Association football club in England

football club
Wigan Athletic Football Club ( ) is an English professional affiliation football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in League One, the one-third tier of the English football league arrangement. Founded in 1932, they have played at the 25,138 seat DW Stadium since 1999, before which they played at Springfield Park. Their colours are blue and white stripes, although all-blue shirts have been common throughout the baseball club ‘s history. The clubhouse regards Bolton Wanderers as its basal bowler hat rival.

Wigan competed in the Cheshire County League for the beginning nine seasons of the clubhouse ‘s being, winning three league title before being placed in the Lancashire Combination in 1947. They spent 14 years in the Lancashire Combination and secured four league titles during this time. They spent 1961 to 1968 back in the Cheshire County League, picking up another league deed in 1964–65. Invited to become a founder member of the Northern Premier League in 1968, the club won two league titles and besides reached the FA Trophy final in 1973. Wigan was elected to the Football League in 1978 and was promoted out of the Fourth Division in 1981–82. The club won the Associate Members ‘ Cup in 1985, but was relegated back into the fourth tier in 1993. It won the Third Division claim in 1996–97, the Football League Trophy in 1999 and the Second Division in 2002–03, before securing promotion out of the Championship in 2004–05. Wigan were beat finalists in the League Cup in 2006 and won the FA Cup in 2013, beating Manchester City in the final. however, the club was relegated late that class, bringing its eight-season quell in the Premier League to an end. The FA Cup achiever did, though, gain it a place in the UEFA Europa League group stages the pursuit season. Relegated from the Championship in 2015, the baseball club won the League One title in 2015–16 and repeated this feat in 2017–18 after another delegating. On 1 July 2020, less than a calendar month after a transfer of ownership, it was placed into administration and was relegated from the Championship due to the subsequent points tax write-off .

history [edit ]

Wigan Athletic was formed in 1932, following the winding-up of Wigan Borough the year earlier. Wigan Athletic was the fifth attempt to create a stable football club in the township following the demise of Wigan County, Wigan United, Wigan Town and Wigan Borough. Springfield Park, the former home of Wigan Borough, was purchased by the club for £2,850. [ 1 ] Despite their initial application being turned toss off, Wigan Athletic were elected into the Cheshire County League following the resignation of Manchester Central. The cabaret had besides made the first of many attempts to be admitted into the Football League, but failed to receive a individual vote. On 27 August 1932, Wigan Athletic played their first-ever league game against Port Vale Reserves. The team played in red and white shirts with black shorts. [ 2 ] Wigan Athletic won its first honor in the 1933–34 season, finishing top of the Cheshire League, despite being based in neighbouring Lancashire. In the follow temper the club won a second league championship and besides entered the FA Cup for the first time, [ 3 ] defeating Carlisle United 6–1 in the beginning round – a cup commemorate for the biggest victory by a non-league club over a league club. In the 1935–36 season, the club won its third base consecutive Cheshire League title and the Lancashire Junior Cup. After the second World War, Wigan Athletic adopted their contemporary blue and white colours. [ 2 ] The cabaret struggled to assemble a competitive side and finished bottom of the league in 1946–47 season. Despite their pre-war achiever, the club failed to gain re-election and was replaced by Winsford United. The club joined the Lancashire Combination, winning the league in their first season. [ 3 ] In 1950, Wigan Athletic came near to election to The Football League, narrowly losing out to Scunthorpe United and Shrewsbury Town. The club would frequently apply for election to the Football League over the following 28 years before finally being accepted. In the 1953–54 temper, Wigan played an FA Cup match against Hereford United in front of a herd of 27,526 – a club read and besides a read attendance for a catch between two non-league teams at a non-league ground. In the adjacent round of the cup, Wigan Athletic was drawn against First Division side Newcastle United. Wigan Athletic held their top-flight opponents to a 2–2 draw at St James ‘ Park, but went on to lose the replay 3–2. In 1961, the club moved second to the Cheshire League. In the 1964–65 season, Wigan Athletic won their first base Cheshire League championship since returning to the league, [ 3 ] with top goalscorer Harry Lyon scoring 66 times. He remains the baseball club ‘s greatest goalscorer of all time. Wigan Athletic won four cup titles in the 1966–67 season ( Lancashire Floodlit Cup winners, Liverpool Non League Senior Cup winners, Northern Floodlit League winners, Northern Floodlit League Cup winners ) and were besides Cheshire County League runner-up. [ 4 ] In 1968, Wigan Athletic were fall through members of the Northern Premier League. Winning the league title in 1970–71, leading goalscorer with 42 goals, including seven hat-tricks, was Geoff Davies who scored 28 goals in the play along 1971–72 season. After 34 failed election attempts, including one controversial but headline-making application in 1972 to join the Scottish League Second Division, Wigan Athletic was elected to the Football League in 1978. As a non-league clubhouse, the team played at Wembley Stadium for the beginning time in the 1973 FA Trophy Final, where it lost 2–1 to Scarborough .

