RETURN OF A LATIC’S LEGEND

At his Fans Forum, Roberto Martinez said that he instils the spirit of Springfield Park into his players and that he makes sure they know exactly where the club has come from. Well Geoff Davies is one of those players that played a great part in the non-league days at Wigan and in his short spell with us made a lasting mark.

He, along with Ken Barlow, author of ‘Mild and Bitter Were the Days’, will be in the Supporters Club Bar, At the Robin Park Sports Centre next door to the Café (what used to be Champion’s Bar) before the match with Sunderland. The bar opens at around 12.30 p.m., with Geoff and Ken being there from around 1.30 p.m.. They will be holding a questions and answers session and so those who want to ask about what it was like back then can do so.

Ken will have his book on sale which both author and player will be happy to sign, that goes for anybody who has already bought a copy, bring it along to have it personally signed.

‘Geoff Davies signed for Latics in the summer of 1970 for a reported £800.00p from Northwich Vics.

He scored no less than five hat-tricks within the first three months of signing and ended up with 42 goals that season (1970/71) with Gordon Milne, Derek Temple, Jim Fleming and Graham Oates providing the ammunition as Latics powered their way to the Northern Premier League title.
Geoff also very nearly saved the day in the classic FA cup tie away at Manchester City when his header was touched onto the post by City’s keeper Joe Corrigan in the last minute, oh how it hurt, and still does!

The following season he scored 28 goals, despite injuries, and was quickly signed up by what was at the time ‘a bigger club’, namely Chester City. A classic example of how some things at Wigan Athletic never change yet paradoxically, everything has changed!

Geoff went on to have a successful league career with spells at Chester, Wrexham, Port Vale and Wimbledon. He also enjoyed a spell in the USA where he played with, and sometimes against, such world stars as Pele, George Best, Cruyff and Beckenbauer.

Geoff has many happy memories of playing for Latics and to this day recalls the physical demands of playing three times a week whilst travelling to training in fog, ice and snow.

A far cry from his current lifestyle in the USA where Geoff continues his love affair with football as a youth soccer coach in California.’

Ken Barlow is author of ‘Mild and Bitter Were The Days’ which depicts Ken’s days being a sixteen year old Latics fan in 1970, click here for the book details. www.mildandbitter.co.uk

Do you remember being sixteen? Learning to love music and girls. Receiving painful knock backs from girls. Lying in bed till dinner time. Learning to love your local, non-league football club.

Ken Barlow’s – no not that one – fabulous book ‘Mild & Bitter Were The Days’ captures all these emotions and much much more. Quite why he decided to keep a diary whilst growing up in Wigan in 1970 even Ken doesn’t know but cross Adrian Mole with Non League football and you’ll get a pretty good idea of the content.

As Ken describes:

It was Wigan 1970 and terrace violence was beginning to dominate football, even non-league Wigan Athletic had their ‘boot-boys’. Elsewhere, Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull were breaking new ground in rock music. Meanwhile Ken remained perplexed by the fairer sex leading him to conclude that, “…life
wur pot”

But this book is about so much more than that. It’s about friendships and relationship and knockbacks and wondering just what life has in store. Football is the underlying passion and of course Wigan Athletic was a pretty successful side in non-league and cup giant killing circles during this era.

To summarise then…..
Ken, alongside book contributor Geoff Davies, will be making an appearance on Saturday 28th November at Wigan Athletic Supporters Club Bar, At the Robin Park Sports Centre next door to the Café (what used to be Champion’s Bar) from 1.30 p.m. to 2.15 p.m. where you can chat to them both, plus for anybody who hasn’t already bought a copy of Ken’s book you’ll be able to purchase a signed copy of his book for a mere £9.99.

Tickets for this forum sold out two weeks before the event and sold over 100 more than either of Steve Bruce’s and Pauls Jewell’s.

Roberto Martinez

The fans that turned up were not to be disappointed either as the Spanish maestro woo’d them with is calm and honest responses to all the questions, even one about “Why there was a lack of fixture cards at the ticket office?”.

Unlike his predecessors, he didn’t once stray away from calling Wigan Athletic ‘our club’ or ‘how we are going to do’ as though Latics is part of his family, and to a point I genuinely believe that his heart pumps Wigan Athletic blood around his body.

