Wigan Athletic is a Football Club based in the North West of England and they are the current F.A. Cup holders. They are a family run Club with Wigan born owner David Whelan having overseen, and funded their rise from the lower leagues up to their Premier League participation and last season’s F.A. Cup victory. Wigan Athletic tickets for the 2013/14 season are available now.

Current

Wigan Athletic had a mixed season last year, as they captured their first ever trophy with their brilliant F.A. Cup success against huge favourites Manchester City at Wembley, but this was followed by their relegation from the Premier League less than a week later.

Manager Roberto Martinez subsequently left for Everton at the end of the season, and former Burnley boss Owen Coyle has now taken over as Wigan Athletic manager. The new man at the helm has already made numerous changes to the squad in order to give the Club the best possible chance of bouncing straight back to the Premier League next year.

Norwich City striker Grant Holt is the pick of the new Wigan Athletic signings, as his goals have kept Norwich City in the Premier League over the past two seasons, so it is a coup that he has decided to drop down a division in order to play for the Latics.

Other new recruits for Wigan Athletic are former England goalkeeper Scott Carson, previous West Bromwich Albion striker Marc-Antoine Fortune and former Newcastle defender James Perch. The new arrivals will complement the current players such as Shaun Maloney, Gary Caldwell and James McArthur, so this season’s playing list looks strong for Owen Coyle and Wigan Athletic.

As is always the case with relegated clubs, Wigan Athletic have lost some players in the transfer market, striker Arouna Kone and defender Antolin Alcaraz have both joined former boss Roberto Martinez at Everton.

One positive in the coming season is that Wigan Athletic will be competing in the Europa League as well as their league commitments so this is an added attraction for players and fans alike at the Club this year.

No shows booked at the moment.

Rivals

The main rivals to Wigan Athletic will be fellow relegated Clubs Reading and Queens Park Rangers, who like Wigan Athletic, have made changes to their squad in order to contend for promotion back to the Premier League. Other Clubs who could rival Wigan Athletic are fellow North West team Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City, whilst others such as Leeds United and Watford will also hope to be around the top of the Championship. Get your Wigan Athletic tickets now especially for some of the top games of the 2013/14 season.

Stadium

Wigan Athletic play their home games at the D.W. Stadium which was named after their benefactor and owner David Whelan. It was built in 1999 and currently has a capacity of 25,168 which Wigan Athletic share with the Town’s Rugby League side Wigan Warriors. Wigan Athletic tickets can be bought at the box office at the stadium or on GigaSport.

Wigan Athletic – 2012/13

Last season, Wigan Athletic finished 15th place, avoiding the relegation zone by just 7 points. They won 11 games, with nearly half of them victories coming in the last 5 games of the season, they drew 10 games and lost 17, scoring 42 goals and conceding 62 on the way. Many people had tipped Wigan to go down but as the season drew to a close, Wigan started to play free flowing football that saw them win 6 out of their last 8 games, including victories against Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle. During the summer there have been several comings and goings of players, most notable Victor Moses being sold to European Champions Chelsea for £9m. Martinez has also brought in players such as A.Kone from Levante, J.Beausejour from Birmingham and Ramis from Mallorca. The performances at the end of last season gave many Latics fans hope for the current season as they saw a different Wigan, playing a different style of football. This season, after 8 games, Wigan is 16th with just 5 points out of a possible 24. My prediction is that they will continue to flirt with the relegation zone like they seem to do every year, but with a manager like Robert Martinez, I don’t think they will go down this year and will most likely finish around the 15th place mark again.

History

Wigan Athletic were formed in 1932 following the demise of Wigan Borough, the Borough were forced to resign from the Third Division North of the Football League in 1931, when the directors expressed their inability to meet their present and future commitments to the club. A committee was elected and a new club was formed to be called Wigan Athletic. Wigan Athlics played their home games at Springfield Park. The 1953/54 season will be remembered as one of the most remarkable in the clubs history as they retained the championship (their third in four years), winning the Lancashire Junior Cup and completing a unique treble by lifting the Lancashire Combination Cup. In the 1960’s, the Latics rejoined the Cheshire League and then went on to join the Northern Premier League in 1968 and became one of the founder members.

They finished 2nd in this league in the 1977/78 season and due to the winners Boston not having the required ground and facilities, Wigan were put forward for election to the Football League and it was granted. In the Football League, Wigan played in the third division where their league positions fluctuated throughout the years with their highest finish being 4th. In the 1992/93 season, at the same time the Premier League was being formed, Wigan finished 23rd and they were relegated for the first and only time in the club’s League history. In 1995, local millionaire Dave Whelan purchased the club and set out his ambition to reach the Premier League, a statement which was widely ridiculed at the time. At the end of his first season as Chairman, Wigan finished 14th in the old Third Division, 84th out of the 92 league clubs. Over the next 10 years, Wigan began to climb up the Football League ladder, and after several play-off heartbreaks along the way, in the 2004/05 season, Wigan gained promotion to the top division of English football for the first time in their 73 year history. Wigan continues to battle year in year out to retain their Premier League status since their promotion.