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History of Wigan Athletic Football Club

Wigan may have only been a football league team since the 1978-79 season but they have squeezed in their fair share of headlines, heartbreaks, and fairytale storylines.

Wigan Athletic was founded in 1932 following the folding of Wigan Borough after they pulled out of the Third Division the previous year due to not being able to fulfil their league commitments. Despite being a town primarily driven by the love of rugby, their die-hard fans refused to let the football team die, and a side was created that ran amok in non-league football winning everything in sight, as well as consistently performing giant-killing acts in the FA Cup.

Wigan beat Carlisle 6-1 in 1934-35, a record win for a non-league team playing league opposition in the FA Cup. The 1930s and 1940s were successful decades in the history of Wigan and saw the club win almost every trophy available to them, yet they always failed to gain the votes to allow them into the league.

1953 saw another superb FA Cup run, culminating in another record as their second round home victory against Hereford was watched by 27,526, a record for a game involving two non-league clubs outside of Wembley Stadium. The next round saw them hold Newcastle to 3-3 in front of 52,222 people, and they only narrowly lost the home replay 3-2.

After 34 rejections from the FA, Wigan was finally granted a place in the Football League at the expense of relegated Southport.

Things really took off for Wigan when millionaire David Whelan bought the club. Whelan, whose career was cut short after breaking his leg playing for Blackburn Rovers in the 1960 FA Cup Final, amassed his fortune by starting up a range of sports clothing stores - JJB Sports now have outlets nationwide. It was Whelan's promise to take the Latics to the Premiership.

Whelan left the club, however, and a topsy-turvy period saw eight managers at the helm in the space of six years. New manager and ex-player Paul Jewell was appointed and was given the time and money to build a team capable of getting into the English top-flight.

Wigan soon began to spend and amassed a talented squad. In 2002-03 Wigan demolished all who stood in their path, winning the Second Division title with a record 100 points, and despite being favourites to go straight back down they held their own and survived in the Championship.

The following season Wigan started the campaign with a run of 17 unbeaten matches, but Wigan's form then faltered. However, they managed to hold on to one of the automatic promotion places, sealing promotion on the final day of the season by beating Reading at home 3-1 to cue wild celebrations.

Despite being favourites to be at the foot of the Premiership table and to go straight back down, Wigan instead sprinted out of the blocks and put together some impressive early season form which looks to have secured their position in the Premiership for another season.

Wigan Athletic – Trophies and Honours

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