Bury FC Expelled From The EFL: Why Our Football Clubs Need Protecting

If you were to explain to someone why you supported a football club, how would you do it? How can you covey the feelings that connect you to your club? Why you spend copious amounts of time and money following a football team around the country for (often) very little reward?

As of the 27^th August 2019, Bury FC have been expelled from The Football League after 125 years of membership – and I defy anyone watching, listening or reading the outpouring of emotions from their supporters to not understand why they supported their football club. Because, as I find myself repeating progressively as time goes on, watching football is about more than just watching football.

It’s difficult to comprehend why this has happened – we know how it’s happened; the club couldn’tprove to the EFL that they had sufficient funds to see them through the season, and proposed takeover deals collapsed or didn’t have enough time to go through – but it’s hard for me to understand why a succession of club custodians (and the EFL) has allowed Bury to get into this state.

Ever since the club was served notice of their possible expulsion, one word has been a constant in the national and local news coverage – community. It can be easy to forget in the times we live in (where the cost of transfer fees and the wages of players are thrown in our faces through television and the internet), that football clubs are supposed to represent a town, the people sat in the seats, a collective ideal, even. Football clubs should not represent the avarice of businesses and amateurish penny pinchers. Sadly, many have forgotten that.

Bury FC: Where Did It All Go Wrong?

Money has always been difficult to come by for Bury – living on the doorstep of two of English football’s biggest clubs tends to cut into the number of supporters and sponsorships you can get. So already, money is scarce; investments need to be thought out intelligently and preferably, backed up with a safety net. Over the years, they haven’t had this – getting into financial struggles that have threatened but not, seen them go out of existence as a Football League club. Until now.

The problem for clubs further down the pyramid is that there is a lack of interest from investors who a) know what they’re doing, b) have genuine intentions and c), have the money to put their plans into place. This is where the league needs to step in to protect these clubs – one of the more alarming facts to stem from this sorry mess was Bury owner, Steve Dale’s, business record. Out of the 51 businesses he had involvement with 43 have beenliquidated. Now I appreciate that the EFL were under pressure at the time to sort a deal for Bury out (Dale purchased the debt-ridden club from Stewart Day for £1), but based on that evidence alone, he should have never passed ‘the owner and directors test’ – you can get a good picture of his record by simply looking online.

So what can the EFL do? It needs to realise the true value of clubs. It needs to put in place new legislation to prevent things like high-interest loans from beingtaken out on football grounds. It needs a new way of deciding whether the guardians (because that’s what they are) have it within them to look after the club. It needs to find a way to have more supporter or local council involvement at board level to protect these community assets.

The Effect Football Has On The Local Community

Community assets are precisely what our football clubs are. Visualise what’s around the ground of your local club – there’s likely a plethora of shops, chippys, pubs, restaurants, hotels, etc. Even if your local ground is in the middle of nowhere, people will visit your town just to see a football match, perhaps even for the weekend – it may be the only reason that most visitors have in coming to your locality. So the local economy, people’s jobs and livelihoods are majorly impacted by the standing of the local football club.

Community is about families too. The busy lives we live may mean that we don’t see each other that often – football gives us that opportunity to get together and be a family. Family isn’t just about blood ties, either – football provides the means for mates, who have known each other for years, to get together to enjoy a common hobby and have a laugh. People can make new friends with those who they sit near – some people even fall in love after meeting at the football. Our clubs are the home for the family it has created and without them, our towns and lives would be poorer without them. This is why the EFL needs to put those changes in place to protect them.

My last visit to Gigg Lane was in 2015, as part of my ‘doingthe 92’ book project. Back then, things were looking positive for the club – I even commented on how previous owner, Stewart Day, was spending money, bringing in signings that would get them to League One and beyond. Oh dear.

As I was reading back at what I had experienced that day, this particular section seems somewhat poignant in the circumstances: 

As I take my seat in the main stand, the PA tells us that a man at the game today is celebrating his 100^th birthday (even he wasn’t born when they won the FA Cup) - in comparison, the (supporter) mascot is 5 years old. For me this is what some people who criticise the game don’t get about football - clubs like Bury are very-much rooted into their local communities, catering for all people, some of whom are 95 years apart. All we’ve heard in the last few weeks is about new television deals and high ticket prices, clubs like Bury show that football is for families, for everyone. 

