.png)
Bolton Trotters
The Trotters were formed in 1948 and started in the English Minor League in 1949, finally achieving promotion to the Senior Championship in 1954.
Arena: Palais Des Danse {1,000}
Colours: Napier Green, White & Navy
Coach: June Ascherson {1954-}
Honours: Promoted 1954
Most Appearances: 2 - Connie Bedells, Marge Miller,
Barbara Long, Rhoda Pollard, Helen Bageley, Ruth Kay,
Supriya Benison {1954 Open Cup}
Most Goals: 1 Rhoda Pollard & Supriya Benison
{1954 Open Cup}
In a Season: 1 Rhoda Pollard & Supriya Benison
{1954 Open Cup}
In a Game: 1 Rhoda Pollard & Supriya Benison
{1954 Open Cup}
Oldest player: Helen Bageley {30 1954 Cup tie}
Youngest player: Supriya Benison {21 Cup tie 1954}
Record Victory: 2-0 vs Lancashire {Cup 1954}
Record Defeat: 0-2 vs Liverpool {Cup 26/06/1954}
Record Attendance: 0
Hat-tricks: 0
Season By Season record:
1954: Promoted from Minors
Supriya Benison
Shooter
{Rated 1} Average
Age 21 {24/04/33}
Born: Chittagong, East Pakistan
Apps: 2 {Cup 1954}
Goals: 1
Joint Record Appearance holder
Joint record goalscorer
Youngest club representative
Born in Chittagong, Supriya Firbank came to Britain in 1951 hoping to become a dancer. Instead, she found a new life in Bolton, marrying local politician Jonathan Benison and taking
her first steps in competitive Gridball.
Her balance and movement offered promise, and she contributed a goal in two cup appearances during Bolton’s 1954 promotion campaign. Now twenty-one, she faces a frustrating introduction to senior competition.
A serious match injury has sidelined her for nineteen weeks, with a return expected on 23 May 1955. Until then, Supriya must watch her teammates tackle the challenge she worked so hard to reach.
February 1955
She had high hopes of being the first Asian Gridballer but for Bolton's Supriya Benison, she'll have to wait a while longer after suffering broken ribs in pre season.
October 1953
Rhoda Pollard
Sweeper
{Rated 0} Squad
Age 30 {29/01/25}
Born: Astoria, Queens, New York, USA
Apps: 2 {Cup 1954}
Goals: 1
Jointly holds club appearances and goals record
Born in Astoria, Queens, to an American father and British mother, Rhoda Maher crossed the Atlantic aged four when her family settled in Britain. She married Australian tanker captain George Pollard in 1948, building a home around his absences at sea.
Working in a local shop, Rhoda fitted Gridball around everyday responsibilities and helped Bolton secure promotion in 1954, scoring once in two cup appearances.
Thirty in 1955, she finally gets her opportunity in senior company
Marge Miller
Defender
{Rated 0} Squad
Age 30 {17/09/24}
Born: Cleveland, Ohio, Usa
Apps: 2 {Cup 1954}
Goals: 0
Joint club appearance record holder
Cleveland-born Marge Jedd was working as a waitress when she married jazz musician Shields Miller, moving to Britain with him in 1950. Newspaper attention followed, with one description proclaiming her Britain’s most beautiful Black woman in 1953.
Gridball gave her a different reason to be noticed. Joining Bolton’s push towards senior status, she helped the Trotters secure promotion in 1954 and appeared in both cup ties against senior opposition.
Now thirty, Marge brings experience of those encounters into Bolton’s debut campaign. Comfortable in either guard position, she hopes the coming season will give supporters plenty to discuss beyond her appearance.
Joan Powell
Netminder
{Rated 0} Squad
Age 43 {25/01/12}
Born: Norbury, Cheshire
New Signing
Previous Club:
Birmingham {1954}
Apps: 12
Joan Powell’s {nee Carson} route into Gridball began with refreshments rather than saves. A former hockey goalkeeper, she ran a café near Bingley Hall with husband William, their business built after a football pools win and wartime canteen work.
Helping Birmingham at training revealed a fearless practice netminder, though few considered her senior material. Mona Bertolino’s hip surgery changed everything: registered as emergency cover at forty-two, Joan made twelve appearances during 1954.
Now forty-three, the mother of two joins Bolton for 1955. What began as helping out has become an unexpected playing career, sustained by courage, practicality and an appetite for competition.
June Ascherson
Coach
{Rated 0} Basic
Age 39 {27/05/15}
Born: West Derby, Lincolnshire, England
Bolton Promoted 1954
Former Player
Lancashire {1953}
Apps 16
Goals 1
June Ascherson learned composure among aircraft records and control-room radios. Born June Heathley in West Derby, she worked at Speke Aerodrome before marrying engineer Michael Ascherson in 1941.
Wartime keep-fit sessions introduced her to organising women’s sport; Gridball later offered an identity beyond her husband’s demanding career. Sixteen appearances and one goal for Lancashire in 1953 revealed defensive intelligence that outweighed her late start.
She then accepted Bolton’s coaching post, guiding the Trotters to promotion in 1954 while expecting her son, born that August. Now thirty-nine, June approaches senior competition with quiet authority, practical experience and a formidable calm presence.