History of Wigan Warriors

This is some of the history of Wigan Warriors Rugby League Football Club.

Early years

Wigan F.C. was founded in 1872 by members of Wigan Cricket Club following a meeting at the Royal Hotel on 21 November. Wigan F.C. played on Folly Field, near Upper Dicconson Street.

The first match took place on 30th November when members played against each other at Folly Field. After a series of trial and practice matches, they travelled to Warrington to play their first competitive match on January 18, 1873. The game ended in a draw.

Financial problems and an inability to recruit quality players led to a merger with Upholland F.C. to form Wigan and District F.C in 1876. The new club played its home games at the then Wigan Cricket Club in Prescott Street. Eighteen months later Wigan and District F.C. folded.

In 1879 Wigan Wasps was formed by many ex-members of the original Wigan Football Club, following a meeting in the Dicconson Arms. The club initially played in blue and white hooped jerseys before changing in 1886 to cherry and white hoops. [ [http://www.wiganwarriors.com/MidContent.asp?cid=22 Wigan Warriors - The Official Website ] ]

Wigan were suspended by the RFU for breaking the strict amateur code despite their argument that broken-time payments were necessary to avoid undue hardship for their working class players. In 1895 Wigan joined with other clubs from Yorkshire and Lancashire to found the Northern Union which led eventually to the sport of rugby league.

Early 20th century

Wigan became sub-tenants of Springfield Park, which they shared with Wigan United AFC , playing their first game there on 14 September 1901. A crowd of 4,000 saw them beat Morecambe 12-0. During this season Wigan won the Lancashire Senior Competition.

Wigan's record crowd at Springfield was 10,000 when they beat Widnes on 19 March 1902. The last game was on 28 April 1902 when Wigan beat the Rest of Lancashire Senior Competition.

On 6 September 1902 the club played at its new purpose built ground Central Park for the first time against Batley in the opening match of the newly formed First Division. An estimated crowd of 9,000 spectators saw Wigan beat Batley 14-8. Wigan became known as "the riversiders", due to the Central Park ground being alongside the River Douglas.

Wigan won the first Lancashire Cup in 1906. In 1911 Wigan lost the cup final to Broughton Rangers.

In June 1922 Jim Sullivan joined Wigan from Cardiff RFC when he was only 17. His cash value was put at £750, which was a staggering signing-on fee for an adolescent who had not yet played 13-a-side rugby. His first game was at home against Widnes on 27 August, 1921, and he scored ten points in a 21-0 win.

In that same year, Wigan became a limited company. In 1924 Wigan won the Challenge Cup for the first time.

Almost inevitably, Sullivan scored the first points in the first Challenge Cup Final to be played at Wembley Stadium, kicking a penalty after only three minutes of the inaugural Challenge Cup Final against Dewsbury in 1929, in which he led Wigan to a 13-2 victory. Sullivan became player-coach in 1932.

In 1933 the Prince of Wales attended Central Park, becoming the first royal to watch a rugby league match. Wigan defeated the touring French in 1934. Due to the limited amount of rugby league played during World War Two, Wigan played in the 1941 Yorkshire Cup.

During the war years the club went through the 1940/41 season unbeaten although they lost the Championship final. They lost the 1944 Challenge Cup Final over two games to Bradford Northern 8-3 but made up for it beating Dewsbury in the Championship Final.

Post World War Two

Sullivan's last game for Wigan was at Mount Pleasant, Batley, on 23 February 1946. He remained at Central Park for another six seasons as coach.

In 1948 Wigan took part in the first televised rugby league match when their 8-3 Challenge Cup Final victory over Bradford Northern was broadcast to the Midlands. In another first this was the first rugby league match to be attended by the reigning monarch, King George VI, who presented the trophy.

On Saturday 27 October 1951 33,230 spectators saw Wigan beat Leigh 14-6 in the final of the Lancashire Cup at Station Road, Swinton. In 1952 Wigan won their sixth consecutive Lancashire Cup.

Wigan were also featured in the first league match to be broadcast, a clash with Wakefield Trinity at Central Park on 12 January 1952.

Billy Boston, a young Welshman doing his National Service in the Royal Signals, made his debut for Wigan in 1953. Eric Ashton signed for Wigan for £150 in 1955. Wigan went to Wembley six times in the Boston/Ashton era and won three times.