early league years : 1978–1995 [edit ]



Wigan Athletic ‘s original league kit Wigan Athletic finished in second base put in the Northern Premier League in the 1977–78 season, behind winners Boston United. But as Boston ‘s ground and facilities did not meet the Football League criteria for a League club, whereas Springfield Park did, Wigan Athletic were put forward for election to the league. There was no automatic promotion to the Football League until 1987, and at that clock time a club had to be ‘voted out ‘ of the League to allow a non-league team to be promoted in their invest. At the end of the 1977–78 season, Southport finished adjacent to the bottom of the previous Fourth Division, and faced near neighbours Wigan Athletic for their place in the league. The first round of vote was tied, with both clubs receiving 26 votes. After a strain re-vote which Wigan won 29–20, Southport lost their set in the Fourth Division and Wigan Athletic became an English League club on 2 June 1978. [ 5 ] In the cabaret ‘s inaugural temper of league football, Wigan Athletic finished in sixth stead, equitable six points off promotion and act in front of an average crowd of 6,701. Two more top-half finishes came in the take after seasons, though a relatively unaccented 1980–81 season saw the dismissal of long-serving director Ian McNeill shortly before the end of the season. They gained their first Football League promotion under the management of early Liverpool musician Larry Lloyd in 1981–82, when a points total of 91 saw them join the early Division Three for the inaugural time, beginning a 10-year spell in English football ‘s third tier. The club struggled in their first temper in Division Three, which led to Lloyd ‘s sacking in early 1983, at which indicate Bobby Charlton, a director at the time, took over as irregular director before being replaced by Harry McNally. Under McNally ‘s management, the club stabilised in Division Three and secured a pair of mid-table finishes, but a atrocious 1984–85 season price him his job, with Tranmere director Bryan Hamilton stepping into the rupture. Under Hamilton ‘s management, the club ‘s performances went to the future grade and they won their first silverware as a league club that season with the Freight Rover Trophy. They were beaten in the Northern final of the lapp contest the following season by Bolton Wanderers. More importantly, Hamilton achieved Division Three survival, which had looked an impossible tax earlier that season .
Chart of annual table positions since Wigan ‘s election into the Football League The 1985–86 season saw a set improvement in the club ‘s league human body, finally finishing in fourthly position, a then-club commemorate high which would stand for 17 years until 2002–03. Wigan Athletic finished the season equitable one point outside the promotion places in the final temper before the Football League introduced the play-off organization for forwarding and delegating. however, Hamilton ‘s feats attracted the care of First Division Leicester City and he left to become their director in the summer of 1986. His assistant, Ray Mathias, who had followed him from Tranmere, stepped up to the Wigan Athletic director ‘s speculate. Wigan Athletic managed an identical fourth-place finish in the 1986–87 season, but this clock time were rewarded with the gamble to compete for the final promotion place in the new play-off system. ( In the first two years of the play-off system, teams finishing third gear, fourthly and fifth joined the team finishing 20th in the division above to play-off for the promotion place ; this was changed to the teams finishing third base, one-fourth, fifth and one-sixth from the 1988–89 temper ). The Latics lost at the two-legged semi-final stagecoach to Swindon, who went on to win the final examination promotion topographic point. The fourth-place finishes of the 1985–86 and 1986–87 seasons proved to be the high points of Wigan Athletic ‘s first stint in Division 3. For the next five years, they finished mid-table, flirting with relegation in 1988–89 ( at which time Mathias was sacked and the previous director Bryan Hamilton returned ) and 1989–90, until they were relegated for the first meter in the club ‘s league history in 1992–93. Wigan Athletic finished in 23rd station, amid tumbling attendances which had fallen from averages of 3,000–4,000 in Wigan Athletic ‘s Division 3 years to good 2,593 in 1992–93. Hamilton resigned shortly before the club were relegated, and was replaced by Kenny Swain. A class former, with the cabaret rear in the fourthly tier of the English League, the Latics finished fourthly from bed, in 19th seat. While there was no delegating that season due to the miss of a promotable baseball club in the Football Conference, this remains the club ‘s lowest-ever polish. The follow season would prove to be arguably even worse, as Swain was sacked early in the political campaign following a hideous starting signal, and early player Graham Barrow took over as director. Despite the cabaret being rooted to the penetrate of the board until the begin of December, the second base half of the campaign saw a major upturn in form, and they finished well clean of the relegation zone in 15th place. Attendances fell to a lowest-ever Wigan Athletic League average of 1,845 by 1995 .

