord, and the reputed kit of white shirts with red spots.

In 1888 Bolton were one of the 12 teams invited to become founder members of the Football League. White shirts and navy blue shorts became the official club colours with dark and light blue stripes as a change strip. In the 1920's Bolton turned out in red shirts, white shirts and black socks as change colours, most notably in the 1926 FA Cup semi-final against Swansea. The white and navy blue colours have remained basically unaltered throughout the last century although the shorts changed in 2003 to all white.

The socks, originally black with two rings on the top following the fashion of most teams in the 1920's, then changed to white and navy blue hoops through to 1966 when they became all white. Red was introduced in 1988 and more prominently in 1990, reflecting the connection with Lancashire.

The current strip of all white with the outside right sleeve in blue is both distinctive and unique.

Research was carried out in conjunction with the Club.