Coyle's cameo appearance came in the Trotters' 2-0 friendly victory over Northern Irish side Cliftonville, and it was a successful one as he showed his strikers how it should be done by scoring the second goal.
The 44-year-old played 68 minutes of the match, which marked the opening of Cliftonville's new synthetic pitch, and was heavily involved from the start.
Coyle had a goal disallowed for offside before setting up Ivan Klasnic for the opener, and his moment of glory arrived in the 66th minute when he found the target with a clever chip.
"It's always nice to score but if I talk about it too much I'll end up dragging myself into the office on Monday morning and offering myself a contract," Coyle told the Bolton News.
The Scot's last start for Bolton came in a 2-1 victory over Blackburn in August 1995.
Source: PA
Source: PA