Rising through the league : 1995–2005 [edit ]

local entrepreneur Dave Whelan acquired the club in 1995, providing funds to move into the JJB Stadium, nowadays named the DW Stadium after Whelan ‘s sports shops, DW Sports. In February 1995, local anesthetic millionaire and owner of JJB Sports, Dave Whelan purchased the golf club. Through Whelan ‘s occupation connections in Spain he attracted three Spaniards to the club – Roberto Martínez, Isidro Díaz, and Jesus Seba – who became known as the Three Amigos. [ 7 ] The trio became the on-pitch symbols of Whelan ‘s ambitious design to take Wigan Athletic into the Premier League. The Three Amigos were joined at the baseball club by John Deehan, who replaced Barrow as coach during the 1995–96 temper following a 6–2 home get the better of to Mansfield Town. Deehan took the Latics within two points of a play-off position in his inaugural temper ; the club had in fact been in the final examination automatic rifle forwarding descry with four games remaining, but lost them all and thus failed to even make the playoffs. The follow year Wigan Athletic became Division Three champions on the last day of the season, Graeme Jones scoring a club record 31 league goals in the march. In most seasons they would have been runner-up, but a irregular rule change which saw goals scored contain precedence over goal remainder allowed them to finish above runner-up Fulham, who had the like count of points and a better finish deviation. Following a mid-table finish in Division Two the following season, Deehan discontinue to become Steve Bruce ‘s assistant at Sheffield United. He was succeeded by Ray Mathias, who returned for his third stint as Wigan Athletic director. Mathias ‘ team won the Football League Trophy in 1999, beating Millwall 1–0 at Wembley Stadium. The same temper the Latics reached the Division Two play-offs, losing 2–1 on aggregate to Manchester City. Mathias was sacked, and replaced by John Benson. He led the team to the lead of Division Two in his first six months, but they were lone able to qualify for the play-offs. In what was the last ever Division Two play-off final examination to be played at the old Wembley Stadium, Wigan lost 3–2 after extra prison term to Gillingham. Benson moved ‘upstairs ‘ to the new post of conductor of football in the summer of 2000, when erstwhile Arsenal director Bruce Rioch took the director ‘s occupation for the 2000–01 season. Rioch was hampered by austere injury problems and after a unmanageable and often unimpressive first half of the season left the club in February 2001. He was temporarily replaced by golf club stalwart Colin Greenall, before the surprise appointment of Steve Bruce for the final eight games of the season. His arrival lend renewed vigor to Wigan Athletic performances, but the baseball club ultimately lost in the play-offs again, this time against Reading, and Bruce left for Crystal Palace .
To signify the interest of the local authority, Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, Wigan Athletic have used their coating of arms as their club crest, from 1989 to 2008. In the summer of 2001, the early Latics advancing Paul Jewell took over as director following an unsuccessful spell at Sheffield Wednesday. His first temper in charge saw mix results and an awkward get the better of to non-league Canvey Island in the FA Cup first base round, although the club finally finished in mid-table. Jewell ‘s second season in charge was far more successful. Wigan Athletic went on a campaign to the quarter-finals of the League Cup, beating Premier League opponents West Brom, Manchester City and Fulham en route. Wigan Athletic won the Division Two championship in 2002–03 with a points entire of 100, powered by the goals of then-record £1.2 million signing Nathan Ellington, with a run of 10 back-to-back wins along the way. The club lost merely four times all season, and Wigan Athletic secured promotion to the second gear grade of the English Football League for the first gear clock in their history. After losing their first-ever game in Division One, Wigan Athletic confounded expectations to go unbeaten for the following 17 games and ride atop the division by November 2003. A decrepit stopping point saw Wigan Athletic acquire merely three of their last 10 games to finish seventh in Division One – a last-minute goal by West Ham ‘s Brian Deane in the final game of the season saw the Latics drop out of the play-off places in favor of eventual play-off winners Crystal Palace. Hoping to build on the previous season ‘s disappointing end, the Latics went one better than 2003–04 by remaining unbeaten for the first 17 games of the 2004–05 season. Along with Sunderland and Ipswich, the Latics remained in the promotion hunt all season. By the stopping point day of the season, Sunderland had already won the title and Wigan needed at least a pull against Reading – who themselves needed to win to finish in sixth seat – to beat Ipswich to the stopping point automatic promotion blemish. A 3–1 victory in front of their home fans at the JJB Stadium earned Wigan Athletic forwarding to the peak division of English football for the inaugural clock in their 73-year history .

