Tag Archives: wigan athletic

Attendances Looking Good

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other, Reflections and tagged with , , , , ,

Wigan-Shrewsbury-27_11_93

Just twenty years ago Wigan Athletic were in dire straits.

1993 had been a bad year for Latics, losing their place in Division 2 – the third tier of English football – after an eleven season stay. Long serving manager Bryan Hamilton had left in March, to be replaced by Dave Philpotts, but to no avail.

Now Latics were in free-fall, struggling in the drop zone of Division 3. New manager Kenny Swain was to have the unenviable task in keeping Latics in the Football League with a rock-bottom budget. The prospect was looming of a return to the realm of non-league football, which had been their home for 46 years prior to election into the Football League in 1978.

Fans breathed a sigh of relief when they eventually  finished in  19th place.  The  average attendance in that 1993-94 season was 1,897.

Twenty years on and Latics have been relegated again – this time from the first tier to the second.

But 2013 has not been such a bad year for Wigan Athletic. They won the FA Cup, they have a good chance of qualifying for the knockout stage of the Europa League and they have a squad good enough to make a fair crack at getting back into the Premier League.

After 7 home matches the average attendance for Championship matches stands at 14,986.

Wigan Athletic’s fan base has grown way beyond expectations.

Where do these fans come from?

A fascinating study by real estate company Rightmove in August 2012 revealed that Latics had the highest level of local support of any club in the Premier League. Rightmove found that 65% of Wigan Athletic’s fans live in the same post code as the DW Stadium. Norwich came a close second with 61%, Southampton next on 51%.

The study showed each of  the big four northwest clubs – the two from Manchester and the two from Liverpool –  having  a score of less than 20%. Manchester United finished bottom on 9%.

The big four from Manchester and Merseyside clearly attract a lot of support from outside their city.

For so many years the media ridiculed Wigan Athletic’s level of support. The defence was that Wigan was a small town of 81,000 people that supported both football and rugby.  The big clubs from Manchester and Liverpool drew prospective fans away, let alone the neighbours up the road in Horwich.

However, the truth is that Wigan can support the two sports.  In fact the rugby club had its largest ever average attendances during the time Latics were in the Premier League.

Getting reliable attendance data for the Warriors is not an easy matter. Wigan Athletic  publish their historical attendance data on the club website and it makes fascinating reading. The Warriors do no such thing, neither does the Super League.

2013 has been a good year for the Warriors, winning both the championship and the Challenge Cup. Sky Sports quotes their average league attendance at 13,556. Their  clash with St Helens – as almost always – drew their best of the season at 23,861.  Their lowest was 6,327 against Widnes.

Latics averaged 19,375 in the 2012-13 season.

A couple of years ago I published an article “1932 and all that  – Is Wigan a Rugby Town“. I used data from Wikipedia to compare the attendances of Latics and Warriors. The updated figures are shown in the table below.

The figures for Latics have come directly from the club’s official site. Those for the Warriors from 2006-2010 come from Wikipedia. Those for 2011 and 2012 come from the Wiganwarriorsfans.com fan site.

AVERAGE ATTENDANCES

Football season

Rugby season

Wigan Athletic

Wigan Warriors

2005-2006

2006

20,160

14,464

2006-2007

2007

18,159

16,040

2007-2008

2008

19,045

13,995

2008-2009

2009

18,350

14,080

2009-2010

2010

17,848

15,181

2010-2011

2011

16,976

16,125

2011-2012

2012

18,634

16,043

2012-2013

2013

19,375

13,556

Average

18,568

14,936

Wigan Athletic’s average attendance went up by almost ten times from 1,897  in 1993-94 to 18,568 over the eight years in the Premier League. A remarkable transformation in a space of 20 years.

Moreover the current average of around 15,000 is a good sign for a club that has been relegated, with a team that has not yet hit its best form.

Gone are the days when the media can ridicule Latics’ attendances.

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Wigan Athletic 2 Atromitos 1 – a game of two halves

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other and tagged with , ,
Leigh Sports Village

Leigh Sports Village

Wigan Athletic continued their run of pre-season victories with a win over  Atromitos at Leigh Sports Village. The Athens-based team, also competing in Europe, promised to give Wigan a  stern test and so it was to prove. Despite standing on a 2-0 lead at half time, Wigan must have been glad to hear the final whistle as the Greek team continued to press in the second half.

Wigan started the game with a patched-up defence, with midfield players Chris McCann and Jean Beausejour playing at left centre back and left full back. Adam Buxton started at right back, with James Perch in the middle. There was a packed midfield with Ben Watson anchored in front of the back four with Fraser Fyvie, Roger Espinoza and Jordi Gomez further forward. Callum McManaman and Marc-Antoine Fortune provided the threat upfront.