His hour long stint lasted for over 90 minutes and in that time he explained about how he uses tactics, not hoof ball, where he expects us to be and how plus shed a bit of light into what dealings he will undertake in January.

The questions started off really easy! With one of the audience asking what was really said in the Fergiegate scandal, and after having a joke explained who the Spanish press were desperate to have support for Rafa in the quest to knock Manchester United and its manager and so misquoted Bobby to that effect.

He went on to tell us that he preferred the UK press as he knew where he stood with them. Questions were asked about why the players and why they played in the positions they did. Bobby said he could keep us there all week when it came to tactics and he would constantly change tactics to play against every team. But in a nutshell he plays Rodallega on the flanks because he basically to light to play up front in this system. He explained that the Columbian causes far more problems to opposition out there and ultimately will get far more chances to score there.

Scotland is perfect for the centre forward spot because of the size and presence of the player, he went on to say that he still doesn’t know whether he is left or right footed he is that good with both feet. He is a handful and although hasn’t scored yet he has provided the platform for others to get chances and that is what he asks of him, he went on to promise that when he does get that elusive goal we will see a totally different player that will go on to score plenty.

On why N’Zogbia was put at left back against Fulham, he was straight when he told us that he wanted to win the game and they way he thought we could do that was by having as many attacking options on the pitch as he could and so he brought Sinclair on for Edman who had surprised him by lasting as long as he did.

He gave us a bit of good news about Maynor Figueroa, the initial thoughts were that he would be out for the rest of the year, but he shocked us by saying he will probably feature against his current suitors - Sunderland. Bobby cited that the left back had chosen to stay at Latics in the summer as he wanted to repay the faith we had shown in him, although he wouldn’t be drawn on what would happen in the January window.

Commenting on Jordi Gomez he still thinks we will see a lot more from him. He said he had to throw him in too early and that he feels in time the Spaniard will prove to Wigan fans that he is a quality player and that he will make an impression in the Premier League. We have to remember that he is still very young and that he will improve and we will see it before the end of the season.

He feels that Chris Kirkland is playing at the top of his game and through the worst of his injuries. He thinks that he is a very strong contender for the England job in South Africa as there is no better English keeper at the moment than him.

Paul Scharner is apparently as happy as he has ever been at Wigan right now, his comments about leaving every year is confounded by the fact that he is our longest serving player at the moment and that he playing his best football right now and enjoying himself at the club right now. He did though mention that as his contract runs out in the summer, if something cannot be negotiated with him before January, then the club would have to think out what they are to do with regards to him.

On January he did say that we are very short on numbers, but he does have his eye on four players and funds are now available for new players now that the books are balanced. He feels that over the next two months the team will be mentally right and that over the next six months we will be playing the right way as well. The confidence will grow and although it will probably be too much of an ask for a Europa League place this season (he wants those 40 points ASAP), he did specify that we will be looking to have the squad and the performances to get us to that next level within the next two to three years.

Someone actually suggested why Zaki is not a consideration and was just the chairman that was putting a block on him. He replied: “It is not just the chairman, it is the players the staff even the tea lady who doesn’t want him back”.

He also was asked about Catters, to which he said, although they made great strides in Austria and he was happy there, he said that the constant chasing wore him down to the point that he was persuaded to leave and at the end of the day he as much as handed a transfer request in. Bobby stressed that although they want to keep players, they will not keep players here that don’t want to be there.

When asked about the Youth Policy, he said the problem lay with UK Youth policy not with Wigan, too many kids are thrown into games too young, are bought by  top teams too young and nobody is allowed to develop. Kids should be allowed to ply the trade until they are 22 – 23 apart from rare exceptions. But the UK clubs as a whole doesn’t allow them this and so it is hard for clubs to develop any talent never mind for us to develop local kids.

Bobby want all the players at the Club to be aware of where we came from and he wants the Springfield Park spirit to be instilled in all of them. He wants the club back in the community and he is going to provide the football that will get the crowds into the games.

