Wigan Athletic Women vs. Blackburn Eagles

I’m at the Brick Community Stadium today – no, it’s not a new groundhop, quite the opposite in fact! Previously known as the JJB Stadium and DW Stadium, I’ve already seen countless matches here in Wigan but today is an historic occasion in this, the 25^th anniversary of its opening – it’s the first home game for Wigan Athletic’s new women’s team as they host Blackburn Eagles in the ‘Championship’ division of the Lancashire Women’s County League!

This new women’s section of Wigan Athletic is the first in-house women’s football team, part of owner, Mike Danson’s, remit to ‘be a driver of positive change in the town and community’ when he purchased the club last year. Managed by 2013 FA Cup-winning captain Emmerson Boyce, ‘the Lady Tics’ (can’t see that being adopted as an official nickname, but let’s just run with it for now!) opened with a 2-0 win at Haslingden last week and followed it up with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Euxton on Tuesday. Promotion is the evident aim – and with a crowd of over a thousand expected here today, can they continue their form and impress as many supporters as possible, inspiring them to join their journey?

I had to word that introduction carefully, as technically speaking, Wigan Athletic have been represented by another women’s club since 1999 – Latics effectively lending them their name. As I understand it, the other club had two meetings with Wigan Athletic last year after which it was decided that they wouldn’t be incorporated and therefore would have to change their identity. While they’ve since changed their club crest, they’re still going by the ‘Wigan Athletic Ladies’ name – and what’s more, they currently play in the North West Regional League, two tiers above the new team. It's all very confusing.

It's regrettable that an agreement couldn’t have been made between the two clubs – I followed the other Wigan Athletic in the Women’s FA Cup last season (for which, I’ve written a series of blogs – feel free to check it out!), and they’ve built a great club with various youth sections and an exciting first team who swept all before them last season as they won the Lancashire County League Premier Division and reached the first round of the cup (this despite all the players being Under-17's). I can only assume Wigan Athletic (official) wanted to start from scratch, building their own club, rather than having to spend time and money in negotiating whatever legalities will be involved in incorporating an existing club. They've been placed in the seventh tier of the women's football pyarmid and tt the moment, they’ve got a first team and nothing else – but with a Category 2 EPPP set-up at the club, there’s scope to build their own girl’s youth sections rather quickly.

The ambition is to push this team towards the WSL – with Wigan also able to take advantage of the huge population centres nearby, the club can offer local women and girls opportunities to play football and develop in a great environment. A key part of this plan will be their home ground/training centre at Edge Hall Road. The former home of Orrell RU and Wigan Warriors development squad, the 3,000-capacity ground is currently being refurbished to be ‘a hub for women’s sport in the borough’. When it does open (hopefully soon!), that WILL be a new groundhop for me to cover!

It's great to see Boycey back at the club in a key coaching role – not just because of his legend status, but also because he’s got a genuine pedigree in developing women’s football. Previously, he coached the Barbados women’s team and later became technical director of the country’s FA, bringing all his experience to the table to develop the Caribbean nation's youth teams (imagine leaving Barbados for Wigan though???) He’s the perfect appointment, really – a well-loved club figure adds a degree of ‘legitimacy’ to the women’s club project in the eyes of supporters, so they’re on board right away. Him being experienced in the women’s game and team development is crucial, however – his expertise stands the team in the best stead to hit the ground running. He’s been surrounded by several coaches with experience in local women’s football too, so all the pieces are in place for the new club to grow and develop throughout the next couple of years.

What gives me further confidence in the club is their approach from the outset. The players they’ve recruited aren’t professionals, but they’re being treated as such. Introduced before and during half-time of a recent men’s home match, they’ve been heavily promoted on social media – even going as far as giving them squad numbers and names on the back of the shirts. This isn’t a done thing at this level, what with the costs involved – it can be easy to forget that the vast majority of women’s leagues are essentially made up of amateur clubs. What this does, is give players a sense of ‘ownership’ over their shirt – pride that instils that professional approach, driving them on to improve even further.

