Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic Football Club were founded in 1932 and are currently competing in the Championship, the second tier of English football.

They are based in Greater Manchester and play their home games at the DW Stadium. They share this ground with the rugby league team from the town, Wigan Warriors.

The highlight in the history of the club came back in May 2013, when they won the FA Cup at Wembley after beating Manchester City 1-0. That success also gained them entry into the UEFA Europa League, their first taste of European football for the 2013-2014 season.

They were promoted to the Premier League in 2005 and the year later they recorded their highest ever league position as they finished the 2005/2006 campaign in 10th place in the top flight.

Wigan Athletic represent the fifth attempt at establishing a stable football club in the town. They followed Wigan Borough, who folded not long after formation due to financial difficulties. There were also attempts with Wigan County, Wigan United, and Wigan Town.

The club's initial home was Springfield Park. They played here until 1999 before moving to a new all-seater stadium.

Following the resignation of Manchester Central, Wigan Athletic were elected into the Cheshire County League. Their first league game came against Port Vale Reserves on August 27th, 1932. 

The Latics eventually won the Cheshire league in 1934, landing their maiden honours as a club. A year later they defended that title and entered the FA Cup for the very first time. They beat league side Carlisle United 6-1. That is a record still held to this day in the competition, for the widest margin of defeat of a league club by non-league opposition.

Wigan finally got their break into the Football League on June 2nd, 1978. They were elected to take the place of Southport, who had finished bottom of the fourth division the season before.

The club were taken over by local businessman Dave Whelan in 1995 and success soon followed as the owner of JJB Sports invested his own money into the club.

They won the 3rd Division in 1997. This was their first league trophy in the Football League. They then had to wait until 2003 to get out of the Second Division; they did so as winners.

Their rise to the top league was complete when they finished runners-up in the Championship in 2005 to gain entry into the lucrative Premier League.

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