Ground: DW Stadium (capacity 25,133)
Location: Wigan, England
Ticket price: £20 - Purchase online or at the ground
Wigan Athletic. A side who, just 10 years ago, won the FA Cup against all odds, now find themselves languishing in England's third tier, with point deductions acting as a weight anchor, rooting them close to the relegation zone. One of the men who played in that final, Shaun Maloney, is now the club's manager. He provided the assist to Ben Watson's goal in that historic game and he's going to need quite a bit of help from his players if he's to starve the relegation zone this season, though to be fair, I can't see Wigan experiencing any further point deductions.
Maloney is a manager who has 'earned his stripes', so to speak. After retiring, he joined Roberto Martinez's coaching setup with Belgium before becoming the manager of Hibernian in 2021. It was an ill-fated spell for the Scot, who didn't last the season. He was tasked to stem the wound at Wigan in January 2023 after the disastrous Kolo Toure spell, however despite his best efforts, he was unable to steer Wigan out of the drop zone. However, his attractive brand of football, something he likely picked up when working under Martinez, seemed to give Wigan fans a belief that he was the right man to take them back up to England's second tier and who knows, go a couple of steps further than Uwe Rosler did back in 2014.
Wigan were founded in 1932 and have played at the DW (named after Dave Whelan, their former owner) in 1999. 2013 was not Wigan's first taste of a major cup final however, as they reached the final of what was then the Carling Cup in 2006, receiving a tonking against their neighbours Manchester United. The club in recent history have had a rather tumultuous time, bouncing between the second and third tier, mainly due to chaos emanating from their multiple owners. They are now owned by Mike Danson who, at the time of writing this, seems like a stable owner and someone who can get the club back on track. Let's hope so for the fans' sake.
Getting to Wigan is interesting. Wigan Wallgate, the town's main station has a direct connection from Leeds, however due to the many stops on that train, it is actually quicker to go to Wigan via Manchester Victoria, which is the way I would imagine most travellers would get there. As it stands, there's no tram link to Wigan from Manchester, however there's rumours that links to Wigan will be built on a tram line to Bolton.
Mr Dave Whelan is omnipresent around the club's ground, as if worshipped like some sort of deity. His face is plastered within the walls of the ground, his grin beaming from the stands, an iron statue of the man who famously broke his leg in the 1960 FA Cup final seems to have recovered from it well, standing tall and proud with the trophy held aloft.
The game itself was a fairly routine win for the home side against a Shrewsbury team that never looked like threatening (I don't remember keeper Sam Tickle ever making a save). To be fair, a victory looked bleak for the Shrews after just 5 minutes, with defender Chey Dunkley making an ill-timed tackle in the 5th minute of the game, leaving the referee with no choice but to brandish the red card. Keeper Marko Marosi was at hand to make a couple of fine saves, however he could do little to prevent Humphreys from scoring a stinging drive from just outside the box after 35 minutes.
Wigan continued to knock on the door, but a goal from Callum Lang sealed the deal in the 66th minute, heading in a cross after some good work by Callum McManaman on the byline. Another player who played in that 2013 FA Cup final. It's funny how things come full circle isn't it?
Despite not being amongst the goals or assists, I do want to mention Martial Godo, a winger on loan from Fulham. He was absolutely electric today, with his close control, dribbling and most importantly, decision making in the final third. Had his teammates been a little more prolific, he may have been amongst the stats himself. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if he plays game for his parent side next season. When I spoke to Wigan fans about Godo, they reckon that he's the best loan player they've had since Reece James. Now that's a player worth keeping an eye on!
Wigan 2-0 Shrewsbury 28/10/2023
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