A number of players have played just the one match for Bolton Wanderers. Some well-known names in football and some perhaps not so well-known. Today it’s a player who joined Wanderers on loan from Gerard Houlier’s Liverpool as a youngster in the early 2000s, Jon Otsemobor.
Born and raised in Liverpool, Otsemobor came through the youth ranks as a talented prospect at Liverpool to make his first team debut in a League Cup victory against Southampton at Anfield in November 2002.
Towards the back end of the 2002/03 season, the right-sided defender joined Division Three side Hull City until the end of the campaign and impressed for the East Yorkshire club with nine appearances – he even managed to score three goals in his first four matches.
His first appearance of the following campaign (2003/04) came in a League Cup defeat against Bolton Wanderers at Anfield with the youngster playing the entirety of a five-goal thriller that was decided by a last minute Youri Djorkaeff penalty.
Later in the season, he joined Wanderers and his only outing came in a 3-1 home defeat to Manchester City. Starting the game he was withdrawn by Sam Allardyce after 69 minutes and replaced by Nicky Hunt before returning to Liverpool shortly afterwards.
A further loan spell followed at Crewe Alexandra before a permanent switch to Rotherham United in July 2005 after managing to make six first team appearances for Liverpool. Just six months were spent with the Millers before he completed a permanent switch to his former club, Crewe Alexandra.
Enjoying an impressive 18 months at Gresty Road, Otsemobor earned a move to Norwich City in June 2007 and made 104 appearances for the Canaries prior to a transfer to Southampton in January 2010. His spell on the south coast lasted less than eight months before he moved back up north to sign for Sheffield Wednesday in August 2010.
Spending two years at Hillsborough, the defender spent a similar amount of time with MK Dons during his next spell managed by fellow Scouser Karl Robinson. The majority of his last season in professional football was spent far closer to his Liverpool roots at Prenton Park with Tranmere Rovers.
Now 37 years of age, he made over 300 appearances during a professional career which lasted twelve years.
Otsemobor’s One Game for Wanderers:
21 February 2004
Bolton Wanderers 1 (Nolan 22)
Manchester City 3 (Fowler 27, 31, Charlton OG 50)
Reebok Stadium | FA Premiership
Wanderers: Jaaskelainen, Otsemobor (Hunt 69), Howey, Charlton, Barness, Frandsen (Okocha 56), Campo, Nolan, Djorkaeff (Javi Moreno 57), Pedersen, Davies.
Unused Subs: Poole, N’Gotty.
City: James, Dunne, Distin, Tarnat, Sibierski, Wright-Phillips, McManaman (Jordan 89), Sinclair, Reyna, Macken (Sun Jihai 74), Fowler (Elliott 88).
Unused Subs: Arason, Negouai.