A couple of snippets of info for us were, his favourite players are Ian Kilford, Arjan de Zeeuw and Andy Liddell; they all feature very strongly in his memories. He also said about his best times at Springfield Park…. Tuesday nights, no team ever enjoyed playing us on Tuesday night.

The final word goes out to Cockney Latic’s ticket winner Andrew Freeman.. Did you get those flowers for your question????

Click here to disucuss this issue and many more on the Cockney Latic message board.

Road distance from DW Stadium – 19.9 miles
Travelling time – 39 minutes approx.
Coach departure – 5.30 p.m.
Game kick off – 8.00pm

• You can book with the Supporters Club in the Supporters Club Lounge prior to home games.
• Telephone booking call 01942 829988
• You can also book directly with Mayfair Travel – 59 Wigan Lane, Wigan, WN1 2LF

* Membership cards must be shown upon request.
* The Supporters Club can no longer allow concessions (under 16 years) to travel unless accompanied by an adult member.

Ticket Information
Wigan Athletic have received a total allocation of 939 tickets for the Barclays Premier League away fixture with Liverpool to be played on Wednesday 16th December 2009 at Anfield (8.00pm kick off).Match tickets will go on sale to 2009/2010 corporate season ticket holders and existing Premier and President Club members from 9am on Thursday 26th November 2009 (one ticket per valid season ticket).These tickets will then go on sale to 2009/2010 home season ticket holders from 9am on Friday 27th November 2009 (one ticket per valid season ticket).In the event of any match tickets remaining, they will go on general sale to registered supporters of Wigan Athletic with a previous booking history for fixtures at the DW Stadium from 9am on Friday 4th December 2009.
Anfield Road Stand (Lower Tier)
Adults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £36.00
Over 65 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £27.00
Under 17 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£18.00
Disabled/Ambulant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £27.00**
Adults (restricted view) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £35.00
Over 65 (restricted view) . . . . . . . . . . . . .£26.50
Under 17 (restricted view) . . . . . . . . . . . .£17.50
Ambulant (restricted view) . . . . . . . . . . . .£26.50**
Adults (severely restricted view) . . . . . . .£33.00
Over 65 (severely restricted view) . . . . . £25.00
Under 17 (severely restricted view) . . . £16.50
Ambulant (severely restricted view) . . . £25.00**

** (includes free carer if eligible)

TELEPHONE TICKET ENQUIRIES – 0871 663 3552

Map & Directions

1985 Freight Rover Trophy Winners

This season’s Wigan Athletic Supporters Club Annual Dinner will be held in the South Stand Suite of the DW Stadium on 19th March 2009 and hopefully we will have as many of the players that helped to win the Freight Rover Trophy there to celebrate the occasion.

Latics fought their way through five northern area games before eventually beating Mansfield Town on penalties to reach the Wembley final against Brentford.

It was a dream day for us as we swept our southern opponents away, winning 3-1 with Mike Newell, Tony Kelly and David Lowe on the score sheet.

This Dinner has the makings of being a classic and shouldn’t be missed. Tickets are now on sale and can be ordered by emailing info@wastc.co.uk or by ringing Spike on 07816 150 106.

Prices start from £30 for single seats, a discount of 10% will be given for full tables of ten being booked. All tickets must be paid for up front and it will be a first come first serve basis.

Book now as the event is certain to sell out quick.

Road distance from DW Stadium – 51.7 miles
Travelling time – 59 minutes approx.
Coach departure – 10.15 a.m.
Game kick off – 12.45pm

• You can book with the Supporters Club in the Supporters Club Lounge prior to home games.
• Telephone booking call 01942 829988
• You can also book directly with Mayfair Travel – 59 Wigan Lane, Wigan, WN1 2LF

* Membership cards must be shown upon request.
* The Supporters Club can no longer allow concessions (under 16 years) to travel unless accompanied by an adult member.

Ticket Information

Wigan Athletic have received an allocation of 1,151 tickets for the Barclays Premier League away fixture with Stoke City to be played on Saturday 12th December 2009 at Britannia Stadium (12.45pm kick off).

Match tickets will go on sale to 2009/2010 corporate season ticket holders and existing Premier and President Club members from 9am on Monday 23rd November 2009 (one ticket per valid season ticket).