The visit of St. Helens on 27th March 1959 produced Central Park's all time record attendance of 47,747 which is still a record for any rugby league game in Lancashire. Wigan went on to win the game 19-14 after holding off a Saints comeback.

Joe Egan returned to coach Wigan and during his time they won the Championship play-off final in 1960 defeating Wakefield Trinity 21-5, the Challenge Cup in 1958, 1959, 13-9 against Workington Town and 30-13 against Hull respectively before losing in 12-6 to St. Helens in 1961 which was to be his last game in charge.

Eric Ashton coached Wigan from 1963 to 1973. In 1966, Wigan locked television cameras out of their ground in the belief that they affected attendances. They were fined £500 by the RFL. Wigan beat Oldham 16-13 in the 1966 Lancashire Cup Final. Billy Boston played his last match in the cherry and white, against Wakefield Trinity at the end of April 1968.

Wigan pulled off a surprise victory 19-9 over Salford in the Lancashire Cup Final which was played at Wilderspool, Warrington on Saturday 13 October 1973. Cup holders Salford had lost only one match prior to the final, against the touring Australians.

Ted Toohey became coach of Wigan in May 1974 before being sacked in January 1975, this would set the pattern of coaches lasting one or two seasons before being replaced. Joe Coan then took control and lasted until being fired in September 1976. Vince Karalius then took over but was also sacked in September 1979.

1980s and early 1990s

Kel Coslett was coach between October 1979 and April 1980. In 1980, Wigan were relegated and Coslett was replaced by George Fairburn. Wigan won promotion back to the top flight the following season but Fairburn lasted no longer than May 1981. Maurice Lindsay came to Wigan in the early 1980s to join directors Jack Robinson, Tom Rathbone and David Bradshaw. Wigan became one of the first teams to go full-time professional in the league, this led to an upsurge in the fortunes of the club.

On the 25th August 1985, professional rugby league was played for the first time on the Isle of Man. The Charity Shield between champions Hull Kingston Rovers and Wigan drew a crowd of 4,066 to the Douglas Bowl. The final score was 34-6 to Wigan. In 1985 Ellery Hanley signed for Wigan for a fee of £150,000, with Steve Donlan and Phil Ford moving in the opposite direction as part of the deal. Ellery finished his first season with 35 tries.

Between February and October 1987 Wigan won a record 29 games in a row as follows: 20 Division One, 3 Premiership Trophy, 4 Lancashire Cup, 1 Charity Shield, 1 World Club Challenge. In 1987, Wigan defeated Australian club Manly-Warringah 8-2 in front of a crowd of over 38,000 at Central Park for an unofficial World Club Championship. It was the first time a team of Englishmen had beaten a team of Australians at rugby league since 1978. Wigan won the Challenge Cup every year between 1988 and 1995, including six consecutive championship and cup doubles between 1990 and 1995. No team had previously won a national trophy three times in a row. Wigan produced home-grown stars like Shaun Edwards, Denis Betts and Andy Farrell, as well as attracting the cream of British talent - players like Ellery Hanley, Martin Offiah who joined in January 1991 for a fee of £440,000 a record for a total cash transfer, Andy Platt and Joe Lydon. High class imports like the Iro brothers and long-serving Graeme West were also a factor. Their dominance was reinforced by moving to full-time professionalism in a game where part-time players were the norm.

In the 1991 World Club Challenge Wigan became World Champions by defeating Australian premiers, the Penrith Panthers. However, in the 1992 World Club Challenge, Wigan were beaten by the Brisbane Broncos at Central Park. In a rematch in the 1994 World Club Challenge, Wigan beat the Broncos in Brisbane at their home ground, ANZ Stadium to win bragging rights as the best club in the World and become the only British club to have won the World Club Challenge in Australia. Wigan were the BBC Sports Team of the Year in 1994, the first rugby league team to win the award. Wigan won the award against some tough opposition including the Premier League and FA Cup winning Manchester United team. In 1995, Wigan won the Challenge Cup for a record eighth consecutive time. They also won the league title for a record seventh consecutive time.