Entry is free, but to gauge the numbers, the club required people to pre-book tickets, with the period to do so ending on Friday evening. Despite heavily promoting the fixture on social media during the week, I’ve seen people complain on the same platforms that they ‘didn’t know’ the game was taking place. Which I find incredible, to be honest – they’re certainly quick to make negative comments after a post about the men’s team! However, it did leave me wondering how many people would have been here today if they were able to just walk up? Obviously, the club have to be aware of how many people are expected to put sufficient staff in place, but how is this going to translate to Edge Hall Road when they play there? I’m not expecting an average of 1,000+ to turn up at each game in Orrell, but I can see anywhere from 200-500 being present on average, especially considering the novelty appeal of the new ground. With very limited access (the ground is tucked in behind houses), how can they prepare for this, even with advanced online ticketing? There’s even a queue at the turnstile here, as people struggle with their QR codes – I don’t think this is realistic to roll out at the new ground.

Once I do get in, I get a prime seat bang in the centre of the West Stand – a very rare experience. One thing that’s immediately obvious is that the club have placed a lot of emphasis on creating a family atmosphere that’s so prevalent in women’s football. They’ve hit the ground running, putting on various activities inside the stand and just generally creating a relaxing, non-threatening atmosphere. And Crusty The Pie, Wigan’s erstwhile mascot, is in his absolute element too, dancing along to pre-match music, without the worries of being verbally abused by opposition supporters. Saying that, Crusty has just returned from the ‘Mascot Derby’, for which he trained extensively, so with him being quite hench, you won’t catch me calling him anything but a fine, upstanding, young gentleman. And hot and tasty (he is a pie, after all).

Why was Crusty The Pie in JD Gyms, Wigan? 🤔@JDGyms | @LaticsOfficial#wafc 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/SyK3L9R9zh

— JuniorLatics (@JuniorLatics) August 19, 2024

Another nice touch for this historic occasion is having the players enter the pitch with family members. With their names on their backs, family members by their side, a large crowd applauding them on in a professional stadium and one giant pie dancing around, they must feel ten feet tall. The positive feelings take just a couple of minutes to take effect as Ellie Cleary scores the first home goal for Wigan Athletic Women – volleying in a cross from inside the area. That’s her fourth goal in three games – all the more remarkable, considering she was signed on the eve of the opening game last week!

Blackburn Eagles – it must be stressed, an independent community club from the hometown of Rovers – take just four minutes to find an equaliser. A free-kick is played into the Wigan penalty area, the ball is bundled towards goal, which Wigan keeper, Amelia Knowles, saves – but the rebound is put in. We have no idea who scored, nor who is on the Blackburn team – I suspect no teamsheet has been handed to the PA announcer. This is another reminder of the level we’re at here – half of these teams play on 3G pitches in sports centres, so why would they make copies of teamsheets? This goes to show the growth that’s needed in the women’s game.

The match is very competitive for the first half-hour – Wigan shading it with their tidy, short passing, whereas Blackburn favour the more physical stuff. The pressure tells soon enough though, as Cleary adds another – latching onto a ball into the area, she’s challenged by the keeper and slips over, but still manages to put the ball in while on the ground! Cleary has been somewhat of a find; a forward that likes to cut inside, she’s been a constant menace to the Blackburn backline, pressing and harrying them. Not long after her second, she completes her hat-trick – threatening to get behind the defence several times already, with the offside flag or last-ditch block preventing them, Wigan slip a pass through and Cleary runs on it, proceeding to round the keeper and put the ball into an empty net.

The supporters have naturally been enjoying themselves – but so have the players. Each goal has seen them all (bar the goalkeeper) run to Cleary to celebrate. Some of them have run 60 or 70 yards to do so – I hope they don’t knacker themselves out! Boycey must be going spare! Maybe they have tired themselves out, because for some reason, Wigan decide to make two substitutions at the 40-minute mark and then another a couple of minutes later. All the players seem uninjured – couldn’t they have waited until half-time? How bizarre.

The first half was very enjoyable (several goals for your side does tend to have that effect!) But the crowd have been good too, being animated in all the right places and shouting at the ref. Some chap even attempted to start a ‘Cleary’s on Fire’ chant, which raised some nervous giggles. The play is somewhat slower than what most here will be used to, but there’s also been plenty of action which most here will not be used to either! People always make the mistake of thinking slower play means ‘less entertaining’, but it’s been anything but. It’s absolutely pissing it down too, which isn’t helping!