Whatever happens to the club from here (the likelihood is that, without any re-admittance into the EFL, they will be wound up), I hope (I know) the supporters will group together and give the town a football club again. In the meantime, English football has got a lot to do to ensure that nothing like this happens again – the work starts now.

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Atherton Collieries vs. Warrington Town

After missing out on Atherton Collieries’ historic friendly against Saudi Arabian giants, Al-Ittihad the other week, the next best thing would be for me to attend their next historic match – Colls’ first (home) game at the 7^th level of English football. So I did.
 

With the Northern Premier League starting the weekend just gone, Colls’ reportedly put in a spirited performance to draw their opening Premier Division match 2-2 at Ashton United (Ashton-under-Lyne, by the way – not Ashton-in-Makerfield near me, where I saw the annual Joseph’s Goal Charity game at Ashton Town FC in May).

I’m catching the train from work; I’m lucky (?) enough to make a living in Wigan’s town centre, so the train stations are just a short hop away. The closest train to kick-off is due to set off for the 12-minute journey at 6:57pm, so after leaving work at 5:30, I nip to The Moon Under Water to treat myself to some jackbit – a ‘tuna and cheese Panini’ – the crème de la crème of the Wetherspoons menu.

Located barely a 10-minute walk away from Atherton station, Alder House (currently known as ‘The Skuna Stadium’ for sponsorship reasons) is neatly located behind the tightly-packed streets. On approach to the ground, I can hear the speaker booming out pre-match music; I wouldn’t like to live here – especially if I didn’t like football. Then again, I wouldn’t like to live right next to any football stadium – I enjoy the journey to the ground because, for me, the match starts as soon as you leave the front door of your house. That trip to the ground could be a 15 minute walk or a 5-hour cross-country drive or train trip; your destination is the stadium but so many thoughts and feelings, laughs and pints can be experienced along the way. Football is more than just what happens in the 90-odd minutes.

Atherton Collieries sum up the true spirit of a community football club.  Formed by local miners in 1916 as a means of providing those involved with the war effort some activity outside of work, the nationalisation of the mines in 1947 saw the club gifted to the town of Atherton.  To reflect their history, the club has kept the ‘Collieries’ suffix – being a fan of history and tradition myself (especially if it places a unquie spin on a club and its supporter base), I think that’s brilliant. Since then, they have continued to progress in local leagues, coming into prominence in recent years as they've won promotions from the 10^th tier to the 7^th in just 5 years.  Notably, current Wigan Athletic winger Anthony Pilkington spent some time here before leaving for Stockport, then Norwich City (playing in the Premier League for them) and Cardiff City.

Today’s opponents, Warrington Town, are highly-fancied this season; missing out on promotion last term, due to the restructuring of non-league which saw a confusing ‘Super Play-Offs’ introduced. Despite winning the Northern Premier League play-offs (normally meaning winning a place in the National League North), they had to face Southern League play-off winners, Kings Lynn. Sadly, they lost the final (played at their home ground) 2-3 after extra-time.

They’re an ambitious club, with designs on eventually reaching The Football League. When you consider that Warrington is one of the largest towns in the country without a Football League side (the Borough has a population of >200,000), the potential is there to grow a substantially-sized Football League club. Another great thing about football though, is that it can be a great leveller, making a mockery of such ‘advantages’ and having these two teams playing in the same league (Atherton has a population of just over 20,000, by the way).

With Bolton Wanderers’ midweek game against Doncaster being called off (the club were concerned about the welfare of their youth players, who have had to step up to play for the first-team due to their ongoing financial issues), Colls’ were offering Bolton supporters free entry to tonight’s match. There’s a few of them knocking about as I walk in – their Bolton club gear no doubt being worn in pride and defiance, despite the situation their club is in. I nearly got my Wigan season ticket out as a joke/to potentially gain free entry – then again, with many of the Colls’ committee members apparently being Bolton fans, they may have charged me more.

As I've not attended a non-league game for a while (only the tightly-governed professional matches), I forget about the novelty of bringing a beer out to the side of the pitch. My first port-of-call once through the turnstile is to Colls' clubhouse – and I see that sponsors Skuna make beer, so I get a pint of their ‘Smooth craft beer’. Not bad.