In an open and entertaining first half Wigan had their excellent young goalkeeper, Lee Nicholls, to thank for maintaining a clean sheet. Wigan had opened the scoring with a Gomez penalty after 6 minutes, after Fortune had been fouled. The big centre forward was to make it two in the 34th minute , when he turned and hit a rocket left foot shot into the right hand corner of the net. The Greeks had their fair share of chances, but Nicholls’ positioning and agility was to deny them.

Atromitos made a raft of changes at half time and the fresh legs of their substitutes challenged a Wigan side that had begun to look lethargic after that bright first half. The Greek team’s approach in the second half was over-physical for a friendly game, with McCarthy being the main recipient. Three yellow cards were handed out as a result, although more serious consequences would surely have resulted had this been a  match with more at stake.

Owen Coyle had tried to bring back some spark to Wigan by bringing on James McCarthy, James McArthur and Stephen Crainey after 54 minutes, but the midfield continued to be dominated by the Greek team. Bringing on two new front players – Nouha Dicko and Grant Holt – after 60 minutes also failed to wrest  the initiative from Atromitos.

Given their constant pressing, it was no surprise when Karamanous scored a well taken goal for Atromitos after 76 minutes.

In the end a tired Wigan held on to seal a 2-1 win.

The Good

Marc-Antoine Fortune is clearly enjoying playing in the lone centre forward role at Wigan. It suits him much more than the supporting striker role he has had to play at previous clubs. He is strong and has good technique, which he demonstrated through the 54 minutes he was on the pitch. Fortune is not a striker who has a good goalscoring record throughout his career, but he has scored in each of the last three games for Latics. Moreover each goal he has scored has been well taken.

It was revealing to see Lee Nicholls get the nod once more ahead of Scott Carson and Mike Pollitt in goal. Nicholls is a very accomplished young  keeper and has a bright future ahead. With Ali Al Habsi due to return in the near future, Wigan will have a surfeit of goalkeepers. There remains the possibility of Nicholls once again being sent off on loan, but the departure of Al Habsi would not be a surprise.

In the absence of experienced defenders,  James Perch once more stepped up to the plate and delivered. He has been an ever-present in the starting lineup and looks like he is going to be a real force in the centre of the defence this season.

The Bad

The starting lineup revealed the need for experienced, specialist defenders. Coyle might be able to get away with playing midfield players in defensive positions in friendly games but they are likely to get found out in the harsh reality of the Championship division.

This is surely something that Coyle is working on.

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From Wigan with Style

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Reflections and tagged with , , , , ,

coyle2

The spectacular fireworks that followed Latics 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds provided a fitting finale for the first phase of Owen Coyle’s  revolution  at Wigan. It is only around five weeks since the effervescent Scotsman took over at the club, but a lot has happened in that time.

To be honest, Coyle’s appointment to the Wigan Athletic job did not initially go down well with the majority of supporters. It seemed that Dave Whelan was doing things on the cheap, bringing in a manager whose team had got relegated from the Premier League. To make things worse he had worked with the auld enemy up the road at the Reebok Stadium.

It is remarkable what Coyle has already done in such a short space of time. He must have been working 24/7.  His dealings in the transfer market up to this point have been very astute.

Coyle paid  a reputed £700,000 to Bursaspor for an ex-England goalkeeper –  who is only 27 –  in Scott Carson.  James Perch – 26, who promises to be a key central defender – was acquired from Newcastle for only £750,000. The biggest sum went to Norwich for 32 year old  Grant Holt – £2m  – but the big centre forward has a fantastic goalscoring record throughout his career and it could prove to be money very well spent.

Coyle has also picked up a swath of good quality players on free transfers – Stephen Crainey, Thomas Rogne, Chris McCann, Marc-Antoine Fortune.

Pre-season tours don’t usually end in fireworks and in reality only one of the three teams that Latics faced was capable of challenging them. Both the Riverhounds  and the Dayton Dutch Lions play in the newly formed USL Professional Division – the third tier of American football – and the gulf between them and Latics was clear to see.

The more difficult game was at Columbus. The Columbus Crew have competed in the MLS since it started in 1996 and their Crew Stadium was the first “soccer specific” ground built by an MLS club. Crew typically average around 14,500 for MLS matches and the greater metropolitan area of Columbus has a population of over 2 million. The team are currently in midtable in the Eastern Conference of the MLS. Latics’ performance to come away with a win against a team of that level in the full swing of their season was gratifying.

