| Full name | Wigan Town Association Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Town | |
| Founded | 1905 | |
| Dissolved | May 1908 | |
| Ground | Springfield Park | |
| Capacity | 30,000 (approx) | |
| Secretary | Robert Charnley | |
| Trainer | Fred Fairhurst [1] | |
| League | The Combination, Lancashire Combination | |
Wigan Town A.F.C. was an association football club from Wigan, Lancashire which operated between July 1905 and May 1908.
The first public appearance of the club was an exhibition match between the Probables (made up of local men) and the Possibles (players from further afield, brought together by Mr Dale, a committee member) on Christmas Day 1905, which attracted 8,000 to Springfield Park, suggesting that there was a potential strong following for the association game in a rugby league stronghold. [2]
The first game Town played was a friendly against Hull City on 30 December 1905 which it lost 5–7. [1] In January 1906 they were admitted to The Combination where they took over the fixtures of Middlewich F.C. who had folded. The club finished bottom of the league adding only 5 points to total achieved by the club they replaced. [3] Nevertheless, the club applied to join the Football League, club secretary Charnley - the son of the Football League secretary - stating at the re-election meeting that it would be willing to spend £2,000 on the side; however, the bid only gained 5 votes, with 21 votes required to oust Clapton Orient. [4]
The 1906–07 season was the most successful with a third-place finish in the Combination. In January 1907 the club was suspended "sine die" for "supposed wrong treatment of certain players" which amounted to unpaid wages to three members of the playing staff. [5] The ban was lifted after a couple of weeks when the debts were settled. Scotsman, James Harold was appointed manager in February 1907 [6] and he arranged friendly matches at Springfield Park with Preston North End, Sheffield United, Stoke, Birmingham, and Aston Villa, all First Division clubs at the time. At the end of this season Town successfully gained entry to the Lancashire Combination Division 2, but failed in an attempt to gain entry to the Football League Division 2 for the second consecutive season. [7]
The final season, 1907–08, started with the club placing a bond of £20 with the Lancashire Combination as a guarantee that Town would fulfil all their commitments in the coming nine months, such was the belief that the club would fold during the season. [8] Early results were good until James Harold left in October 1907 from which point the club went into freefall with huge defeats including 12–0 against Colne, 8–0 versus Nelson and 10–1 against Haslingden after the new year. [9] In January 1908 a reporter for the Wigan Examiner accused Wigan Rugby League Club of having a "pre-determination to bring a clashing engagement with every home fixture of the Town" in order to put them out of business. [10] In April of the same year, club treasurer, J. Yarwood, announced a scheme which invited "the working men of Wigan and District" to pay a subscription towards the formation of a new club; [11] this too failed to capture the attention of the public and was wound up in June 1908 with all monies returned. [12]
On 21 May 1908, it was announced that Wigan Town had not applied for re-election to the Lancashire Combination after finishing next to bottom of the league that season. [13] It is assumed that they folded around this time as there is no record of a return for the 1908–09 competition.
In the opening Probables v Possibles match, the Probables wore blue and white striped shirts, and the Possibles donned an Aston Villa-style claret with blue sleeves. [14] At some point the club seems to have adopted red shirts with white trim, [15] but for 1907–08 the club wore black and white stripes. [16]
The club played at Springfield Park. [2]
Wigan Borough Football Club was an English football club from the town of Wigan, Lancashire. their forerunners were Wigan A.F.C., Wigan County, Wigan United and Wigan Town, County and Town having folded.
Nelson Football Club is an English football club based in Nelson, Lancashire. Originally established in 1882, the club played in the Lancashire League, North-East Lancashire Combination, Lancashire Combination and Central League before becoming founding members of the Football League Third Division North in 1921. They were Third Division North champions in 1923 and were promoted to the Second Division. However, they were relegated back to the Third Division North after a single season.
Burscough Football Club is an English football club based in Burscough, Lancashire. The club is a member of the North West Counties League, and competes in the Premier Division. Its home ground is The Community Stadium, in Burscough.