I can only assume Boycey wants to see all of his players in action, as he makes another sub at half-time – replacing goalkeeper Knowles with Faye Mossley. The mystery of these early subs is made clear to me during the second half – it turns out they use rolling subs at this level, presumably to safeguard the fitness of players. Considering this is effectively amateur football (and many of these players are teenagers), expecting them to play at the same intensity for 90+ minutes is unrealistic. I think the rolling subs keep the players fresh and as such, keep the game fresh too – so it’s a better watch for the supporters also!

The second half has been competitive – in the sense that Wigan have dominated, while Blackburn have defended well, without creating anything. Just as it seemed we were going to end the match without a goal, Wigan win a free-kick just outside the penalty area, left-of-centre. Midfielder, Molly Hassall steps up – and smashes the ball into the top corner! It was a great shot; one of those hits that you know is going in as soon as it’s struck. Late on, Wigan had another chance, but it hit the post and bounced agonisingly away from several onrushing attackers.

It finishes 4-1 and the players celebrate and take some well-deserved adulation from the crowd. I feel like there's a lot more to come from this Wigan team – considering they were only put together a matter of weeks ago, it’s still very early to gauge what their potential is, but they’ve certainly started in the right manner by playing crowd-pleasing short-passing, attacking football. Although I’m looking forward to experiencing what Edge Hall Road has to offer, I do hope they host more games at The Brick throughout the season – over one-and-a-thousand were here today and as the team develops and hopefully puts together a successful league campaign, I’d imagine that number could easily be doubled next time. Well, if some people would read their social media feeds properly, anyway!

Wigan Athletic Women 4

Blackburn Eagles 1

Attendance: 1,541

If you’re interested in reading more about women’s football, I have a book out in November! In an attempt to evaluate the standing of women’s football at all levels in the current climate, I followed the winning club through each round of the 2023/24 FA Cup – starting with the ‘other’ Wigan Athletic Ladies – all the way to the final at Wembley, chronicling my experiences along the way. Stay tuned to this blog for more information on the release date – or follow me on X at pints_pies!

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92 Lego Football Grounds: An Interview With The Master Builder

Creating models seems to be a rite of passage for many us – Lego bricks being a particularly favourite building material. Whilst there are a plentiful supply of old and new sets that can be purchased to build a pre-defined model, the true creativity of Lego is the way in which something completely new can be created from a bucket of bricks. For us football lovers, the stadium of our team would be one of the first things we aim to build – but imagine being creative, patient and skilful enough to build the grounds of every team?

In the latest Q&A with a creative football fan, I chatted to Jules, a Cardiff City supporter who decided to build the 92 grounds of the English (and Welsh!) professional clubs in Lego, completely from scratch. Armed with a bucket of bricks and his own wits, the detail in these models is quite something and he’s rightly been lauded for his efforts. After building his models, he sells them to supporters of the clubs – ensuring they go to a good home and not back in the brick box!

I asked Jules about his process, his favourite models, the positive effects of Lego building and whether he takes precautions against brick-related injuries… 

Hi Jules, let’s start with the obvious question – what inspired you to build the 92 stadiums out of Lego? 

I saw some people’s attempts at Lego grounds and thought I'd have a go. I built Cardiff City Stadium and when a friend said "you should do them all" after building about 6 different grounds (Hillsborough, Carrow Road and Wigan were a few of them), I thought he was mad but I started to order more Lego and it just took off from that point. 

Lego obviously has a presence in many a person’s childhood. In the last few decades more people seem to be carrying the hobby into adulthood – is this the case for you? 

Yeah I think so. I played with Lego as a boy and never lost interest in it. But for many years didn’t go near it as in my eyes it was too expensive.  A lot of Lego I started using was up in the loft and gathering dust so at least it came into use. 

How important can Lego be in providing that literal building block between different generations, say between a parent (who has those fond memories of building their sets) and their own child? 

I think that's really important and if parents share what they used and played with when younger it's great then for that child to see that. By using the same toy, they can produce anything and build things they see now compared to what their parents may of seen and have been used to. A car back in the day is very different to one now, for example. 

I’ve read about how ‘brick therapy’ is used as a thinking, social and calming activity for children (specifically for those who have developmental disorders). Even as an adult, do you find building Lego models to be therapeutic? 