Speaking of sponsorship; Lupine Travel, a Wigan travel firm that’s known for its rather ‘off the beaten track’ tours, is sponsoring Colls’ training kit this season. With their Wigan-Pyongyang tour for next year booked up already, they have offered one from Atherton too – holidaymakers can take in a Colls’ game before embarking on the train journey that goes from Atherton to Wigan, London to Paris, across Western Europe to the East, through to China and eventually, North Korea . Like the Wigan trip, it sold out very quickly – but don’t worry if you’re intrigued as Lupine are running another tour from nearby Hag Fold after they (controversially, in my opinion), won a Twitter poll over my local Wigan train stop, Pemberton.

Whilst there are spots of rain in the air, I go and sit in the small stand by the entrance side of the ground. There’s another covered stand on the other side, with the rest of the ground open to the elements – Warrington have brought plenty of support and they’ve stood behind one of the goals, singing and banging a drum. The crowd immediately around me are a good mix of ages – from young kids with their replica shirts to an old lady sat next to me with her black-and-white Colls’ scarf on – again, summing up the community aspect of Colls’ and non-league football in general. It’s whilst sat here that I spot Lupine’s VISIT IRAQ advertisement hoarding behind one of the goals – apparently it's one of their more popular destinations. I just hope the net the ad sits behind will be the destination for some good goals tonight!

The two teams walk out to the tune of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ – through a rather extravagant Fly Emirates­­-branded retractable tunnel. It’s (obviously/probably) been donated to the club – and it does make me laugh as they don’t really need it. It doesn't even match up with the door to the changing rooms – the players even have to walk up some steps to get to them!

Colls’ start well; a shot from all of 25 yards hits the post, rebounding out to an attacker whose resulting header went just wide. Warrington took this as a warning and quickly endeavoured to take control of the ball – they seem very adept at switching the play from defence to attack quickly, leaving their opponents chasing shadows.

Warrington take the lead around the 25^th minute; a quick exchange of passes sees an attacker with a sight of goal, but before he can act upon it, he’s clipped and the referee blows up and points to the spot. The penalty was neatly converted past ex-Wigan youth keeper Theo Roberts – and just 3 minutes later, he was picking the ball out of the net again when Tony Gray headed home. “He’s bald but he doesn’t care, Tony, Tony Gray’ sing the Warrington contingent about their striker.

Colls’ waste a decent chance when a free-kick is crossed high into the Warrington penalty area and with a free header, the attacker doesn’t even get it on target. They were quickly punished – a thunderous strike from outside the Colls penalty area puts the visitors three goals up. Hard lesson to learn for the Premier League newbies here. “You’re just a bus stop in Wigan” sing the visiting supporters – bit harsh; they’re a train stop at least.

With the rains starting to come down hard during half-time, I was glad that I was able to nip for a cup of tea just before the break – I’m now snugly sat back in the stand whilst much of the 645 crowd are getting soaked. Some Warrington supporters come to sit in the stand just before the start of the second half, one of whom waxes lyrical about the size of the crowd that’s turned up – this sort of crowd would be decent for the National League North, let alone this division below it.

Warrington grab a fourth after an hour played, putting the game to bed – moments after Roberts made a great double-save, the ball was whipped back in and headed home. It’s just a question of ‘how many they’ll get’ now.

Or is it?

Colls’ haul themselves back into the game with two quick-fire goals – first a header from a corner sees the ball power into the top corner of the net and then a clumsy trip allows Gareth Peet to step up and smash home a penalty. The Colls supporters are buoyed now; shouting on their side, whilst those Warrington supporters sat nearby, are audibly nervous.

The match turns into a great watch in the last quarter as both sides are pushing for the next, crucial goal – I’m that invested, I decide to get involved. The ball is kicked out near us and bounces on the concrete. Despite the Warrington supporters pleas of ‘take your time’, I move quicker than The Flash to fag the ball and chuck it back to the Colls’ left-back. If they DO come back from this, I’ve played my part.

Into the last 10 minutes and Colls come within a whisker of getting their third – a shot from outside the area (visibly) rattles the post. You sense that was their last chance to set up a barnstorming finish – and it was. Warrington held on for a win that they (their supporters, anyway) probably thought they had wrapped up at half-time. They nearly didn’t.

