Wigan Athletic Football Club

Wigan Athletic football club is based in Greater Manchester and was founded in 1932. The club has never really challenged for any major trophy but has won Second Division and Third Division titles. Wigan Athletic was promoted to the Premier Division in 2004 and has since maintained its top flight status. Wigan Athletic initially played at Springfield Park and Wigan moved to the 25,000 capacity DW stadium in 1999.

Wigan Athletic soccer team has a pre-dominantly blue shade with only one side being a bit white. The shorts are of a similar design. Wigan Athletic is nicknamed 'The Latics'.

Club Chairman:
Dave Whelan

Club Manager:
Former club player Roberto Martinez has been managing the club since 2009.

Club Legends:
Kevin Langley, Mathew O' Neill, Andy Liddell

Current Captain
Scottish center back Gary Caldwell currently captains the Wigan Athletic Football Club.

Club Records:
Wigan Athletic has won the second division and third division titles once. The club's biggest achievement remains the Carling Cup final which it played with Manchester United.

Club Rivals:
Chorley F.C., Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End

Interesting Fact:
Wigan Athletic football club is the youngest club in the Premier League having been founded just 79 years ago.

Written by Moiz Siddiqui

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Latest News About Wigan Athletic Football Club

Everton vs. Wigan Athletic Preview |EPL| Sat, 17 Sep, 2011

Everton had a very fine game last weekend which they should have won but only managed to draw against Aston Villa. The team looked good without their influential captain Arteta who left for Arsenal in the transfer window. Everton would want to win this game though to banish their memories of the draw last weekend. Wigan went down to Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup and are at an all time low after being thrashed 3-0 by  Manchester City in their last League outing. Wigan would like to recover from their back to back defeats and would like to start winning again.

A win at Goodison Park is not going to be easy though for the Latics and they would be content even with a draw just to put an end to their losing streak. Everton would feel that they missed a golden opportunity to grab all three points against Aston Villa and would not want a repeat of the last game in this fixture. They would go all out for a win this Saturday.

Both managers have a fully fit squad to choose from and there are no injury concerns for both squads.

Everton manager David Moyes would like his boys to be ruthless in front of goals and would want Cahill to start scoring while Wigan manager Roberto Martinez would rely on Ben Watson to supply the goals for his side.

 

Everton Player to Watch: Tim Cahill

Wigan Player to Watch: Ben Watson

Venue: Goodison Park

Form guide:
Everton: LLWWD
Wigan: DDWLL

Injuries:

Everton: None

Wigan: None

USoccers Prediction: Everton 1-0 Wigan Athletic

 

Manchester City vs. Wigan Athletic Review |EPL| Sat, 10 Sep, 2011

Final Score:  Man City 3-0 Wigan

Goal scorers:  Sergio Aguero (13, 63, 69 minutes)

Bookings:

Arsenal: None

Udinese: None

Man of the Match: Sergio Aguero

 

Manchester City put in a class performance to trounce a Wigan side that was lacking self belief. Sergio Aguero demonstrated why he is a very lethal striker and his partnership with David Silva became more strong as the two of them terrorised the Wigan defence at every opportunity that they had.

Manchester City dominated the game from the beginning. The passing and movement of the players showed that they were brimming with confidence after demolishing Tottenham in their last fixture. Aguero opened the scoring after Silva had his shot blocked by the Wigan keeper. The Argentine forward scored two more goals in the second half to complete his hat-trick. Wigan merely defended but failed to stop Manchester City from breaching their defences thrice.

Manchester City are now placed second in the League table after Manchester United won their game too. The brilliant form of the Manchester City forwards is a very good sign and manager Roberto Mancini would like them to carry their form in their upcoming encounters in the Premiere League and in the Champions League.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez was expecting a win from this fixture but was disappointed with his team’s capitulation at the hands of Aguero but was adamant that his team would bounce back from this defeat.

Manchester City vs. Wigan Athletic Preview |EPL| Sat, 10 Sep, 2011

Manchester City are having an excellent start tot the season and would love to build on their demolition of Tottenham at White Hart Lane with a home victory against Wigan. Wigan also enjoyed a win in their last fixture and would like to continue their good form.