There is still a long road ahead for the Coyle revolution. The trip to the USA was little more than  a training exercise, although it did provide good PR for a club that now has a global branding. Wigan had arrived in the US as not only the team that won the FA Cup, but the one that won it in style. Although playing at half pace in the three matches one could see that the general pattern of Latics’ play has stayed intact. From time to time we saw a few hoofs upfield from new additions to the squad, but by and large we saw that silky approach that was the hallmark of the Martinez era.

Coyle is wise not to make major changes to the team’s playing style at this stage. As the season progresses Coyle will adapt it, in the same way that Michael Laudrup did at Swansea last season. The Swans stuck to their fundamentals of possession football, but became more flexible and pragmatic.

The next phase of Coyle’s revolution will be to bring in more quality players to boost the defence and attack.  The sooner he can do that, the better. The newcomers will not have had the same opportunity to bond with the squad as did those who went to the USA. However, the starting lineup for that first league game at Barnsley is probably already in Coyle’s head, give or take a right back or central defender.

The video coverage of the matches in the US made good viewing. Wiganers will get the chance to see the new squad with their own eyes tomorrow night when Latics play Atromitos at Leigh Sports Village. Last year the team from Athens faced Newcastle in the Europa League, drawing 1-1 at home and losing 1-0 away. The match will help provide an indication of what to expect in the Europa League this season.

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Owen Coyle has already won over many doubters by his astute moves in the transfer market, his positive approach and his commitment to his work. He has made a really good start to his Wigan Athletic career.

Columbus Crew 1 Wigan Athletic 2 – a solid start for Coyle’s team

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Reports, Other and tagged with ,
crew

Crew Stadium

Wigan Athletic got their pre-season match preparations underway with a 2-1 win in Columbus, Ohio. Latics looked in control from the start. After a pedestrian first half in which neither side looked like scoring, Wigan were  2-0 in front when a deflected goal got the home team back in the game after  73 minutes.

Crew put forward their first choice lineup with the intention of withdrawing them after the hour mark, which they eventually did.

Wigan brought in Academy product, Adam Buxton, to make his debut at right back. Emmerson Boyce and James Perch occupied the centre of defence with Stephen Crainey on the left. Ben Watson was employed in front of the back four, James McArthur in front of Buxton on the right. Jordi Gomez and Chris McCann played in central midfield with Grant Holt as target man and Jean Beausejour wide on the left.

Roger Espinoza and James McCarthy came on after half time and after a minute a fine cross from the Honduran allowed McCarthy the luxury of a headed goal. Two more substitutes combined for Latics second goal after 63 minutes with Fraser Fyvie slipping through a fine pass which was clinically put away by Marc Antoine Fortune.

Following their goal Crew started to get back in the game and Scott Carson had to make a great save in the closing minutes to stop them scoring following a defensive error.

The Good

Wigan made good use of the ball and the midfield was in control for most of the match. It was revealing to see how the style of football resembled that of last season, give or take the occasional hoof upfield by one of the newcomers. The system had changed, with a flat back four.

In the first half they played with  a crowded midfield with only Grant Holt and Beausejour pushed forwards. But after 63 minutes it reverted to 4-3-3 with Nouha Dicko moving to the right wing with Callum McManaman on the left.

Although protected by the midfield to a large degree the centre back pairing of Boyce and Perch looked solid.

The Bad

Latics had five newcomers in their starting lineup and it is going to take time for them to gel. Grant Holt looked isolated up front and it will be a challenge for him to get used to the slower build-ups like we had in this match.

The current squad is unbalanced. There is a surplus of quality midfield players , but a dearth of defenders and forwards. Owen Coyle has done a remarkable job in the transfer market but there is still work to be done.

With Gary Caldwell and Ivan Ramis out if action for some time still, the centre of defence is in need of another experienced practioner. Although centre back is probably James Perch’s best position, Emmerson Boyce is best employed at right back, where his attacking skill can make the difference.

With the surfeit of central midfield players James McArthur was pushed to right midfield in the first half then right back in the second. Maybe his fine performance as a wing back in the FA Cup Final was a factor in Coyle playing him out of position, but McArthur is a quality central midfield player, who is likely to excel in the Championship.

Coyle has two centre forwards in Holt and Fortune, but there is a need for another wide player to compete with McManaman and Beausejour.

Player Ratings

Scott Carson: – unemployed most of the match but saved the result in the closing minutes.

Adam Buxton: – did not look out of place. A promising debut. Taken off at half time.