On the way back to the station, I reflect on Colls’ performance, although seeming nervous at times, they did show promise. They played one of the promotion favourites tonight, after all, so a first half hiding off them shouldn't be that much of concern (more of a 'welcome lesson'). Everything I’ve experienced at the ground tonight was impressive and I hope Colls can establish themselves at this level and grow even more. 

I’m just hoping the train I’m on stops in Wigan and not North Korea; I’ve got work and more tuna-and-cheese Panini’s to eat tomorrow. 

Atherton Collieries 2

Warrington Town 4

Attendance: 645

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The New Football Season Cometh

As I’m writing this, the ‘start’ of The Football League and National League season is barely 15 hours
away (I say ‘start’, as Luton Town and Middlesbrough have just played out an enthralling 3-3 draw, live on the telly).

Nevertheless, in a few short hours, near enough a million people will be winging their way to football grounds across the country, walking, driving, catching the coach, train or tram. Supporters everywhere will be going out for the first time in their new replica shirts; singles, couples, families and mates.

Whilst on their way, they may stop off at a favourite pub, café, restaurant, shop, food stall, ice cream van (it has been warm!); supporting the businesses and communities that surround a football club. Chats will be had about the game, their hopes for the season aired, as dreams of success are created. The more technological fans will be taking photos of themselves, others, the scenes around the ground, posting them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat for everyone to know that the football season is back.

On arriving at their destination and before they take up their seat/spot, friends who haven’t seen each other since May will shake each other by the hand again, swapping stories of their summer. Pints will be sunk and pies will ate – as they await for the drama to unfold on the pitch.

The two teams will come out to applause that probably won’t be as loud for the rest of the season – those clapping are doing it enthusiastically after missing being at a game for so long. Then everyone will settle down to watch; all the new players and the old ones too. New managers playing new tactics, the old managers playing their usual ones – or perhaps something new. The opening game, especially, will be a dull affair or an exciting end-to-end slugfest – and we’ll love it either way. Perhaps there’ll even be a number of goalmouth scrambles to get excited about as well?

This is what the start of the season is for many of us, and we can’t wait!

Crusty The Pie – The Football Mascot We Didn’t Know We Needed, But Got

Just to rope in the name of this blog (again), it would be amiss of me not to celebrate my own team’s novel approach to supporter engagement (and marketing in general) for the new season. Crusty The Pie, the brand-new Wigan Athletic mascot, has been a social media sensation today. Covered on the BBC Sport website, Sky News, ESPN, even NBC in the States, Wigan’s perceived love of pies led to a club competition that saw two children create an amphomorphic pie, complete with his own kit that has ‘Crusty 8 The Pie’ on the back!

I must admit that I was slightly unnerved at first – as ever, I worry about how the decisions taken by the club would be perceived by the wider football community. Would it make the club look backward? No, the vast majority of people loved it – pies and football go hand-in-hand for some supporters and so you could say that Crusty is seen as an embodiment of what being a football supporter is about.

One of the reasons why I do get worried about this kind of thing, is that the 'Wigan is famous for pies' stereotype is born out of a reputation that has been manufactured – yes, we do have many independent bakeries and chain outlets selling the culinary delight, but so do many other towns in the North of England.

The ‘Pie Eaters’ moniker was created during the events of the 1926 general strike when Wigan miners were starved back to work, whilst their colleagues in Leigh, and other nearby towns, stayed put (easy to do so, when you’ve food to eat). Brilliantly, this furthering of the myth helps to get one over on those who tried to shame the town; as we take the name for ourselves, creating a culture which has ultimately seen Wigan’s children create a football mascot with!

From a marketing standpoint, it’s a genius move – the aforementioned news outlets have had tens of thousands of people liking, sharing and commentating on the story. There’s no real negatives to it – after all, it’s a mascot designed by kids, for kids – any adults getting upset over it should have think again, to be honest. As a (literal) Pie Eater, I’m just hoping the quality of the actual pies at the ground improves!

So here’s to a great season of repartee, entertainment, pints and pies – I’ll be kicking off mine tomorrow, with my season of groundhopping also starting very soon.

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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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Wigan Athletic Legends vs. Manchester United Legends - Joseph's Goal Charity Game 2019

Saturday 25th May 2019
Wigan Athletic Legends vs. Manchester United Legends

So that opening blog post designed to encourage Watford supporters went well! Even despite the 6-0 defeat (which in fairness, there was little they could have done about it – Man City were that good), it was heartening to see the supporters still get behind their team, waving flags even after Raheem Sterling bagged the sixth.