Premier League : 2005–2013 [edit ]

The club ‘s first ever Premier League game was a sell-out at the JJB Stadium against holders Chelsea, a 1–0 kill after an injury-time winner by Hernán Crespo. [ 8 ] A successful run followed, and by November, Wigan were moment in the league. Good league form was coupled with an evenly potent performance in the Football League Cup, with Wigan reaching their first ever major cup concluding after defeating Arsenal on away goals in the semi-final. In the final examination, Wigan were defeated 4–0 by neighbours Manchester United. [ 9 ] Wigan Athletic finally finished the temper in 10th place, which remains the club ‘s highest ever league target. Defender Pascal Chimbonda was besides included in the 2005–06 PFA Team of the Season, [ 10 ] capping off his season by being picked for the France police squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. During the close season, Wigan sold many players who had starred in their first season in the Premier League, such as Jimmy Bullard, Jason Roberts and Stéphane Henchoz, while bringing in replacements including Emile Heskey, Denny Landzaat, Chris Kirkland and Antonio Valencia. After a mid-table start to the 2006–07 season, Wigan had eight consecutive losses from mid-december, but was 15th in early March. On the final examination sidereal day of the season, Wigan got a 2–1 aside win against Sheffield United, which kept them up at the expense of their opponents. The be day, Paul Jewell by chance resigned as director ; his assistant Chris Hutchings was appointed as his surrogate. Wigan ‘s third Premier League campaign saw changes in the police squad, with Titus Bramble, Mario Melchiot, Jason Koumas and Marcus Bent among the players brought in, and Melchiot was installed as the new golf club captain. The 2007–08 season began well for Wigan, with Emile Heskey recalled to the England team, as the first gear Wigan player to represent England whilst a full member of the cabaret. however, he broke his metrical foot immediately after his England call-up and was out injured for six weeks. The clubhouse ‘s league position subsequently worsened, and on the back of a run of six consecutive defeats, Wigan fell into the relegation zone. Whelan took the decision to sack Hutchings on 5 November 2007, after 12 games in accusation, reinstating Bruce, who saved the club from delegating. In the summer of 2008, Bruce signed Lee Cattermole from Middlesbrough for £3.5 million, and egyptian striker Amr Zaki sign on an initial annual lend. Zaki had scored 10 Premier League goals by February 2009, as Wigan reached one-seventh place in the postpone with 34 points from 25 games. January saw the passing of two key first team members, Wilson Palacios and Emile Heskey, to Tottenham and Aston Villa respectively. Despite these changes, Wigan finished the season in 11th place with 45 points, their second-best complete ever in the Premier League. On 3 June, Bruce left Wigan for the second clock time to take over the vacant director placement at Sunderland. [ 11 ] July saw the passing of another key first team member Antonio Valencia to Manchester United. [ 12 ] Before the 2009–10 season got afoot, Cattermole left for Sunderland .
Wigan appointed Roberto Martínez, then director of Swansea City, as coach anterior to the 2009–10 Premier League season. [ 13 ] He previously played for Wigan from 1995 to 2001. On 26 September, they claimed their first three points against a “ big 4 ” team after beating Chelsea 3–1, with goals from Titus Bramble, Hugo Rodallega and Paul Scharner. A late tide that included a 1–0 win over Liverpool and a 3–2 succeed over Arsenal – the latter of which saw Wigan recover from two goals down with ten-spot minutes remaining to win in injury time – saw the team once more exist delegating. Most notably, having never defeated any of the traditional “ Big Four “ in the league until their win over Chelsea ( and with only one succeed over any of them in cup competitions ), Wigan ended the season having defeated three of them at home. Despite this eminent, the season besides saw two humiliating 8 finish defeats, first a 9–1 thrash at Tottenham in November, [ 14 ] and last an 8–0 get the better of to Chelsea on the final examination day of the season, a match which saw their opponents crowned Premier League champions. [ 15 ] In the 2010–11 season, Wigan fell to the bottom of the league by the end of February, following a 4–0 get the better of to Manchester United. [ 16 ] however, despite remaining in the bottom three for the majority of the season, they managed to retain their Premier League status on the last day of the season, defeating Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium after a finish from Hugo Rodallega. [ 17 ] On 7 May 2012, they simultaneously secured their Premier League condition and relegated Blackburn Rovers with a 1–0 victory at Ewood Park .
In 2013, after beating Everton in the quarter-final and Millwall in the semi-final, Wigan reached the FA Cup Final for the first time in their history. In the final examination, played at Wembley Stadium, Wigan beat Manchester City 1–0, with a finish by Ben Watson scored in injury prison term. [ 18 ] Wigan ‘s foremost ever major trophy besides gave the club a station in the group degree of the Europa League. [ 19 ] Following their 4–1 defeat to Arsenal three days belated, Wigan Athletic ended their eight-year spell in the Premier League and became the first gear team to be relegated and win the FA Cup in the like season. On 5 June it was announced that Martínez had left Wigan and had signed for Everton on a four-year share. [ 20 ]

end of the Whelan earned run average : 2013–2018 [edit ]