In May 1996, Bath RUFC and Wigan RLFC made history by playing against each other at both codes of rugby. The first match was at Maine Road, Manchester under league rules - result Wigan 82 Bath 6; then two weeks later the return match under union rules was held at Twickenham - result Bath 44 Wigan 19. Maurice Lindsay left the club to become the chairman of the RFL. In the same year, Wigan also made history by becoming the first invited rugby league team to win rugby union's Middlesex Sevens tournament.

uper League era

In 1996, the club was renamed Wigan Warriors. Wigan's dominance came under threat with the new league now fully professional and the introduction of the salary cap and the 20/20 rule. After going out of the Challenge Cup to Salford in 1996 and St Helens in 1997 , they returned to Wembley for the final time in 1998. Still undefeated in the league and the fact coach John Monie had never lost a Cup Tie meant Wigan were huge favourites against the unfancied Sheffield Eagles. But on May 2nd 1998 the Eagles would go down in Rugby League history causing the biggest upset in the competitions history with a 17-8 win. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/content/articles/2005/10/27/frozen_in_time_eagles_wigan_challenge_cup_feature.shtml] Huge favorites In 1998 the Grand Final and play-offs were introduced into Super League. Wigan Warriors beat Leeds Rhinos 10-4 in the first Grand Final.

In November 1999, coach Andy Goodway was sacked by Wigan chairman Maurice Lindsay after the Warriors' failure to win a trophy for the first time in 15 years. After a buy-out by Dave Whelan, both the Warriors and the town's football team, Wigan Athletic, moved to the JJB Stadium.As part of the Rugby League's "on the road" scheme Wigan Warriors met Gateshead Thunder at Tynecastle, Edinburgh. Maurice Lindsay also returned as director. On an emotional day of high drama Wigan's final game at Central Park was against arch rivals St Helens on Sunday 5th September 1999 . Wigan legend Ellery Hanley returned as St Helens coach but a Jason Robinson virtuoso try meant the game was won by Wigan 28-20. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/rugby_league/439085.stm] The first game at the new stadium was a defeat in a Super League play-off match against Castleford Tigers on 19 September 1999. Frank Endacott joined Wigan Warriors as head coach after the 1999 season and coached them until 2001, when he was sacked.

For the 2000 season Wigan signed Aussie greats Steve Renouf and Brett Dallas. Playing their best Rugby of the Super League era, Wigan finished top of the table. Wigan made it to the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford but lost 29-16 to St Helens. A change meant Jason Robinson played fullback in his last game for Wigan with Kris Radlinski playing at centre.

Stuart Raper was offered the role of head coach at Wigan for the 2001 season. In his first season in charge, the Warriors finished second in the table and were unbeaten in competitive matches at the JJB Stadium. They made it all the way to the 2001 Grand Final; although they ended up losing 37-6 to Bradford Bulls. He remained with Wigan for a further two seasons in 2002 and 2003 where they finished third in both seasons but were unable to reach the grand final.

Wigan did, however, win the 2002 Challenge Cup overcoming the heavily fancied St Helens 21-12 at Murrayfield. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/challenge_cup/1952991.stm] Kris Radlinski went down in history after a sterling Lance Todd Trophy performance. Suffering from an infected foot Radlinski was set to miss out on the final but he declared himself fit to play with pain killing injections. He became the first player to win the Lance Todd Trophy through an excellent defence performance, stopping at least 6 tries with one on one tackles. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/challenge_cup/1955372.stm] After the game Radlinski claimed "I don't know what I feel at the moment. I feel a bit weak," [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/challenge_cup/1956114.stm]

Following the departure of head coach Stuart Raper in July 2003, Mike Gregory was appointed head coach until the end of the 2003 season, while Denis Betts replaced Gregory as assistant. It was the first time since Colin Clarke, in 1985, that a Wigan born man had been head coach of Wigan. He spent three months as caretaker coach, remaining unbeaten for 11 matches and guiding Wigan to the Grand Final making them the first side from outside the top two to get there. Wigan were beaten by Bradford in front of a record, sell-out crowd of 65,537 at Old Trafford, Manchester. Denis Betts took temporary charge in May 2004 when Gregory stepped down due to illness. He held the position for a year before he was moved sideways by the club to make way for the appointment of new head coach Ian Millward. St. Helens defeated Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff in front of a sell-out 73,734 crowd

