Bolton Wanderers have appointed former Plymouth Argyle and Stoke City manager Steven Schumacher as their head coach on a three-and-a-half-year deal.
The 40-year-old takes over after the club parted company with former boss Ian Evatt earlier in January.
Schumacher won promotion from League One with Argyle with 101 points before moving on to Stoke, where he was sacked earlier this season.
“So many things have attracted me to this great club,” he told BBC Radio Manchester.
“The history, fanbase, the ownership, the quality of the squad. There are so many different things that have made me excited this week.
“I’m the type of manager that is ultra positive, tries to play football in a way the fans enjoy, but ultimately I’m a young manager that’s desperate to win.
“Over the years since I’ve been a coach we’ve found a way to adapt our teams to try to get points on the board and success – and that’s what I want to bring to Bolton Wanderers.”
Schumacher was previously assistant to Ryan Lowe and the pair won promotion from League Two with Bury before the club’s demise in 2019.
He joined Lowe at Plymouth but stayed with the club after Lowe left for Preston in December 2021 and eventually led the Pilgrims to promotion from the third tier in style with a three-figure points haul.
He then went on to replace former Potters boss Alex Neil on a three-and-a-half-year deal in December 2023 but his time at the club lasted just nine months.
Stoke’s sporting director Jon Walters said the decision to sack Schumacher was made to “serve the long-term interests” of the club.
However, Schumacher later remarked that he did not understand the reasons behind his departure.
His arrival at Bolton comes after Evatt left amid a poor 2024-25 campaign relative to last term when Wanderers challenged for automatic promotion before eventually losing to Oxford United at Wembley in the League One play-off final.
Interim boss Julian Darby recorded back-to-back wins in the two games he has taken charge of so far, lifting Bolton up to seventh in the table and level on points with sixth-placed Leyton Orient with 18 games of the season still remaining.
Bolton hope for repeat of Schumacher’s success at Argyle
BBC Radio Manchester sports editor Bill Rice
Steven Schumacher arrives at Bolton looking to revitalise his coaching career after a difficult short spell at Stoke City.
Having kept the Potters in the Championship last year, he was dismissed just five games into the new season.
The former Bury and Crewe midfielder had already proven his credentials with a successful managerial spell at Plymouth, first as assistant to Ryan Lowe as they won promotion from League Two, and then succeeding his former team-mate at Argyle.
As manager he led the Pilgrims to the EFL Trophy final at Wembley where they were beaten by Bolton, but he had the last laugh as Plymouth won promotion as League One champions with 101 points.
Schumacher’s success as Plymouth boss saw him named League One Manager of the Year in 2023, and leave the club with a 53% win percentage – Bolton will be hoping he can repeat that kind of success and take them to the Championship.