Absolutely! I was building pretty much most evenings when not at work or on my days off and I said to many people it was very therapeutic (although it could be stressful at times!) Lots of people have many hobbies and this was my only one, and it was rewarding when seeing some pictures & comments of how happy people were with their builds. But yes, very therapeutic and a calming way to relax after a stressful day at work.

How do you plan each model? Do you just look at pictures and play around with the bricks, or do you make use of tech to colour-in and map out where you place each brick? 

I have never used any of the technology, I have seen others use it to plan builds. Literally Google Street View, Google aerial shots and any pictures I could look at. When I did a Turf Moor for someone he sent me pictures of the whole perimeter of the ground through the post. But yeah study the ground, inside and out of it. Looking for detail around the ground like programme outlets, or statues etc. Write down roughly what bricks and pieces I need and then order what I need.  

Which Lego stadium (aside from Cardiff’s!) are you most proud of, and why? 

Yeah the Cardiff City one as you say is my fave and not my first attempt cos the most recent one I did was much better. Either Ninian Park which obviously is Cardiff's old home but as a ballboy there for 7 seasons it brings back great memories. Apart from those I would say Burnley which I enjoyed doing because the detail of the ground, in particular the back of the stadium, I didn't think would be possible. Also Molineux I would say which again is a quirky ground in places  but again thankfully I was able to replicate it well and I would say I'm most proud of those two particular builds.  Nottingham Forest also was a personal fave.

  

Which of the stadiums were the most straightforward and the most difficult to build? 

Most straightforward one I would say was AFC Wimbledon. The toughest I would say was Huddersfield’s John Smith Stadium, Molineux, Upton Park & Chelsea. Huddersfield has curved roofs like Fleetwood and Brighton but that was deffo one of the toughest parts of that Huddersfield build. Chelsea was the 3-tier stand and the surrounding hotels and exterior was also tough. 

What’s your favourite (official) Lego set to build? 

You may be surprised but I have never built a big Lego set. Had a few in the past but smaller ones. I would say, although I've never built them, Big Ben and Houses of Parliament would be good ones. 

Gluing the bricks together to maintain a model’s structure – good idea or sacrilege? 

I would say sacrilege. I never glued any of my builds as I was never able to source the glue. Normal glue would ruin the bricks, which made it tricky in terms of sending them, so I never did. I've always drove them to people or met up. The first model I did for someone [was sent to them] and obviously it fell apart. But I drove to his and fixed it in a few hours.  

And finally, how many Lego bricks have you stepped on over the years? 

A few! Thankfully not as many as I have laminate floor so could hear them fall. I did sit on a mini build I did for someone once forgetting it was on the chair! 

Thanks to Jules for answering my questions and for providing these excellent photos. You can follow his progress on Twitter @CCFC_jules

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Cardboard Fans Are Human Fans

In my previous post, talking about ‘the new normal’ watching football, I commented on how clubs
were introducing cardboard cutouts to give supporters a presence at the games they cannot go to. Being a dedicated guardian of everything that’s cool and trendy in football (?), and somewhat of a Grumpy Gus, I immediately dismissed this as ‘a bit ridiculous on the face of it’ – it just seemed to be a quirky way for clubs to earn some extra coin by doing something that was fundamentally pointless. Oh, how wrong I was.

Aside from the cardboard representations of the supporters who couldn’t be there, there were also celebrities and other, shall we say, ‘controversial’ figures taking up seats in empty stadiums. It was mostly seen as a bit of fun for people – the opportunity to have themselves (or their favourite people) at the ground in cardboard form was a novelty, something to ‘banter’ about if you will. Then, there was a story at my own club, Wigan Athletic which made me completely rethink my take on them – why they’re important.

Five years ago, Latics supporter Christine Lamb lost her five-month-old baby, Jack, to sudden infant death syndrome. Like Christine, Jack’s father, Stephen, is a Latics fan – in fact, they both met during Wigan’s run to lifting the FA Cup in 2013 – so it was inevitable that Jack would have grown up to be a fan too. In tribute, Christine (after a suggestion from her children) decided to get a cutout made of Jack so he could ‘attend his first game’. Not there in person, but in spirit at least – just like all the other supporters who couldn’t attend owing to the lockdown.