Manchester City have again spend heavily this summer and their acquisitions are coming good too. They absolutely murdered Tottenham in their last outing and are only behind Manchester United in the League Table only because of a lesser goal difference. Wigan were impressive against QPR but beating Manchester City in the form that they are in is very difficult to foresee.

Both managers have no injury concerns and can choose from a fully fit squad. Manchester City signed Owen Hargreaves on the last day of the transfer window but he is most likely to sit this match out.

Manchester City would want to keep pressure on Manchester United and considering that it is a home game would like to score as many goals as they can to bolster their goal difference. On paper there is a massive quality difference in between Manchester City and Wigan and is most likely to be a stroll in the park for the Citizens but Wigan is going to try and scrape a draw.

 

Man City Player to Watch: Aguero

Wigan Player to Watch: Franco Di Santo

Venue: The City of Manchester Stadium

Form guide:
Man City: WLWWW
Wigan: WWDDW

Injuries:

Man City: None

Wigan: None

USoccers Prediction: Manchester City 3-0 Wigan Athletic

 

Wigan Athletic vs. QPR Preview |EPL| Sat, 27 Aug, 2011

Wigan will clash with QPR at the DW stadium this Saturday. Both teams have had a mix start to the Premier League season.

Wigan have drawn both of their games against the newly promoted Norwich City and Swansea City. Wigan fans would have been expecting a better start and more returns than a meagre two points after seeing their point playing against the promoted clubs at first.

QPR on the other hand were thrashed in their opening week fixture against Bolton but bounced back excellently against Everton to defeat them at the Goodison Park 1-0.

The change in the QPR ownership has brought a great deal of anticipation among the fans as a number of players will be seemingly signed by QPR before the transfer deadline.

Wigan have three injury concerns for the match with both Alcaraz and Ghouri out for the match with Moses being a major doubt as well. QPR will be missing Dyer, Orr and Mackie for the match.

It is a six-pointer even at this early stage and both teams would give it their all to win the match.

Wigan Athletic Player to Watch: Hugo Rodallega

QPR Player to Watch: Jay Bothroyd

Venue: DW Stadium

Form guide:

Wigan: DDWWDD

QPR: WLLWDD

Injuries:

Wigan: Gohouri, Moses, Alcaraz

QPR: Kieron Dyer, Mackie, Orr

USoccers Prediction: Wigan Athletic 2-1 QPR

 

Swansea vs. Wigan Preview |EPL| Sat, 20 Aug, 2011

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez will return to his ex-team as Wigan travel to Swansea this weekend. Swansea started their campaign with a drubbing against Manchester City as Swansea were the first to face the wrath of Kun Aguero. Wigan could only muster a draw against newly promoted Norwich City at home.

Roberto Martinez will be looking to inflict defeat against his former employers at Liberty Park as he has a fully fit squad to play with. Gary Monk remains the only doubt for Swansea as he recovers from his injury.

The game is being seen as a six pointer even though the season is just one week old. The team which can walk away with the three points will certainly benefit in the long-run.

Wigan Player to Watch: Hugo Rodallega

Swansea Player to Watch: Nathan Dyer

Venue: Liberty Park

Form guide:
Swansea: LWWDWW
Wigan: DWWDDL

Injuries:
Swansea: Gary Monk
Wigan: Antolin Alcaraz

USoccers Prediction: Swansea 1-1 Wigan Athletic

 

Wigan Athletic vs. Norwich City Preview |EPL| Sat, 13 Aug, 2011

There are many exciting match-ups on the starting day of the season and this clash is certainly one of them. Wigan clutched onto their Premier League status even after flirting with it for almost all the season would require to make an even greater effort this time around. Norwich on the other hand have regained Premiership status only two years after they found themselves in League One.

Wigan have been further weakened in the transfer window with the club’s most influential player- Charles N’Zogbia- signing for the Villans. The Latics have only signed Ali Al-Habsi to end their goalkeeping woes but remain really poor in all other departments.