Technically, this is the opening blog post – at least for my groundhopping. To link in my recollection of Wigan Athletic’s FA Cup win in 2013, outlined in said blog post, I’m off to Ashton Town today to watch the annual Joseph’s Goal charity game.

Joseph’s Goal, named after local boy Joseph Kendrick, seeks to fund research into NKH (Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia), a rare, genetic disorder that affects 1 child in every 60,000. It is caused by an excess of glycine on the brain that affects development almost as soon as a child is born – and sadly, many children do not survive for very long. In fact, there are approximately 15 children alive in the UK with NKH, and only around 500 worldwide. Given just five days to live, Joseph celebrated his 10^th birthday earlier this month – confounding all expectations.

The charity is operated by Joseph’s mum, Emma and dad, Paul. Paul is the Latics journalist with local newspapers The Wigan Post and Wigan Observer – hence the link to the club. Whilst raising money for research is the obvious aim, what I feel the charity has also achieved, is to bring people together, strengthening the ‘community feel’ that the vast majority of football clubs were founded upon (but many have seemingly sadly forgotten). From those in the boardroom at the club, the players, the supporters – even the wider football community have got involved with Joseph’s Goal, simply because the lad offers inspiration, something we all can connect with and take forward in our own lives. 

There are numerous charity events every year – from bike rides to black tie-balls, comedy nights to getting the ‘Will Grigg’s on Fire’ song in the top 10 of the iTunes chart. Recently, 75 Latics supporters walked from the club’s training ground in Euxton all the way to Leeds United’s Elland Road, raising more than £35,000 for 58 miles of ambling. One lunatic even did it backwards, after making a promise via a Twitter post that he would ‘if Wigan beat Aston Villa by three goals’ at home on the same day. It finished 3-0 to Wigan, of course! Everyone’s efforts were rewarded with a 2-1 win, though – the club’s first away victory for 7 months!

Joe’s cause was first given a national (nay, international) boost for the first time in 2013 when he was the mascot for the FA Cup Final. The plan was for Wigan captain, Emmerson Boyce, to push Joe on in his chair; instead, he elected to carry him, creating a beautiful moment of humanity and getting the ‘Joseph’s Goal’ message on Joe’s shirt seen by the millions of people watching. Later, explaining why he did it, Emmerson simply said that ‘he’s one of us’ – he just wanted to get the message out about the charity, thinking about the cause instead of himself, before the biggest game of his professional career. Boycey later elaborated that Joe typified ‘the fight to be there’ – although nobody really expected Wigan Athletic to be in an FA Cup Final, it pales somewhat against what people achieve in everyday life. I’m in no doubt that Joe inspired that team to go on and BELIEVE and win that cup for us all (well, us Wigan supporters!) against all of the odds.

Today’s match, the fifth annual event, sees a Latics Legends XI take on a Manchester United XI. The first match was supposed to be against a Latics Development Squad – sadly this was called off due to a torrential downpour. The game was later rearranged with the Legends taking on a Hollyoaks XI – apparently, the lads off the popular Channel 4 soap regularly play charity games and very quickly got together. Latics won 10-0, with a record crowd of 2,225 packed into Ashton Town’s Edge Green Street ground, raising £7,500. 

The next two years saw the Legends take on a ‘Dutch Masters’ team, featuring former Latics stars Arjan de Zeeuw, Denny Landzaat and Jorge Smeets, whilst last year saw a repeat of the 2013 FA Cup Final, against Manchester City Legends. I’ve enjoyed every single game and being in my mid-thirties now, the players who turn out for Latics Legends are ones that I remember cheering on (NOT booing) from my years as a member of Junior Latics/JJ’s Clubs (used to be £2 to get in at one point!), so the occasion is always a personal treat.

Located just a 20-minute bus ride away for me, Ashton-in-Makerfield is 5-and-a-half miles away from Wigan town centre and is home to two football clubs – Town, who are in the North West Counties Division One North and Ashton Athletic, who are in the Premier Division of the NWC. I’m going to be joined today by my mate ‘Big Chris’ – it’s a rather deceptive name as he isn’t particularly gigantic, at least this side of Christmas (and I’ve shared a shower at the gym with him too, so it can’t be that either). 

