I was going to start this thread by musing about how well our young squad would bounce back after last weekend’s disappointing home defeat to 2nd placed Bradford, a result that saw us relinquish top spot and lose our air of invincibility that we were beginning to build up, having not tasted defeat all season. It seems though that my worries on that score were needless as Tuesday saw us right back at it again (albeit against a 2nd string but still strong Burnley side), looking exactly how we’ve come to expect and putting on an impressive display (1st 45 minutes especially) in seeing off supposedly superior opposition. This weekend’s game however represents a very different challenge and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The team face a tough game up in Lancashire as we travel to The Brick Community Stadium the home of Wigan Athletic. Who Are You? Wigan Athletic are one of the ‘youngsters’ when it comes to our peers in the league. Founded in 1932, Wigan competed in the Cheshire County League for the first nine seasons of the club's existence, winning three league titles before being placed in the Lancashire Combination in 1947. They then spent another 14 years in the Lancashire Combination and secured four league titles during this time. They were invited to become a founder member of the Northern Premier League in 1968, after which the club won two league titles and also reached the FA Trophy final in 1973. Wigan were then elected to the Football League in 197.8 In February 1995, local millionaire and owner of JJB Sports, Dave Whelan purchased the club, a move which proved to radically change the fortunes of the club, as in 2005 Wigan Athletic clinched promotion to the top division for the first time in their 73-year history. Sadly for Wigan, their stay in the Premier League ended in 2013, however the disappointment of relegation was offset by a spectacular (and shock) victory in the FA Cup Final that season when they defeated man City 1-0 at Wembley to win their first major trophy and secure a place in Europe. Not long afterwards, Dave Whelan relinquished his Chairmanship and later, ownership, and since that point it has been a topsy turvey time for the Latics in terms of league football, with this being their 3rd consecutive year in League 1. Current gaffer Ryan Lowe (formerly of Plymouth & Preston fame) has been in post since March 2025 and has a win ratio of just over 30% from his 27 games in charge having guided the Latics to a mediocre 15th place finish last season. Their squad contains one or two names that most of us will recognise, most notable of which is probably Paul Mullin who after many North Walians were gnashing at the bit to try and get him called up for Wales has been deemed surplus to requirements at Wrexham and farmed out on loan to Wigan. To be fair to Mullin, he is their current joint top scorer with 3 goals in his 9 appearances (only 4 starts though). He is joined on 3 goals by Scot Fraser Murray, a summer signing from Kilmarnock for whom he manages just 7 goals in 101 games. Current JB and son of Steve Cooper, Ollie Cooper is likewise on loan at the pie eaters (probably enjoying the change from dead rats) but has only made 2 appearances thus far in the league. Zeze Steven Sessegnon (twin brother of Ryan) also lines up for the Latics. He has the distinction of being their only red card recipient so far this term. Ollie Cooper meets up with Zan Vipotnik for a quick meal in between matches First And Last Our first ever encounter with this weekends opponents was back in September 1982 in a match that saw the City run out 3-2 winners in front of 3,850 hardy souls at Ninian Park in a 3rd Division (League 1) game. Scorers for the Bluebirds that day were John Lewis, Gary Bennett & Billy Woof (who bagged our 86th minute winner on his debut after signing from Blyth Spartans). Of course, the 82-83 season was one that saw the Bluebirds promoted back to the 2nd Division (Championship) with the team finishing 2nd behind Portsmouth. Woof himself must go down in our history as a bit of an enigma as it seems he had a bust up with then manager Jimmy Andrews just a few days after the Wigan game and promptly left. Never playing for the club again. Still, at least he can claim he scored in every game he played for us! Billy Woof - a man like a dog with a bone when it came to giving up arguments with managers! Last time out saw the Bluebirds play out a 1-1 draw at the CCS in a Championship match played in front of a crowd of just over 18k back in January 2023. The Bluebirds went ahead with just nine minutes remaining after Callum O'Dowda fired through a crowded penalty area, but Wigan rescued a point when Keane finished from close-range to earn the Latics a point in the 96th minute. That draw saw us go nine games without a win and ultimately cost Mark Hudson his job as manager. Wigan suffered relegation in that same season. Form Wigan’s form has been erratic to say the least, picking up 6 points over the last 6 games but with just 1 win in that sequence (3-0 at home to Doncaster). It should however be noted that they have yet to lose on their own patch in the league, having picked up 3 wins and 1 draw in the 4 played on home soil. They also have the 7th best attack in the division at this point, scoring 14 goals in their 9 games, 1 more than we ourselves have managed in our 8 matches. Goals against however is a different story, with them having the 5th worst defence overall, conceding 13 goals in total, leaving with a mere +1 goal difference at this stage. Looking at just their home record it becomes clear that they will be a tough nut to crack at the ‘Brick’ with them having the 3rd best defensive record conceding just twice in those 4 home games. One slight bright spot for the Bluebirds was that the Latics actually crashed out of the league cup themselves this week, suffering a 2-0 home defeat to fellow divisional rivals Wycombe. On The Pitch Following our midweek cup heroics, knocking out Premier League Burnley on our relentless march to Wembley, we do have a few injury doubts remaining in the squad. Dylan Lawlor is back in training having been carrying a knock since the Exeter Vertu Cup game but remains a serious doubt for this one, with Tuesday’s re-arranged Burton game a more realistic aim. Alex Robertson is in full contention but will likely only make the bench if involved having seen gaffer BBM make mention of his levels of intensity. With Calum Chambers having his best game in a long time on Tuesday, and Gabe Osho giving away a careless penalty against Bradford last weekend, could we see the Chambers/Fish partnership continue I wonder? Staying with the back-line, there was good news on Ronan Kpakio’s heel injury, with it not being as bad as feared, but again he is likely to miss out with Ng continuing to deputise for the youngster. Callum Robinson will be desperate to get a start having notched 3 goals in 3 games but one suspects that Salech will retain his starting spot in order to provide a more physical presence away from home. Predicted Starting 11 Trott Bagan Fish Chambers Ng Wintle Turnbull Colwill (R) Ashford Davies Salech The Odds I’m not sure that my brain is working fully but I think this still makes us very slight favourites, despite Wigan’s fine home form and our recent setback? C’mon The City!!!!
Remember that mid September game in 1982 well with that late winner by Billy Woof - it was a very successful season under Len Ashurst. What was bizarre was our start that season: losing at home to Wrexham then winning 4-0 away at Millwall then losing 4-0 at Orient before the Wigan win.
That was a good 2 or 3 years before I started going down as a youngster.... Used to wait with a couple of mates by the Bob Bank gates at the Canton end until after half time when they opened up the gates and you could walk in for nothing.