When I saw this story, it all suddenly made sense – the poetry of it is quite beautiful, in fact. They are ostensibly cardboard cutouts, inanimate objects that have taken a minute to create, but the feelings and memories they convey to those who know them make them real. All of a sudden, these ‘cardboard fans’ were ‘human fans’ – and their presence provided people with an opportunity to pay their respects to loved ones; telling their stories to people who didn’t get to know them.  Is anyone really gone if we remember them and pass their stories on? No, of course not – they live on in our hearts (and for special occasions like these, as cardboard cutouts).

After learning about Jack, Wigan Athletic refunded the money, but in a typical example of the tight community the club has come to represent, Christine immediately donated her refund to the club’s Community Trust; a charity that undertakes a wide range of activities for the betterment of the lives of local people (they’ve especially been busy in the last three months of this Coronavirus pandemic, checking in on vulnerable people and helping to deliver supplies).

My boys 1st game at @LaticsOfficial he passed away before he was 5 months I had paid for the cutout as it seemed fitting, wigan athletic refunded the money, lovely gesture iv donated it to the @LaticsCommunity Trust in Jack's memory.. I know every player will do my boy proud 💙 pic.twitter.com/wfv7lVgvkg

— Christine (@Christi71740851) June 27, 2020

I couldn’t help but feel inspired by the community spirit that has been shown by the club and its supporters during the last few months – things like producing cardboard cutouts, donating to charity and giving someone a ring to see how they’re doing may seem like small gestures, but small gestures can make a huge difference to a person’s outlook on life. As a big focal point in our communities, football clubs are in a great position to inspire us, that we’re all part of something – and what are our football clubs if they don’t represent us? What’s to left to support?

When we’re able to get back to normal, Christine hopes to embark on the annual Latics fans walk to raise money for Joseph’s Goal (a charity which I’ve covered in my report of the Wigan Athletic charity game at Ashton Town). It was supposed to be a three-day excursion to Barnsley this year, but it obviously got postponed – but whenever the next one is, Christine will attend with her son.  So if you would like to support her efforts, please consider donating to her fundraising page.

Cardboard fans are great – although, I’m not sure I’ll change my mind about the artificial crowd noise; let us hear the players swear and curse as nature has intended!

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Wigan Athletic U18 vs. Tottenham Hotspur U18

Happy New Year! As we’re now in the future (‘2020’ sounds somewhat Science Fictiony to me), I thought it would be a good idea to look towards the next decade and see what kind of players our teams are producing. Fortunately for me, Wigan Athletic U18’s have made it to the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup and tonight, they face a stern test against Tottenham Hotspur U18’s.

Despite our current struggles in The Championship, there’s much hope that we’re about to establish a fruitful production line of players at the club – already this season, 17-year-old forward Joe Gelhardt has made several appearances from the bench, most notably scoring the equaliser at Hull in a 2-2 draw. Whilst he isn’t the tallest, he has a great low-centre-of gravity and natural strength; his floating around the forward line and general bullishness has even seen him being compared to Wayne Rooney.

At the start of the season, Latics were given ‘Category 2’ status under the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP). This enabled the youth team to join the Professional Development League (the second tier of U18 football, basically), playing matches against clubs from around the country rather than just the North West. At the time of writing, Latics’ U18’s sit top of their group, 8 points clear of second – so the hope that we can produce players for the first-team is understandably high right now.

Speaking about the club’s progression to Cat 2, this was only made possible thanks to plans to develop a dedicated indoor facility for the Academy – Stadium Way, created inside a former Powerleague centre – opened yesterday. Containing a full-size pitch, gym, several outdoor pitches, office space, classrooms and amenities for parents and families, the facility will be given over for community use at various times in the year too.

My one major criticism of the club during our time in the Premier League was that we did not invest sufficiently into the infrastructure with the television riches we received – the old training ground (now being the main base for the academy) was upgraded in increments, whilst we didn’t really have much of an academy set-up. I felt we missed out on a source of talent during those years – instead of taking a risk and paying out (often over-the-odds) for foreign or lower league players, we could have dipped into the youth set-up for squad depth. These players would be used to the club, played in positions and roles that would have suited the style of play – Callum McManaman (man-of-the-match in the 2013 FA Cup Final) being a rare example of a youth player coming through our system during those years.