Owen Coyle became the new director of Wigan Athletic when Martínez left for Everton. [ 21 ] The team lost to Manchester United in the Community Shield. Coyle left by reciprocal agreement on 2 December 2013 after a hapless start to the season, [ 22 ] and was replaced by Uwe Rösler. On 12 December in his first match, Wigan were eliminated from the Europa League group stage after kill to Maribor. [ 23 ] On 9 March 2014 Wigan beat Manchester City in the 6th Round of the FA Cup to reach the semi-final at Wembley for the second consecutive year, where they played Arsenal, and lost 2–4 on penalties after normal fourth dimension and extra time resulted in a 1–1 tie. After finishing 5th in the Championship, Wigan lost their play-off semi-final to Queens Park Rangers. [ 24 ] Rösler was sacked in November 2014 with the cabaret in the delegating places, [ 25 ] and was replaced by Malky Mackay. Whelan resigned as president on 3 March 2015, remaining as owner but handing over the chairmanship to his grandson David Sharpe. [ 26 ] The following month, with Wigan in danger of delegating to League One, Mackay was sacked and replaced by erstwhile Wigan captain Gary Caldwell, [ 27 ] yet the team ended the season with relegation. [ 28 ] The police squad changed drastically, including the signings of Will Grigg from Brentford and Reece James from Manchester United. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] The side lost merely once in 23 matches in the second half of the season [ 31 ] and won the class, with Grigg the league ‘s top scorer with 25 goals. [ 32 ]
In October 2016, following a poor begin to the season, Caldwell was sacked as director [ 33 ] and replaced by Manchester United bus Warren Joyce. [ 34 ] Results did not improve under Joyce, who was sacked in March 2017. [ 35 ] Wigan were subsequently relegated back to League One in April and interim director Graham Barrow left, ending a 15-year affiliation with the club. [ 36 ] Paul Cook, who had just won League Two with Portsmouth, was appointed Wigan coach in June 2017. [ 37 ] Wigan competed in the 2017–18 season of League One in which they finished first resulting in promotion back to the Championship. Their promotion was sealed by a 4–0 win against Fleetwood Town. [ 38 ] In the 2017–18 season of the FA Cup, Wigan reached the quarterfinals, where they were knocked out by Southampton F.C. in a 2–0 personnel casualty. [ 39 ] notably, Wigan had beaten Manchester City in the Fifth Round Proper at home, winning 1–0 due to Will Grigg score at the 79th minute. [ 40 ] At the end of the season it was announced that the Whelan class had agreed a softwood to sell the baseball club, stadium and aim facilities to the Hong Kong-based International Entertainment Corporation ( IEC ) in a £22m bargain. [ 41 ] On 2 November 2018 IEC received stockholder approval to complete the acquisition of the football clubhouse, bringing to an end the 23 years of Whelan family ownership. [ 42 ] In a letter to the fans president David Sharpe confirmed that he along with Matthew Sharpe and non-executive conductor Garry Cook would resign from the board upon completion of the ownership passage. [ 43 ] In the 2018–19 season, Wigan finished 18th in the Championship with 52 points, well clear of the relegation zone. [ 44 ]

administration and relegation : 2020–2021 [edit ]

