WELCOME to Bolton — although here you would be hard pressed to find a pastie barm, a pint of Bank Top or a fresh baked loaf of Warbies.

This is Bolton, Ontario, Canada, an expanse of cornfields, open roads and woodlands, about as far removed from our own town in Lancashire as possible.

But for one small detail.

At the heart of the town lies a football team, or in this neck of the woods, a soccer club. And they too are called Bolton Wanderers.

Catering for more than 3,000 footballers, aged from three to 74, BWSC has maintained links with their namesakes for more than 30 years across a 3,500-mile divide.

The Whites are currently on a pre-season tour of the USA and Canada.

Tonight, more than 600 members of the club will celebrate what the town’s council have dubbed “Bolton Wanderers Day” by going to see their heroes in action at BMO Field in nearby Toronto.

A small group of players from the Under-14s and some of the Canadian Wanderers’ staff were invited to see the Whites train on Monday, where Owen Coyle and the players signed autographs and posed for pictures.

Others will act as ball boys and girls tonight at the home of Toronto FC, the area’s biggest soccer club, who compete in the professional MLS league.

It is a landmark day in the organisation’s history and club president William Hay insists it will be one that lives long in the town’s memory.

“Having the club come is just fantastic,” he said. “We have got 600 people coming to watch the game against Toronto and we can’t wait. Don’t underestimate just how much we care. Whenever I introduce myself at club functions or meetings, or whatever, I do so as a Bolton Wanderer. We have a number of supporters here, so to come down and see them will be wonderful.”

The roots of the club stretch back to 1978, when a party of six people from Bolton travelled over to hold a football clinic. Founder Hal Siemens then wrote to Wanderers asking if he could affiliate the new club, using the name and crest, and the link exists to this day.

“You cannot believe how much the kids have been looking forward to this,” said Dave Bailey, who heads up the many international links forged by Wanderers, including others in Australia, South Korea, Iceland, Tanzania and India. “We’re the best represented Premier League club in this part of the world. I don’t hide the fact that we’re trying to push the brand of Bolton Wanderers around the world, and where better than a town called Bolton?”

Driving the 50 kilometres from Toronto down Highway 50, there is little to report, aside for a giant IKEA, which flashes by just before the city’s airport. After winding through the miles of cornfields, you come to a small house set on land recently taken over by the club to act as offices and accommodation. Wanderers House, as it was renamed, acts as headquarters for the “other” Wanderers, with a function room dubbed “Burnden Hall” and the team plays at Edelweiss Park.

President William Hay says: “We’re proud to be associated with Bolton Wanderers.”

A World Apart

* While our Bolton has a population of more than 260,000, Canada's has just over 26,000 residents

* The Bolton News brings you all the town's news but in our namesake, in Ontario, The Bolton Enterprise keeps people up to date. It has developed from The Cardwell Observer, which was first published in 1871

* Both Boltons have a mill history, Bolton, Greater Manchester, with cotton and wool mills and Bolton, Ontario, developing wool, flour and grain mills

* While we have Fred Dibnah and Samuel Crompton, famous Boltonians from Canada's town include Lorne Duguid, a professional ice hockey player in the 1930-40s, and singer and actress, Skye Sweetnam