All that’s in the past though and now, as Wigan is located in a favourable position in the North West, there’s optimism that we can attract the best youngsters around, especially now that we've got these facilities (for one, they’ll have far more chance of playing in the first team here than for Liverpool and Manchester United, for example). Even if the worst comes to the worst and we get relegated to League One (yet again) at the end of the season, the infrastructure will still be there to support the first team squad, meaning that the club has players to come into the team as they sell others off. Every club should be striving to have such facilities, one day, I hope everyone will.

My interest in youth development (at least at the professional level) was peaked as I attended an England U18 international at the then-named JJB Stadium in 2000 as they took on France. I’ve posted the back of the programme below for you to have a look at (see how many players – as well as a glaring error with one of the sides – you can recognise), but my abiding memory was of a French team that toyed with England for most of the game, eventually winning 3-0 – all the goals scored by Djibril Cisse. He looked simply unplayable – quick and strong, he helped himself to his goals in the style of a seasoned professional and he seemed destined to play at the very top levels of the game.

 

(click to enlarge)

Since then, I followed Cisse’ progress – I got really excited when he signed for Liverpool in 2004, acting like an expert because I ‘discovered’ him. Sadly, I think injury probably put paid to what would have been a great top-level career for him but despite that, he didn’t do too badly (winning the FA Cup, Champions League and Super Cup with The Reds, as well as becoming the Lord of the Manor of Frodsham). Big up to Jermaine Defoe who is one of very few players in those squad lists that is still active as a professional today (although, they’re now all aged 37/38, to be fair!)

Aside from Gelhardt, another one of our England U18 internationals is Jensen Weir. A central midfielder, Weir is the son of former Rangers and Everton centre-back, David (no doubt irking his dad by switching from Scotland’s U17’s last season!) – and as I arrive at the stadium and grab a teamsheet, I see he’s in the team for tonight. Gelhardt is also starting, having been drafted in from the first team, with our other youth internationals – MacKenzie O’Neil (Northern Ireland), Kyle Joseph and Luke Robinson (Scotland) also in the team for today. We even have another ex-footballer’s son, James Carragher – offspring of Liverpool legend, Jamie – playing at the back too.

This fourth round tie is a huge test for these players, however; Spurs (a Category 1 club – they must have an indoor training centre in space or something) are 2^nd in the U18 Premier League and beat lastyear’s FA Youth Cup winners, Liverpool, in the last round of this competition. Incidentally, our U18’s went out last season’s competition with a defeat to Liverpool – however, after winning 12 games on the bounce at a higher level this season, I’ve detected a quiet confidence from the comments by the staff that we’ll give them a game.

And we certainly did – right from the kick-off, Latics were direct and aggressive in their pressing, dominating the ball in the opening 15 minutes, deservedly going ahead through a Weir free-kick. Having scored one in the 8-1 victory over Croydon in the last round, he’s marked himself as a bit of a specialist to this novice youth team watcher. There was a bit of fortune to the goal, though – the ‘foul’ for the free-kick looked like a good tackle from the Tottenham lad (indeed, it got some applause from some in the crowd). Then, the shot took a deflection on its way towards goal, wrong-footing the goalkeeper.

Spurs have clearly marked Gelhardt out as the danger man, as he has no less than two players a time on his case whenever he receives the ball – he handles it okay and is linking up with Joseph well. I like the look of Joseph (no, not in that way!); he’s tall, got a bit of pace about him and he seems to be a bit of shithouse – nothing nasty, like leaving a foot in, but he seems to enjoy barrelling into defenders.

As the half wore on, both sides had long spells with the ball, but not creating much in the way of clear-cut chances. Latics did make the Spurs keeper work with a few shots from distance that he handled comfortably, with everything else blocked. The best of the blocked chances being a volley from lively winger, Sean McGurk, that would have taken the net off if the ball had hit it. Instead, a defender was left with a sore knee.

The away side come out fighting in the second half, putting pressure on the defence with some through-ball attempts, but Carragher managed things well (where have we heard that before?) Latics have a great chance for a second McGurk cut inside from the right, his shot from just inside the area hitting the crossbar. Picking the ball up from the byline, Gelhardt proceeded to drive towards the area, past a defender, laying it off to O’Neil, who in turn laid to it off to Joseph – who smashed the ball in the corner of the net! It was a brilliant, well-worked goal that was a sure-fire sign of a side that were confident in front of goal – the very antithesis of the first team at the moment!