On 4 June 2020, IEC sold the majority of Wigan Athletic shareholdings to Hong Kong-based next Leader Fund ; the sale was formally ratified and approved by the shareholders of IEC, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the EFL. [ 45 ] On 1 July 2020, the clubhouse – standing 14th in the Championship, eight points pass of relegation, in a season delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic – announced it had gone into government as future Leader Fund had refused to invest promise money. [ 46 ] Paul Stanley, Gerald Krasner and Dean Watson from Begbies Traynor were appointed as joint administrators. [ 47 ] The insolvency left Wigan facing a 12-point subtraction ; the approve would be applied at the end of the 2019–20 season if the cabaret finished outside the bed three after 46 games. [ 47 ] On 2 July 2020, the administrators said they would investigate how the club ended up in administration less than a month after it changed owners. [ 48 ] A private conversation about Wigan ‘s situation involving EFL president Rick Parry was secretly filmed amid talk of betting on Wigan being relegated [ 49 ] – described by some as the greatest sporting scandal of advanced times. [ 50 ] Wigan MP Lisa Nandy and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham wrote a joint letter to Parry calling for an investigation into the club ‘s takeover. Players had not been paid and there was talk of clubhouse staff being made excess and of players being offered for sale, they said. [ 51 ] Wigan ‘s supporters club besides called for an investigation and for fiscal patronize from the EFL ; [ 52 ] supporters, backed by Nandy, belated launched an on-line prayer to try to trigger a parliamentary debate around the EFL ‘s owners ‘ and directors ‘ test. [ 53 ] On 4 July, Wigan, previously unbeaten in nine games, lost 3–0 at Brentford. [ 54 ] Three days belated, on 7 July 75, around half, of the club ‘s non-playing staff were made excess by the administrators, [ 55 ] and Wigan Warriors expressed pastime in buying the football cabaret [ 56 ] ( a move late supported by Wigan council ). [ 57 ] On 10 July, midfielder Jensen Weir was set to be sold to Brighton & Hove Albion for £500,000 plus add-ons to help alleviate Wigan ‘s fiscal problems ; [ 58 ] England Under-16 external midfielder Alfie Devine was former sold to Tottenham. [ 59 ] Bids were due by 21 July ; [ 60 ] on 22 July ( the day of Wigan ‘s final examination game of the season ), Krasner said administrators had received five offers and identified an nameless choose bidder ; they were seeking completion of the sale by 31 July. [ 61 ] [ 62 ] however, on 24 July, talks with the prefer bidder broke down and administrators began negotiations with other parties, [ 63 ] which continued into early August. [ 64 ] meanwhile, on 7 July 2020 the baseball club had appealed against the 12-point deduction imposed by the EFL for entering administration. [ 55 ] [ 56 ] On 14 July, Wigan recorded their biggest League victory, beating Hull City 8–0. [ 65 ] This, combined with other results, mean Wigan would not finish in the relegation places, so the 12-point deduction would be applied at the end of the current temper. [ 60 ] Wigan ‘s solicitation against the points subtraction, learn on 31 July, [ 66 ] was set to cost the club between £400,000 and £500,000. [ 62 ] Wigan drew 1–1 against Fulham in their final examination game of the temper ; the 12-point discount pushed Wigan into the bottomland three, meaning the club would play in League One if its appeal was abortive. [ 67 ] On 4 August, the cabaret ‘s delegating was confirmed [ 68 ] and, following the resignation of director Paul Cook, [ 69 ] [ 70 ] Leam Richardson was appointed caretaker coach. [ 71 ] On 17 August 2020, it was reported that Au Yeung Wai Kay, the club ‘s owner, had, on 23 June, asked Begbies Traynor about putting it into administration before completing his takeover. [ 72 ] Begbies Traynor disputed the account, produced by an freelancer commission, saying administration was one of several scenarios discussed. The commission said Kay was “ not open ” with Wigan officials about his conversation with Begbies Traynor, and subsequently gave “ either fake or wittingly mislead ” assurances about future fund. [ 72 ] The administrator was hush attempting to find a buyer ; if no agreement was reached by 31 August, Begbies Traynor said it would have to consider whether the club can be funded into the 2020–21 season, due to start on Saturday 12 September 2020. [ 73 ] On 20 August, Kay was reported to be waiving a £36m debt owed to him by the club in an attempt to expedite its sale. [ 74 ] Wigan supporters began a fund-raise effort, [ 75 ] initially raising £500,000 to help secure the club ‘s future, [ 76 ] and then raising £200,000 more. [ 77 ] Administrators had been convinced a sale would be agreed by their deadline, [ 78 ] but subsequently revised their opinion. [ 76 ]

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On 9 September 2020, with the golf club ‘s position set to be discussed at an EFL meeting, the administrators were reportedly “ softly optimistic ” about Wigan being allowed to start the EFL season despite being unowned. [ 79 ] They appointed John Sheridan as the club ‘s new coach, [ 80 ] who was in charge as Wigan lost their first League game of the temper 2–0 at Ipswich Town. [ 81 ] On 21 September, the administrators reported that bids would need to top £3m to secure the sale as the club had a “ considerable indebtedness ” to HM Revenue and Customs, owed wages to players, and besides had to pay for August ‘s unsuccessful solicitation against the points subtraction. [ 77 ]
Wigan Athletic chair Talal Al Hammad On 30 September, the administrators said they had reached an agreement with an nameless bidder from Spain to purchase the club, and were working on paperwork to gain EFL blessing. [ 82 ] In early on November, former Wigan coach Roberto Martinez was reported to assisting with the spanish bid. [ 83 ] On 13 November, after three wins in 15 Wigan games, coach Sheridan left to become Swindon Town ‘s new coach. [ 84 ] On 20 November, extra fourth dimension was granted to the prospective new owners to complete their leverage. [ 85 ] In early December, with the clubhouse bottom of League One, it emerged that a penis of the spanish consortium had a disqualify condition, so Wigan ‘s administrators had to make a fresh application to the EFL on behalf of Felipe Moreno, owner of spanish LaLiga 2 side Leganés. [ 86 ] however, on 5 January 2021, the Moreno take-over bid fell through ; administrators began talking to other bidders, [ 87 ] with, on 15 January 11 parties said to be interested in buying the club. [ 88 ] By early March 2021, the administrators were in advanced talks with a consortium, Phoenix 2021 Ltd, led by a Bahrain businessman, Talal Mubarak al-Hammad, [ 89 ] and a coup d’etat was agreed on 15 March, subject to EFL approval and finalization of paperwork. Under the proposed deal, Al-Hammad would become chair, [ 90 ] and Mal Brannigan ( previously involved with Dundalk and Dundee United ) would be foreman executive. [ 91 ] EFL approval for the coup d’etat was confirmed on 30 March 2021. [ 92 ] In May, the erstwhile administrators repaid £171,000 raised by supporters to keep the baseball club going when it first went into administration. [ 93 ] The club finished the 2020–21 season in 20th position, one indicate above the delegating places .