Springfield Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was the home ground of Wigan Athletic F.C. until the club moved to the new JJB Stadium after the 1998–99 season. At its largest, the stadium held 40,000. In its 102-year existence the ground only saw 32 years as a Football League venue, 11 years for Wigan Borough F.C. and 21 years for Wigan Athletic FC, before it was demolished to make way for a housing estate in 1999.
Lancelot Beaumont "Lance" Todd was a New Zealand-born rugby league footballer and manager of the early 20th century. As a player, he represented New Zealand in 1907 and 1908 and played in England for the Wigan and Dewsbury clubs. He later became the manager at Salford and led the club to three League Championships and one Challenge Cup victory.
Wigan County F.C. was a football club Wigan at national level. They were the first football team to play their games at Springfield Park and would be followed by Wigan United, Wigan Town, Wigan Borough and Wigan Athletic.
William Smith, commonly known as Stockport Smith, was an English footballer. His regular position was as an inside right, but he also played in various other forward positions and even as a wing half on occasion. He played for Stockport County, Manchester City, and Newton Heath. He joined Manchester City from Stockport in 1897 and scored 22 goals in 54 league appearances in three years at the club. He is often confused with another William Smith who played for Manchester City at the same time; because of this, they were known to Manchester City fans by the clubs they were signed from; this William Smith is referred to as "Stockport Smith" and the other as "Buxton Smith".
Frederick Augustus Ford Smith was an English footballer who played as a full back in the period prior to World War I.
George Frederick Tyson was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and England, and at club level for Oldham, as a wing.
Tom White was an English rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Somerset, at armed services level for the Army, and at club level for Bath (captain) and Bristol as a goal-kicking scrum-half or fly-half/outside-half, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain, England and Lancashire, and at club level for Oldham, as a goal-kicking wing, stand-off, or scrum-half.
James Leytham, also known by the nickname of "Gentleman Jim", was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1890s, 1900s and 1910s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Lancashire, and at club level for Lancaster and Wigan (captain), as a wing.
Thomas Bertie "Bert" Jenkins was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Troedyrhiw RFC and Mountain Ash RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain, Wales and Lancashire, and at club level for Wigan, as a centre.
Joseph Ferguson was an English professional rugby league footballer who played between 1899 and 1923. He played at representative level for England, Cumberland and Lancashire, and at club level for Oldham, as a fullback, prop, hooker, or second-row.
Wigan United A.F.C. was an association football club existing from around 1896 into the early 1900s, and was based in Wigan, Lancashire, England.
Gateshead Association Football Club was a football club based in Gateshead, County Durham, England. The club was formed in South Shields in 1899 as South Shields Adelaide Athletic. After success in the North Eastern League prior to World War I, they were voted into the Football League in 1919. Financial problems in the late 1920s saw the club relocate to Gateshead in 1930, adopting the name of their new town. They remained in the Football League until 1960, when they were surprisingly voted out of the Football League and replaced by Peterborough United, despite not having had to apply for re-election since 1937. They subsequently played in regional leagues before folding in 1973. In order to replace them, another South Shields club was then moved to Gateshead, becoming Gateshead United.
Thomas Green was an English footballer who played as a winger in the Football League for New Brighton Tower, Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Stockport County.
Jack Barton was an English professional rugby league footballer who played between 1901 and 1910. He played at club level for Wigan as a forward.
Brymbo Victoria F.C. were a Welsh football club based in Brymbo, Wales. They started the 2021–22 season as members of the North East Wales Football League Premier Division before resigning from the league in August 2021 and dissolving the club.
William Biggers, known during his playing career as Billy Biggar, was an English professional footballer who made over 210 appearances as a goalkeeper in the Southern League for Watford. In all competitions for the Hornets, he made 283 appearances and scored two penalties. Earlier in his career, Biggar appeared in the Football League for Sheffield United. He latterly made over 200 appearances in all competitions for non-League club Rochdale. Biggar also acted as trainer at Rochdale and coached at Earlestown.
Joseph Wilson was an English professional footballer who played as a centre half in the Football League for Blackburn Rovers. He also played for Brighton & Hove Albion and Millwall of the Southern League, and played for that league's representative team.