On photography duty for today, Big Chris joined me for the second Dutch Legends game in 2017 and we had a right laugh, watching former international footballers such as Michael Mols, Sander Westerveld, Jan Kromkamp and Glenn Helder kick a ball about, all whilst supping cans sold from a car boot. Even Angelos Charisteas – the striker who scored the winning goal for Greece in the Euro 2004 final turned out for The Masters (he used to play for Ajax, hence the – tenuous – link!)

So, even though we're looking forward to seeing what this game against Man United has in store, we’re perhaps slightly more looking forward to having a laugh and going on the piss in Ashton afterwards. If the quality of this report isn’t any good from here on in, you know why.

The #10 bus from Wigan drops us off just a short walk from Edge Green Street (press the bell after you pass ‘Ashton Carpets’, overwise you'll end up lost). On approach to the ground, we’re met with the sight of Bryan Robson, getting his kitbag from the boot of his car. The (bona fide) United Legend is the main attraction for the game today – skippering a United side that has ‘surprisingly’ been difficult to put together; aside from Robson, Quinton Fortune is the next most appearance-maker for United in today’s team.

Picking up a programme on entry, in it, Mark Hayes (Ashton Town chairman), explained how difficult it was putting together the side – he received polite declines from the likes of Andrei Kanchelskis, Edwin Van Der Sar and even Dimitar Berbatov. What also doesn’t help is that United are hosting their own Legends game at Old Trafford tomorrow; a 1999 Champions League ‘replay’, against Bayern Munich.

Having followed his efforts on Twitter over the last few months, Mark has worked incredibly hard to put the sides together – thankfully, the Latics team he’s put together is top class; with Arjan de Zeeuw, Paul Scharner and recently-appointed Luton Town manager, Graeme Jones joining Emmerson Boyce in a team that would probably do still well in the National League. North. Okay, maybe the North West Counties – they are in their 40’s, after all. I’m fully expecting Latics to give this United side a good hiding, anyway.

We made sure to arrive with the best part of an hour to spare – not only does this help us to get the cans in from the clubhouse early but it also allows us to take up a great spot on halfway. With a capacity of just over 2000, the ‘Scott Rees and Co. Stadium’ (as its currently known) is by no means ‘tight’ as one might expect from a football ground encased behind a residential street; there’s plenty of room around the majority of the pitch for you to walk around, find your perfect spot, even to park your car. Why anyone would want to park their car here though, I’ve no idea. The match against the Hollyoaks XI saw a wayward shot smash into one of the cars behind the goal! There’s a mismatch of covered seating at each side of the pitch; two structures located behind us where we’re stood, on halfway.

Joe leads the two sides out to enthusiastic applause, as they line-up in front of one of the goals to have their picture taken. Once the match starts, and as expected, Latics dominate – the left side (where we’re stood) sees the majority of the action early on, as Kevin Sharp linked well with Isidro (‘Izzy’) Diaz (one of the famed Three Amigos) and Jones. Barely ten minutes had gone when this triumvirate was broken up, as Jones was substituted – later, I would learn that he had a flight to catch in a few hours but had turned up to play for the charity, nonetheless. This and the man must be busy as it is, what with him taking the Luton job. What a guy!

Despite being 62 years of age, Robson still looks great on the ball – he’s dropping deep, picking up the ball and constantly looking for Fortune, who playing as a No10, is United’s main attacking threat early on. A photographer is doing the rounds and takes up a position near us, ‘Some of these Lads could do with a bit of Photoshopping, eh? Look at those bellies!’, he says to Big Chris and I. We both move closer to the barrier so he can’t see what we’re packing. 

Latics take the lead with roughly 5 minutes to go before half-time, as de Zeeuw rises highest to power home a typical de Zeeuw header. It suddenly dawned on me that it has been 20 YEARS since the Dutchman first signed for Latics – he was a childhood favourite of mine, so it’s quite disheartening to realise that my childhood was two decades ago now! Just before half-time, it really should be 2-0, as Jason Jarrett strides forwards from midfield, urged to shoot by those around us – he does, and the ball comes crashing back off the bar.

Arjan de Zeeuw puts Latics Legends ahead.

