A regional daily has revived a historic newspaper title after 31 years – in the form of a podcast.

The Bolton News has brought back the name of The Buff, its standalone sporting sister paper, after launching a weekly show aimed at supporters of Bolton Wanderers Football Club.

Originally entitled The Football Field, and later the Football and Cricketing Field, The Buff ceased printing as a standalone paper in 1988.

Chief football writer Marc Iles will host the show, which will be available every Friday morning on Soundcloud and is produced with the help of Bolton FM, along with lifelong Wanderers fan and news reporter Tom Molloy.

Said Marc: “We’re trying hard not to take things too seriously. With all the doom and gloom of the last few years we thought this was a good time to step out and have a bit of fun, in the spirit of the old fanzines.

“We went for about three years without really discussing football. I can see why people fell out of love a bit with the club, so consider this a footballing aphrodisiac.

“We’re planning to bring a few guests in, analyse the stories we do on a daily basis in a bit more detail and generally get people talking about what is happening at Wanderers, just like the paper did back in the day.”

The Buff’s name comes from the colour of paper it was originally printed on, and it would be available shortly after the final whistle at Wanderers’ old Burnden Park ground with a specially printed classified score section containing all the scores from around the country.

At one stage there was a mobile print press parked at the edge of the car park at Burnden, poised to add the latest scores for the fans filing out of the game.

Group editor Karl Holbrook said: “The Buff was an institution and it is our absolute privilege to pay homage to it in this modern way with the launch of our very first podcast.

“I’m so pleased with it. A Wanderers show was the natural topic to launch our foray into the fast-growing world of podcasts and Marc is a natural showman, with a fantastic following, so I’ve no doubt The Buff will be an instant hit.

“Marc, co-presenter Tom, Charlotte Wareing (audience and content editor) and Adam Lord (sports editor) have all done a brilliant job making it happen against the odds. And we need to thank Bolton FM for their support in bringing it to life.

“In future, we hope to delve even further with more podcasts looking back at some of Bolton’s most notorious murders and moments that shocked the community. Stay tuned.”