English club Bolton Wanderers have announced details of their pre-season friendly with Orlando Pirates next month.
Pirates confirmed that they will be heading to Spain for pre-season for a third straight year and will play a number of friendly matches with key among them being against four-time FA Cup winners Bolton, who will be preparing for their League One campaign.
Bolton will take on Pirates in Marbella on Friday July 11 being the second English side the Buccaneers will be facing in the last one year, after playing against Plymouth, then managed by Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney last July.
Bolton laud ‘historical’ club Pirates
“Founded in Soweto in 1937, Orlando Pirates are one of South Africa's oldest and most successful clubs. Known as ‘The Buccaneers', they have won nine domestic league titles and are one of the few clubs from the Southern Hemisphere to have won the CAF Champions League, lifting the trophy in 1995,” Bolton said through a club statement.
“The fixture is given extra resonance by the shared history of defender Mark Fish. The South African international became a champion at Orlando Pirates, winning the African Champions League in 1995, before joining Wanderers two years later after a spell with Italian giants, Lazio.”
Pirates had a fruitful tour of Spain during pre-season last year when they drew 2-2 with Plymouth, beat La Liga side Sevilla 2-0 before ending with a 1-1 against Granada.
The match against Bolton will be staged at the Marbella Football Centre which also played host to the Soweto giants' match with Granada last year.