Norwich City’s manager Paul Lambert has lost six and signed seven players in the transfer window. There is no jury on how the team would gel after going through such restructuring this season but Lambert would certainly have them geed up for the game.

Wigan will not be having the services of young midfielder McCarthy while Norwich’s new striker Michael Vaughan would miss out this clash as well.

Roberto Martinez would not want a replay of the season opener last season when Blackpool thumped Wigan at their home turf. However, Paul Lambert would surely remind his players how Blackpool- also got promoted after winning the Cup- beat Wigan just about a year ago.

Wigan Player to Watch: Hugo Rodallega

Norwich City Player to Watch: Holt

Venue: DW Stadium

Form guide (last season):
Wigan: WLDDWW
Norwich: DWWWWD

Injuries:
Wigan: James McCarthy
Norwich: Michael Vaughan, Elliot Ward

USoccers Prediction: Wigan 2-2 Norwich City

 

Wigan Athletic 2011-12 Preview- Relegation a big possibility

Losing N’Zogbia to Villa has weakened the club big time and Wigan may well find it difficult to survive this season even though the club has miraculously survived for the last two seasons after remaining in the bottom 3 almost all the time.

Star Man: Hugo Rodallega

After N’Zogbia, Rodallega is the only player who has been the shining star for Wigan. With N’Zogbia gone, the entire onus now remains on Rodallega to perform.

One to Watch: James McCarthy

James McCarthy really is an exciting talent. His performances last season caught quite a bit of attention and he will be the focus of attention of many top managers this time around.

Manager: Roberto Martinez

Martinez has performed miracles in the last two seasons by keeping Wigan Atletic still kicking in the PL. However, it was a very close shave last season and a bad start against the promotion teams may well get him fired.

Ins:

Ali Al-Habsi (Undisclosed from Bolton Wanderers- Keeper)

OUTs:

Charles N’Zogbia (£ 9,500,000 to Aston Villa)

Antonio Amaya (Undisclosed to Real Betis)

Steven Caldwell (Free transfer to Birmingham City)

Best Signing:

Ali Al-Habsi impressed last season when on loan from Bolton and is certainly a good addition to the squad. He is an upgrade on Chris Kirkland and may well win some games for Wigan with spectacular saves on his day.

Likely Top Scorer:

Hugo Rodallega is the most talented player in the whole team. No one will even come close to Rodallega in the goal scoring department next season.

Possible Best XI:

Ali Al-Habsi, Steve Gohouri, Antolin Alcaraz, Gary Caldwell, Maynor Figueroa, James McCarthy, Mohamed Diame, Hendry Thomas, Ben Watson, Hugo Rodallega, Franco Di Santo

Predicted Finish: 19^th

 

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We have to start winning: Benitez

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has called upon his players to return to winning ways against Wigan, as they look to keep their title hopes alive.

The Reds have drawn their last 3 games, and have conceded the advantage to Manchester United, who are now top of the table.

“Clearly we have to win games,” Benitez told the media today.

“Not just now, always – when you are towards the top of the table every single game is important. But I think we showed the other day against Everton that we were much better.

“We had a lot of confidence, we had a lot of possession and we had control of the game. If we keep playing this way then I am sure that we will win games.

“This is an opportunity for us. We are playing away with the same confidence we had the other day and now we just have to make sure we take the chances that we create.”

He remains confident that his team are capable of turning their fortunes around and winning the Premier League this season: “You can see in training sessions that the players are very confident that we can do important things this year.”

Real ready for Saviola-Valencia swap

Real Madrid are looking to sign a new winger, and are interested in bringing in Antonia Valencia from Wigan, as part of an exchange with Javier Saviola going the other way.

Real coach Juande Ramos has once again insisted that he wants a new winger before the transfer window shuts is a must in order to improve his squad and push on in the league and Europe.

Valencia is Real’s first option and, Madrid’s only choice, however, they have already seen a bid rebuffed by a defiant Wigan. In case an improved offer of 15 million euros is refused then Madrid are keen offer Saviola on a loan deal and Valencia moving temporarily to Spain.

Saviola is also said to be interesting Portsmouth and PSV, but if Madrid want to use him as part of a deal to land Valencia then he will have little choice.