stadium [edit ]

Wigan Athletic ‘s stadium is the 25,138 capacity DW Stadium, part of the Robin Park building complex in Wigan. It has been the club ‘s home since the 1999–2000 season. Wigan Athletic owns the stadium, but leases the flat coat to rugby league team Wigan Warriors. [ 94 ] The stadium cost £30 million to construct. Previously, family games were played at Springfield Park, the former home of Wigan Borough, which was demolished in June 1999 ; it is nowadays the site of a house development. The record attendance at the DW Stadium ( then known as the JJB Stadium ) for Wigan Athletic is 25,133 for a game against Manchester United on 11 May 2008 – the final equal of the 2007–08 temper. The JJB Stadium was the fourth undertake at re-development/re-location for Wigan Athletic, the beginning coming in 1986 when then-chairman Bill Kenyon revealed plans for a 15,000 all-seater growth at Springfield Park including a hotel and shop facilities. The club was to play at the nearby Woodhouse Stadium ( once Wigan Municipal Stadium – now demolished ) while the build workplace took identify. In 1990, Kenyon submitted his second scheme which would cost £3m, hold 12–15,000 fans and involved moving the pitch dear to the car park. Neither efforts got past the plan stage. The following chair, Stephen Gage, spent most of 1993 and 1994 trying to relocate the Latics to the then Robin Park Stadium ( now demolished ) until his plans were scuppered by Wigan Council when the local council announced plans for their own reason involving Wigan Warriors. Gage finally admitted defeat when he sold the Latics to Dave Whelan on 27 February 1995 for around £1m. Plans for the JJB Stadium were first published in 1997. Contracts for the new stadium were signed in late 1997 and work began immediately. originally the ground was to be built for both Wigan Athletic and Orrell R.U.F.C., as grants were lone available for multi-use stadium at that clock. Wigan Warriors did not figure in the equation until Whelan bought the rugby league club some 12 months belated after protracted negotiations with the directors of the rugby league club. The advanced all-seater stadium was formally opened on 4 August 1999. Its inauguration was marked with a friendly between Wigan and neighbor Manchester United, who were then reigning european Champions, with Alex Ferguson formally opening the stadium. however, Wigan Athletic hosted Morecambe three days earlier on 1 August as a dress rehearsal for the official possibility against Manchester United. The game was played during a fierce electric storm and torrential rain, even therefore, 4,020 supporters attended and the game ended in a scoreless withdraw. The beginning competitive football match took place on 7 August 1999, with Wigan Athletic facing Scunthorpe United in a Division 2 meet. Simon Haworth scored doubly, including the first gear competitive finish at the new stadium, as Athletic won 3–0. On 7 March 2005 Greater Manchester Police announced that it would stop policing Wigan acrobatic matches at the stadium from 2 April. This move left Wigan Athletic facing the candidate of playing their home games in the Premier League in an empty stadium, so they paid the money they owed to the police. The club appealed against the payments in court and won, with the claims expected to earn the club around £37,000. [ 95 ] On 25 March 2009 it was announced that Wigan Athletic would change the name of their stadium to The DW Stadium, after chair Dave Whelan ‘s commercial venture, DW Sports Fitness. [ 96 ] For 2013–14 Europa League fixtures held at the stadium, the grind was known as The Wigan Athletic Stadium .

Supporters [edit ]