Half-time allows me to have a look around and gauge the make-up of the crowd – which is very much the definition of ‘family friendly’ (along with adults supping cans). It’s interesting to note that some of these kids were NOT EVEN BORN when Boyce and Scharner helped Wigan to victory in an FA Cup Final. I mean it was six years ago now but for us, it seems like yesterday – where has the time gone? You can imagine their parents telling them all about it, as well as about the other players playing here today – creating more enjoyment for them and perhaps helping to grow a little bit more attachment for their hometown club?

Whilst, in the absence of Jones, Don Page has been providing a much-needed focal point upfront, he would later go off (then come back on later), and in his absence, Latics struggled to make in-roads on the United goal for the majorty of the second half. Sensing an opportunity, United bring on Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, who has been a great supporter of Joesph’s Goal throughout the years. Unlike his party (political joke alert), he was ‘playing through the centre’, so he spent the majority of his appearance in de Zeeuw’s back pocket. The pressure on a fading Latics backline was a constant though, and it was left to another ringer, David Dempsey (Ashton Town manager), to grab the equaliser from inside the penalty area.

The game grows increasingly tense, as both sides look for a winner. That tension is relaxed slightly as Wigan-born left-back, a member of the EFL Trophy winning side in 1985, Barry Knowles is introduced – to the biggest cheer of the day so far (GO ON BARRY is probably the only printable 'cheer' I can write!) At 60, he’s the elder statesmen in this side, so it’s probably for the best that he was placed in an ‘advanced midfield role’, with Darren Sheridan filling in at left-back in the absence of Sharp. Sorry, Barry.

Despite the introduction of Latics’ secret weapon, the match finished 1-1 and so it went to penalties – the first few expertly tucked away. The cheers grew louder as Barry stepped up; I was concerned as he ambled up to the ball, but he hit it right in the corner, leaving the United goalie with no chance and the loudest cheer of the day (beating the early one) was aired. This clearly affected United, as the next taker missed – his shot spinning wide. It was left to Pascal Chimbonda, a man who once handed a transfer request to Wigan manager Paul Jewell after the last-ever game at Highbury, a man who had just finished his career at Ashton Town, to give Latics Legends the win. The member of France’s World Cup runners-up squad of 2006 (a place earned through playing for Latics, by the way, Pascal) sauntered up and smacked the ball nonchalantly into the left corner. All is forgiven, Pascal!

Barry Knowles slots home his penalty

With Pascal’s arms aloft, a pitch invasion begins with excited fans seeking selfies and autographs with their favourite players. As we head to the bus stop, I ponder whether a game like this would be the same if it were held at a ‘professional’ ground, such as Wigan's own DW Stadium. With vast seating capacity and cover, being located a mile from Wigan town centre and with plentiful car parking around (and virtually no risk of ball damage), it would obviously draw more supporters – and more players. Then again, I think back to the pitch invasion, the kids playing about on the pitch (before the game, at half-time and again, after the game) and just the crowd-player interaction and atmosphere in general – it wouldn’t be the same, so long may this game take place at Ashton Town!

We’re waiting at the stop with a few folks, none more conspicuous than a group of United fans from Hong Kong (they had a 'Hong Kong Reds' flag) – proving that no matter the occasion, United’s global reach will follow. We alight a mile away in Ashton town centre, have some tea in the Wetherspoons and go on a mini pub crawl, ending up at the fantastic Twisted Vine Ale House. A micropub that offers ‘seven changing hand pumps, six keg taps, three real ciders, craft cans and bottles, gins, wines and spirits’, this is a home-from-home for ‘beer ponces’ like us (plus it’s right near the bus stop home too, so it’s a natural ending point)! Whether it’s age or me seeking hipster points, I’ve become quite fond of stout – so a helping of ‘Stout Detectives’, from the American 4T’s brewery, rounded off a fine day. After the gammon and chips in the Wetherspoons (very Brexit, apparently) I couldn’t quite bring myself to plump for one of the delicious-looking pork pies on the bar, though. Ashton has two football clubs, of course, so I’m sure I’ll be back.

Wigan Athletic Legends 1
(de Zeeuw)

Manchester United Legends 1
(Dempsey)

Wigan Athletic Legends win 5-3 on pens

Attendance: 2,000 (approx.)

Entry: £10

Programme: £2

Match photos by Big Chris.

You can find out more about Joseph’s Goal and donate at josephsgoal.org

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