Spurs try to rally but the Wigan team are now bursting with confidence and are buzzing around, nipping the ball off their increasingly-frustrated opponents. They do have a decent shot from distance, but home goalie, Sam Tickle, gathers the ball well. Late on, Latics think they have a third when O’Neil turns in Gelhardt's deflected shot – the players run to the corner to celebrate, only for it to be ruled offside. A comical scene then transpires as they all sprint back from the corner and back into position!

The match finishes 2-0 to Wigan, the players taking the well-deserved applause of the majority of the 668 crowd (later, I would learn this was the highest of the night in the FA Youth Cup). Hopefully, the fifth round will see us get another home draw and a four-figure crowd – if they hand in a performance like tonight, it’ll certainly please many of our supporters who have been bereft of slick, attacking football and goals of late.

Whatever happens, I’ll look forward to reading back this report in 2040 to see how many of tonight’s players made a decent career for themselves – remember, I and I alone discovered these players!

Wigan Athletic U18 2

(Weir, 17. Joseph, 62) 

Tottenham Hotspur U18 0

Attendance: 668

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Wigan Athletic vs. Everton/Wigan Athletic vs. Burnley - Pre-Season Friendlies

A ‘pre-season warm-up blog’.

So I've just got back from the second Wigan Athletic vs. ‘A Local Premier League Team’ pre-season friendly, and I’m feeling optimistic about my team’s chances this year. Both games were two completely different tests in terms of styles of football, both were draws and I felt that Latics coped well, perhaps even (arguably) shading both contests in the end.

In the lead-up to the Everton game, I was a bit disheartened in truth. No, it wasn’t because Everton were bringing over 8,000 supporters for their only UK pre-season friendly, effectively taking over the ground (why would I be? At £15 a pop, it means plenty of money in the club coffers!), but because, late last week, local Northern Premier League team, Atherton Collieries, had arranged an international friendly against 8-times Saudi Arabian Champions, Al-Ittihad  on the same evening as the Latics-Everton game.

I was genuinely gutted – imagine the groundhopping cred I would have got, covering that game! I’ll be honest here (as if I’m ever not…) – if I hadn’t have already pre-booked the tickets and arranged to go with a mate for the Everton game, I would have made the 15 minute train ride to Atherton instead!

Still, the clash against Everton was interesting enough. Marco Silva has been entrusted with building a side that can crack that BIG SIX caliphate, with big money and a new stadium promised to him in the bargain. I think it’s about time that Everton were given the opportunity to push themselves back to English football’s top table – they’re one of the country’s grandest clubs with a proud history and now it seems, an exciting future in which they can genuinely battle their Liverpool neighbours for prominence in the city, and beyond.

The majority of the action happened in the first half, with the best chance of the game falling to Wigan’s Josh Windass who turned away from a defender before firing a shot towards goal that England’s No1, Jordan Pickford, did well to turn wide. Everton, as you might expect, looked tidy in midfield, with new signing, Fabian Delph providing the solid base to work the ball from. Despite this, they didn’t create much up top – despite having Gylfi Sigurdsson, Andre Gomes, Bernard, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Theo Walcott in the starting side.

In fact, it was Wigan who came the closest to scoring – Antonee Robinson, signed from Everton on a permanent deal after a successful loan spell last season, sprinted down he left, his cross inches from being tapped in by Windass.

We decamp to the concourse for a half-time beer – the catering has vastly improved at the DW Stadium in recent years, with more food and drink options and reasonable (for a football ground) prices. There are plans afoot to transform the inner workings of The East Stand into a supporters bar, which is part of the club’s new owners’ plan to create more supporter engagement, as well as bring more revenue into the club. One thing I don’t suggest trying if you’re visiting this season, is the pies.

Forget the reputation, our pies are nowhere near ‘the best’ – they’re Pukka Pies for a start. There’s been a movement from supporters online to get local bakery Galloways (who have no less than THREE outlets in the town centre alone) to supply the pies – which would be a vast upgrade. The whole point of visiting a new ground is for the atypical experience it provides – having local firms make the pies (and beer) would give the whole experience of visiting a uniqueness. You can’t really have that if you’re left eating Pukka Pies and supping Fosters.