Wigan Athletic Official Supporters Club ( once known as Wigan Athletic Supporters Travel Club ) is the official supporters ‘ affiliation of Wigan Athletic Football Club. The supporters club are a non-profit organization run by volunteers and suffer before home matches in the South Stand Bar. The Latics ‘ most vocal supporters can be found in the East Stand of the DW Stadium which houses up to 8,206 fans [ 97 ] The South Stand of the ground is the syndicate stand. A long-standing song sing by fans of the club is “ You Are My Sunshine “. [ 98 ] In more late times, “ I ‘m a Believer “, [ 99 ] the Hokey cokey, “ We Built This City “ [ 100 ] and “ Gold “ are among some of the songs that have been adapted by Wigan supporters. [ 101 ] The club has one unofficial fanzine, The Mudhutter, [ 102 ] which is released between 5 and 6 times during the season. Resulting from a number of incidents at Latics matches where pot bombs were used by fans ( resulting in 17 banning orders as a resultant role of one fastness ), respective club statements were issued [ 103 ] and police presence was increased at some matches. Data from the UK Football Policing Unit found that Wigan Athletic along with Everton and Manchester United had the highest act of incidents involving pyrotechnics. [ 104 ] Wigan ‘s tax return to the Championship saw an median aside following of over 1,200. [ citation needed ] This figure did not include Europa League, Community Shield, League Cup [ 105 ] and FA Cup fixtures, [ 106 ] where on average supporters turned up in greater numbers. In 2013, the club sold out their 25,000 allotment for the FA Cup Final and sold 20,000 tickets for the FA Cup semi-final. A full of 5,500 was besides sold for the FA Community Shield in the same year. In 2014, hundreds of fans took region in a charity walk from Wigan to Bolton in care of local charity Joseph ‘s Goal. [ 107 ] Joseph was Wigan ‘s mascot in the 2013 FA Cup Final, led out by captain Emmerson Boyce. On Boxing Day, over the years many fans have chosen to attend Wigan Athletic ‘s match in fancy preen. This is particularly big with away fixtures on that day where the fans are known as the ‘Banana Army ‘. [ 108 ] however, on Boxing Day in 2014 a boycott of the club ‘s regular against Leeds United was ordered by some supporters ascribable to the ticket prices for the equal at Elland Road. Around 750 away fans attended the match. [ 109 ] During the 2014–15 season, a Fan Advisory Board ( FAB ) was set up by the club to allow supporters of Wigan Athletic to have a greater say on any issues they may have. The circuit board meets every calendar month to six weeks with the first meet having taken place in November 2014. [ 110 ]

mascot [edit ]

In August 2019, the club announced that a giant star pie, called Crusty, would serve as the team ‘s new mascot for the 2019–2020 season. Crusty The Pie was chosen following a contest in which more than 90 basal schools were invited to submit ideas, with over one-half of the entries opting for a pie. [ 111 ]

Rivalries [edit ]

Since Wigan Athletic ‘s admission to the Football League in 1978, the baseball club has built up several rivalries, chiefly with Bolton Wanderers, the club ‘s primary bowler hat peer. One competition that has arisen in holocene years has been that with Manchester City, [ 112 ] since the beginning time they met in the Second Division in 1998, the season in which City gained passage to the 1999 Division Two play-off final examination through the “ Hand of Goat ”. Wigan met City in the 2013 FA Cup Final and beat them 1–0. Since then, City have failed to beat Wigan in the contest ; losing 2–1 at the Etihad in the 2013–14 FA Cup Quarter-Final [ 113 ] and, in February 2018, losing 1–0 with third base tier Wigan beating eventual Premier League champions City with a Will Grigg goal. [ 114 ] Wigan besides have other local rivalries with Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers, [ 115 ] Oldham Athletic, [ 116 ] Blackpool and Rochdale. One of the cabaret ‘s longest and recently forgotten rivalries was with nearby Lancashire based baseball club Chorley, although the two clubs have not played a league bet on since 1971 when they were in the Northern Premier League. The final time Wigan played Chorley was in the foremost round of the FA Cup in 2020, with non-league Chorley beating an administration-stricken Wigan 3–2 after extra-time. [ 117 ]

european record [edit ]

Wigan ‘s victory in the 2013 FA Cup Final qualified them for european football for the first gear and lone fourth dimension, earning them an automatic rifle place in the group stage of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League .

Players [edit ]

First team squad [edit ]

As of 31 August 2021[118]

eminence : Flags indicate home team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

U23 team [edit ]

As of 31 August 2021[118]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

On loanword [edit ]

As of 31 August 2021[118]

eminence : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

baseball club officials [edit ]

As of 25 June 2021[119]
Directors Name
Owner Phoenix 2021 Limited
Chairman Talal Al Hammad
Chief Executive Mal Brannigan
Chief Financial Officer Richard Bramwell
Non-Executive Director Dr. Tom Markham
Non-Executive Director Oliver Gottmann
Life President Dave Whelan
Honorary President Brenda Spencer
Coaching staff Name
Manager Leam Richardson
Assistant Manager James Beattie
Assistant Manager Rob Kelly
Goalkeeping Coach Darryl Flahavan
Club Doctor Dr Jonathan Tobin
Kitman Naz Ali
Academy Manager Gregor Rioch
Under 23s Manager Frankie Bunn
Under 18s Manager Peter Murphy

celebrated former players [edit ]

actor of the Year ( 1978–2020 ) [edit ]

Managers [edit ]

As listed on the official Wigan Athletic web site. [ 121 ]

Honours [edit ]

league [edit ]

  • Football League Championship (English second tier)
  • Football League Third Division (English fourth tier)
  • Northern Premier League (English fifth tier)
Winners: 1970–71, 1974–75
Runners-up: 1968–69, 1969–70, 1977–78
  • Cheshire League
Winners: 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1964–65
  • Northern Floodlit League
Winners: 1966–67
Winners: 1947–48, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1953–54
Runners-up: 1949–50, 1959–60

cup [edit ]

Runners-up: 1972–73
Winners: 1971–72

[ 123 ]

Records [edit ]

References [edit ]