The 2011–12 season was Bolton Wanderers's thirteenth season in the Premier League, and their eleventh consecutive season in the top-flight of English football. It is their third season with shirt sponsors 188BET.
It covers the period from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012. As Bolton Wanderers didn't win the 2011–12 Premier League title, it is the 73rd time that they have competed at the top level without winning the title, the most of any club.
The home strip for the 2011–12 season was revealed on 12 May 2011 bearing the 188 Bet logo. The Reebok home strip has a white and blue body with a white right arm and a blue left arm. The away strip is all black with a yellow trim.
At the end of the season, Bolton Wanderers finished in eighteenth place in the Premier League, meaning relegation to the following season's Football League Championship and ending their longest run in the top division for forty eight years.
Pre-season
Bolton Wanderers preceded their 2011–12 campaign with a tour of the United States for the second year in a row. They originally announced games at Orlando City on 17 July, with Bolton winning the game 3–1, and against midfielder Stuart Holden's former club Houston Dynamo on 20 July, which they also won, 2–0. On 14 June they announced an extra game at FC Tampa Bay which was played on 14 July, with the home team winning 1–0. On 3 June, the club announced two initial games to be played against domestic opposition. They met Newport County on 30 July and won 3–1. However, the game was overshadowed by an injury suffered by Lee Chung-Yong who broke his leg following a challenge by Tom Miller. Initial reports suggested that Lee would miss the vast majority of the season. Two days later they beat Hereford United scoring three goals with no reply. On 7 June the club announced further games at Bradford City and a local derby at Bury. The Bradford game took place on 24 July, with Bolton winning 4–1 and the Bury game followed three days later, Bolton beating their nearest rivals 2–0. On 13 June, Bolton announced their only pre season game at the Reebok Stadium would be on 5 August against La Liga side Levante. The Spanish side won the match 1–0. This meant that Ivan Klasnić finished the pre season as the club's leading scorer with five goals. In addition to this, the reserve team also played five games away from home at non-league opposition, winning three, drawing one and losing one. Lee was not the only Bolton player to suffer a major injury in pre season, with Tyrone Mears who had only just joined the club from Burnley, also breaking his leg in a training session on 4 August.
Reserves
Premier League
The fixtures for the 2011–12 season were announced on 17 June at 09:00 BST, and revealed that Bolton will begin the season away from home for the first time in six years. Bolton travelled to Loftus Road to take on newly promoted Queens Park Rangers on 13 August 2011. Goals from Gary Cahill, Ivan Klasnić, Fabrice Muamba and an own goal from Danny Gabbidon gave Bolton a 4–0 win. This was their best season opener since the first game of the 2001–02 season. They finished the weekend in joint first place with their next opponents, Manchester City, to whom they suffered a 2–3 home defeat. Manchester City scored two first-half goals from David Silva and Gareth Barry before Ivan Klasnić pulled one back shortly before halftime from Martin Petrov's cross for his second goal of the season. Edin Džeko restored Manchester City's two-goal cushion straight after halftime before Kevin Davies pulled a goal back with a header midway through the second half from Petrov's free-kick. The Saturday after, Bolton travelled to Anfield to take on Liverpool. The home side dominated the game, and scored three goals from Jordan Henderson, Martin Škrtel and Charlie Adam before Ivan Klasnić scored a consolation goal in stoppage time.