In May 2005 Wigan appointed Ian Millward as head coach above Denis Betts just two weeks after his acrimonious departure from Wigan's fiercest rivals St Helens. He had a difficult start with the Warriors experiencing 2 heavy losses in succession. Losing a Super League match 70-0 to Leeds and then a Challenge Cup tie 75-0 to St Helens signalled dark times for Wigan cite news
title = St Helens 75 Wigan 0
url = http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/rugby_league/s/163/163929_st_helens_75_wigan_0.html
publisher = Manchester Evening News
date = 2005-06-27
accessdate = 2008-01-24] . Wigan ended the season seventh in the Super League, missing out on the play-offs for the first time in the competition's history. Betts left in November 2005 after refusing to take a post as under-21s coach. Mike Gregory's contract was not renewed by Wigan and expired in 2005 which resulted in Gregory taking Wigan and the club owner, Dave Whelan to court claiming that Wigan should have done more to help him carry on. The case was settled out of court with Wigan agreeing to pay £17,500 to Mike Gregory.

On 11 April 2006 Millward was sacked for their poor start to the Super League XI season; Wigan had won just one of the first eight rounds, which had the club staring relegation in the face. He was replaced by Bradford Bulls & Great Britain coach Brian Noble who was announced as the new head coach of Wigan Thursday 20 April 2006. He started his Wigan tenure with a 46-14 win over the Huddersfield Giants at the Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield. Kris Radlinski came back out of retirement to play for free to try to save his old club. He was joined by Stuart Fielden who joined from Bradford for a record fee. A run of good results lifted Wigan clear of relegation and made the great escape. However, the club was docked two points for breaching the 2005 Super League salary cap, also with a £50,000 fine. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/5252930.stm BBC SPORT | Rugby League | Super League | Wigan back in mire after penalty ] ] On 26 July, 2007 Wigan were again found guilty of breaking the salary cap in 2006 and docked 4 Super League points plummeting them from 4th place to 9th in the Super League XII. They were also knocked out of the Challenge cup by Les Catalans 37-24. cite news
title = Catalan Dragons 37 - 24 Wigan Warriors
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/6912181.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-07-29
accessdate = 2007-01-30]

On 30th July 2007 it was announced that Maurice Lindsay would retire from the game at the end of the 2007 season. Lindsay attributed his decision to retire down to health and having felt he had done all he could with the clubFact|date=April 2008.

The ending to the regular section of the 2007 engage Super League saw Wigan defeat their closest rivals and league champions, St. Helens, in a 20-12 victory. The result was significant in keeping Wigan's grasp on 6^th place - the last available place in the Super League playoffs - and preventing the Warrington Wolves in overtaking them after their simultaneous victory over the Salford City Reds, which would have placed Warrington in that place had Wigan not won.

In the first elimination playoff Wigan created the greatest comeback in the history of the Super League on 21 September 2007. The Warriors found themselves 30-6 down with 25 minutes to go at Odsal against Bradford Bulls. However the Warriors ran in 4 tries in 18 minutes including a Mark Calderwood hat trick. Pat Richards drop goal took the score to 31-30 and wrapped up the victory for Wigan. The Warriors were then knocked out of the play offs by the eventual champions, the Leeds Rhinos.

On 24th October 2007 Wigan called a press conference to announce that Ian Lenegan would have controlling interest in the club, after buying out Whelan's 89% stake in the club. Lenagan took control of the club on the 1st December 2007 and ex-Wigan player Joe Lydon became chief executive.

For the 2008 Super League season Wigan signed Andy Coley, Richie Mathers, George Carmont and Karl Pryce brother of St Helens player Leon Pryce. Mathers and Carmont were obtained from NRL where as Coley was obtained from Salford and Karl Pryce returned from a stint in Rugby Union at Gloucester Rugby. Ex-Bradford player Karl stated "I felt honoured when they came in for me, not least because I'm a big fan". cite news
title = League switch suits Pryce
url = http://www.wigantoday.net/warriors/League-switch-suits-Pryce.3612013.jp
publisher = www.wigantoday.net
date = 2007-12-21
accessdate = 2008-01-24]

Team of the Decade

References