These tickets will then go on sale to 2009/2010 home season ticket holders from 9am on Tuesday 24th November 2009 (one ticket per valid season ticket).

In the event of any match tickets remaining, they will go on general sale to registered supporters of Wigan Athletic with a previous booking history for fixtures at the DW Stadium from 9am on Monday 30th November 2009.

South Stand
Adults . . . . . . . . . . . . . £25.00
Over 65 years . . . . . . £19.00
Under 17 years . . . . .£15.00
Under 11 years . . . . . £12.00
Disabled/Ambulant . .£19.00**

**(includes free carer if eligible)

TELEPHONE TICKET ENQUIRIES – 0871 663 3552

Map & Directions

Roberto Martinez

NOW SOLD OUT

Wigan Athletic in association with Wigan Athletic Supporters Club have announced that the first Roberto Martinez Fans Forum will be held in the DW Sports Fitness Lounge, located in the South Stand of the DW Stadium on Tuesday 17th November at 7pm.

On what promises to be a memorable and entertaining evening Supporters Club Memebers will enjoy a massive reduction for tickets to the event that will be hosted by Graham Lovett. Roberto will be taking questions from the floor which he will answer with his usual honesty and candour and of course he will be available afterwards fro autographs and pictures.

It is a rare opportunity for fans to get a unique insight into what it is like to be a Premiership manager and how the team are developing. Roberto will look back on his summer return to Latics, the progress of the team and his aspirations for this season and beyond.

Roberto is looking forward to the event and said, “We are all on an incredible journey and everyone knows that returning to Wigan Athletic was a dream of mine. Already, supporters are able to see the way I want the team to play and I look forward to being able to address our great fan base. I look forward to seeing you all on the night.”

Tickets, to include a hot pot supper, can be purchased at the DW Stadium Ticket Office, Latics Club shop or via the Supporters Club before the Fulham game on Sunday 8th November. They are priced at a very reasonable £2 for Supporters Club members or £5 for non-members. That’s right, if you are Supporters Club member you get in for just £2.

The event sold out last season and with this being Roberto’s first forum it is sure to be another popular evening so those wishing to attend should purchase tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Membership of the Supporters Club is just £5 per season which allows you to travel on the coaches and gain access to the Supporters Club Lounge in the Robin Park Sports Centre, non-members will have to pay a door charge of £1 per person per match – NO EXCEPTIONS.

You can apply for membership at any of the home league games at the Supporters Club Lounge in the Robin Park Sports complex, next door to the Cafe in the Sports Centre.

Bookings for coaches will also be taken at all the home league games in the Supporters Lounge or by calling in Mayfair Travel on Wigan Lane, their number is 01942 829988.

Road distance from DW Stadium - 205 miles
Travelling time – 3 hours 34 minutes approx.
Coach departure – TBC
Game kick off – 8.30pm

• You can book with the Supporters Club in the Supporters Club Lounge prior to home games.
• Telephone booking call 01942 829988
• You can also book directly with Mayfair Travel – 59 Wigan Lane, Wigan, WN1 2LF

* Membership cards must be shown upon request.
* The Supporters Club can no longer allow concessions (under 16 years) to travel unless accompanied by an adult member.

Ticket Information

Wigan Athletic have been allocated a total of 565 tickets for the Barclays Premier League away fixture with Tottenham Hotspur to be played on Sunday 22nd November 2009 at White Hart Lane (3.00pm kick off).

Match tickets will go on sale to 2009/2010 corporate season ticket holders and existing Premier and President Club members from 9am on Monday 9th November 2009 (one ticket per valid season ticket).

These tickets will then go on sale to 2009/2010 home season ticket holders from 9am on Tuesday 10th November 2009 (one ticket per valid season ticket).

In the event of any match tickets remaining, they will go on general sale to registered supporters of Wigan Athletic with a previous booking history for fixtures at the DW Stadium from 9am on Monday 16th November 2009.

Upper Tier
Adults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £27.40
Over 65 years . . . . . . . . . £17.70
Under 16 years . . . . . . .  £14.70
Disabled/Ambulant. . . . .£17.70 (includes free carer if eligible)

TELEPHONE TICKET ENQUIRIES – 0871 663 3552

Map & Directions