Emmerson Boyce: – looked comfortable throughout. A key figure in the push for promotion.

James Perch: – a very good debut, his anticipation and tackling were excellent.

Stephen Crainey: – solid and reliable.

Ben Watson: – looked good in that familiar role in front of the back four. Went off after 63 minutes.

Jordi Gomez: – put through some cultured passes. Went off after 63 minutes.

Chris McCann: – looks a cultured player, but needs time to gel with teammates.

James McArthur: – showed his versatility, but deserves a place in central midfield.

Grant Holt: – a lone figure without support. Went off at half time.

Jean Beausejour: – looked lively. Went off after 63 minutes.

Substitutes

James McCarthy: – came on after half time and scored a minute later. Destined for a big money move.

Roger Espinoza: – came on after half time. Well known in Columbus for his exploits with Ohio State University. As lively and energetic as always and put in a good cross for the first goal.

Marc Antoine Fortune: – came on after half time for Holt. Looked comfortable in the lone centre forward role and took his goal well.

Fraser Fyvie: – on after 63 minutes. Looks class.  Nice pass for second goal. Why did he not play last season?

Callum McManaman: on after 63 minutes. Let’s hope Dave Whelan’s reputed £15 million price tag on him will deter his former manager from taking him away to Everton.

Nouha Dicko: – on after 63 minutes. Looked dangerous. Will this be his season?

Shaun Maloney: – on after 75 minutes. Apparently had a slight injury that prevented him starting. Championship defences will have trouble with this fellow.

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Latics to go straight back up?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other, Specials and tagged with , ,

pound

“This year gives us our best opportunity to get back into the Premier League. Financially we have an advantage over the other clubs because it is a significant amount of money. We want to get back first time for a number of reasons. But financially it makes sense.”

Chief Executive Jonathan Jackson has got the media communicating by speaking good common sense.

He is correct. No better time to get back up than when Latics have an advantage over the majority of the teams in the division through parachute payments that are reported to be worth £16 million.

Up to this point Owen Coyle has made financially shrewd movements in the transfer market, signing seven players for no more than the price of Arouna Kone’s transfer fee to Everton. Moreover James McCarthy is 99% certain to leave and Latics will be hoping for a bidding war for a complete midfield player who will make it at the highest level. It could be good business.

The likelihood therefore is that Latics will make a healthy profit on their transfer dealings. Together with the parachute payment it should leave them in good financial shape over the next year.

Over the past eight years the revenue gained through gate money was dwarfed by the income received through television rights. The loss of that huge amount of television money from the Premier League is going to leave a hole in the finances. However, the total spent on players’ salaries will be reduced compared with last year, despite needing to have a bigger squad.

Through winning the FA Cup,  Latics qualified for the group stage of the Europa League, from which they can expect to receive well over £1 million from UEFA , even if they do not go further.

Having won the FA Cup and spent eight years in the Premier League has unquestionably changed the way outsiders look at Wigan Athletic. As we have seen over the last couple of weeks players are now much more likely to come to come to Wigan. Playing in the Europa League is going to be another giant step forward. The FA Cup success put Latics on the world map and Europa League participation is going to take things further.

Coyle’s activity in the transfer market is likely to be curtailed by the pre-season trip to the United States. Reports have suggested he has been trying to sign Ghana winger Albert Adomah from Bristol City as well as Zambian striker Jacob Mulenga from FC Utrecht. He will also be looking for players on loan, but such business is likely to be done after the big clubs make their overseas tours.

The centre of defence is an area in which Coyle is likely to seek an important new signing. Gary Caldwell and Ivan Ramis would make an excellent partnership if both were fit, but it is doubtful both will be ready for the start of the season. Thomas Rogne is promising, but short of experience. Coyle has the option of switching Emmerson Boyce to centre back, but he will almost certainly be looking for an experienced central defender to supplement what he already has.

Coyle has already put together the nucleus of a squad ready to challenge for promotion. He has done it without spending a lot of money so far. Having at least 6 games to play in the Europa League plus 46 to play in the Championship – compared with 38 in the Premier League – means that he is going to need a big squad. A few more players will be coming in before the transfer window closes.

Jonathan Jackson is right in saying that the coming season represents the best opportunity for Latics to get back into the Premier League. However, with so many new players and the Europa League on top of that, it is a tall order. Tough, but not impossible.

Whatever happens, Wigan Athletic will be in good financial shape. If they don’t make it this year there will be enough of a fiscal base to ensure that they will continue to have the advantage over most clubs in the following year.

Despite relegation, the future is looking bright for Wigan Athletic.