The second half naturally saw vast changes made to both sides, with both Latics and Everton testing out their younger players – Everton introduced former Wigan player and FA Cup Winner, James McCarthy – his first return to the DW since leaving for big money in 2013. Jamie Jones, Latics’ goalkeeper for the night, didn’t have much to do – although Everton probably had the best of the chances, as Kevin Mirallas saw an attempt blocked in the area, before seeing a late free kick fly just over the bar.

It finished 0-0 and a quite content crowd applauded off the players, whilst simultaneously rushing for exits in a Cannonball Run-style race to the outside. Despite believing that The Red Robin, our post-match pub of choice, would be packed with Everton supporters, we were pleasantly surprised to get served quickly. It was whilst supping my Strongbow (don’t judge me – I prefer Thatchers, but that’s all they had) that I found out through the magic of mobile internet that Atherton Colls ended up beating the Saudi giants 2-0! Oh dear.

Saturday saw Burnley come to town. The hot and humid conditions that had been battering down all week were replaced by battering rain – and just 12 minutes in, I thought Latics would get a battering. Burnley showed their Premier League quality early on; their vibrant one-touch passing cutting through the Latics’ defence like a sword through cake.

As the clock ticked past the five minute mark, Ashley Barnes released Johann Berg Gudmundsson down the left, clear of the defence, he elected to square the ball to an on-rushing Jay Rodriguez, who proceeded to slide it into a empty goal. ‘He’s one of our own’ sing the few hundred Burnley supporters in the East Stand – the striker has this summer rejoined his hometown club from West Brom after seven years away.

Six minutes later, Gudmundsson played a ball straight to Barnes on the edge of the Wigan penalty area, with a single touch, he laid it off to Dwight McNeil and the young midfielder brilliantly clipped it into the right-corner, leaving new Wigan No1, David Marshall, with no chance.

We’re in serious bother here, I’ve no qualms in saying – I’m even considering pulling this blog if the score ticks past 4-0. To add to my nerves, in quick succession McNeil has a shot blocked and Chey Dunkley muscles Barnes off the ball just as he’s about to shoot. Thankfully, Latics settled and started to put together a few passes, creating opportunities down the flanks – first, Windass (playing in his best position as a No10 – instead of the No9 he played against Everton), saw a shot go agonisingly wide of Tom Heaton’s post. Then Anthony Pilkington, a native of Blackburn, had a shot from just outside the penalty area go inches over.

Just before the half-hour mark, Latics get their reward – Windass brilliantly cuts inside from the left, fires the ball across the six-yard box where Pilkington is on hand to tap in. Not long later, Windass tried his luck from 45 yards when he saw Heaton had strayed off his line – luckily for him, the ball sailed a yard over.

The second half saw Wigan go with three centre-backs, partly in an attempt to strengthen the back-line but mostly to allow the full-backs the freedom to bomb forwards – and it worked a treat. Latics were (just about) the stronger side in the second-half and got their deserved equaliser.

Robinson is teasing the defence on the left again and this time he produces a low cross into the area to young Latics prospect, Joe Geldhardt, who takes his opportunity and fires it into the corner – producing the loudest cheer of both games! The England youth international is highly-rated here at Wigan, and being just 17 years old, he’s definitely a name you should look out for. Also on the pitch at this point is another 17 year-old, Jensen Weir (son of former Everton and Rangers centre-back, David) – another England (and Scotland!) youth international who has taken to his first team opportunity like a duck to water.

Both sides could have won the game in all fairness – at 19, McNeil looks a great player already and I do hope Burnley can keep hold of him so he can develop his game at a place he’s comfortable at. Speaking of being comfy, we decamp to The Red Robin again after the game to discuss what, for me, was the most entertaining 90 minutes I’ve seen for a while. In a way, you could argue that this result was better than the Everton draw – being 2-0 down to a settled Premier League side after barely 10 minutes must be disheartening at the best of times but the Wigan players showed some resistance against adversity, coming back to draw. This may just well be a worthwhile lesson come the season.

So that’s pre-season over, I’ve got my season ticket for next week’s opener at home to Cardiff City – but that’s not technically me groundhopping, so stay tuned for some of that very shortly!

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