Founded: 1932
Nickname: The Latics
Honours: FA Cup 2012-13 League One Winners: 2002–03, 2015–16, 2017–18

When Wigan Athletic started its activity in 1932, which is relatively late for an English football club, had other local clubs such as Wigan County, Wigan Town, Wigan United and Wigan Borough existed for a while.

The Wigan club started climbing through the league system after finishing third in the Fourth Division in the 1981-82 season. After spending about two decades in Division 3 and Division 2, they could finally take the step to the top-flight in 2005. When they managed to stay in the exclusive Premier League for eight seasons in a row.

Storylines – Wigan

As we build-up to Tuesday nights game v Wigan at PTS Academy Stadium, we look at some storylines leading up to the game…

Playing Record

Accrington 0 Northampton 0 – League One

Joe Pritchard was sent off for Accrington Stanley as they played out a goalless draw with struggling Northampton Town.

After scoring six against Bristol Rovers in midweek, the promotion-chasing Reds drew a blank and winger Pritchard saw red in the 85th minute for two bookable offences.

The Cobblers were the better team in the first half but have now not won in six league games.

In the opening minute, Jack Sowerby forced a strong save from Nathan Baxter while the Stanley loan keeper had to finger-tip over a Peter Kioso header.

Sam Hoskins just failed to get a touch to a dangerous Ryan Edmondson cross, while the Reds best chance before the break fell to Tuesday’s hat-trick hero Dion Charles but he fired the ball into the side netting.

Clear-cut chances were limited after the break but a Pritchard backheel set up Colby Bishop in the area after 64 minutes, with his effort inches wide of the target.

Sowerby was a threat for Northampton and 10 minutes from the end his goalbound strike took a deflection.

Pritchard was booked in the 71st minute before a late challenge on Hoskins resulted in a red.

Wigan Athletic 2 AFC Wimbledon 2- League One

Wigan almost opened the scoring just before the midway point in the first half when Dan Gardner’s shot was blocked on the goalline.

And the visitors immediately took advantage at the other end when Jack Rudoni was able to tap home from close range.

It was almost 2-0 when Ethan Chislett cut in from the right, only to smash his effort against the underside of the bar.

And goal number two duly arrived on the half-hour with Joe Pigott this time being presented with an easy finish.

The home side gave themselves a lifeline on the stroke of half-time when Gardner’s corner was headed home by Curtis Tilt.

And it was 2-2 midway through the second period when an awful mistake in the visiting defence allowed Jamie Proctor to rifle home on his Wigan debut.

It looked as though there would only be one winner in the closing stages, with Wigan piling on the pressure.

But goalkeeper Jamie Jones was too slow in coming off his line with 15 minutes to go and clearly tripped Pigott for a stonewall penalty, which the Wimbledon striker picked himself up from and finished in style.

31 October 2020 – Wigan Athletic 2 Northampton Town 0

A grandstand finish was not enough to secure a point for Wigan as Northampton edged a League One thriller 3-2.

Visitors Northampton – who had lost each of their five visits to Wigan’s home since 1999 – took the lead in the 13th minute.

It was former Wigan academy starlet Ryan Watson who got the last touch, with Jamie Jones unable to get across in time.

It was 2-0 just eight minutes later, with Sam Hoskins taking advantage of some poor defending to walk through the middle before slotting into the net.

Credit must go to Wigan for their response in the second half, and it was game on when Tom Pearce was tripped in the box in the 63rd minute.

Skipper Joe Garner made no mistake from the spot, but the visitors took only three minutes to re-establish their two-goal advantage.

Chris Merrie gave the ball away cheaply, and he was punished as Caleb Chukwuemeka made no mistake from inside the area.

Still Wigan refused to throw in the towel, and Tom James made it 3-2 with a brilliant header from Pearce’s left-wing cross.

And it was almost 3-3 with five minutes to go, when Scotland Under-19s striker Kyle Joseph – off the bench for his league debut – turned sharply before seeing his low shot come back off the post.

Played	Won	Draw	Lost	F	A
36	6	12	18	31	52

Biggest Win over Wigan	05/11/1989 – 3-1 W – Graham Carr
Biggest Loss over Wigan	13/04/1999 – 3-0 L – Kevin Broadhurst
First-Ever Game	28/10/1978 – 2-0 L – Mike Keen

Ian Benjamin

Our played for both focus this week you can look at his playing record here. to view the players record log in to you free Cobblers Past account.

Playing Record

Played for Both – Wigan

Ahead of the Tuesday nights meeting between the Cobblers and Wigan. We look back at some of the players that have played for both the Cobblers and Wigan. How many do you remember?

Playing Record

The Tyne and Wear-based official will travel to the PTS Academy Stadium for his 19th game of the campaign and his fith in Sky Bet League One. The current campaign is his second in the EFL as the man in the middle.

His last game in charge this season was 2-2 draw at Salford V Harrogate. He sowed 4 yellow cards during this match. So far this season he has given 62 yellow cards and 0 red cards.

In 2019-20 season, he was in charge of 25 games given 62 yellow cards and 1 red cards.

His latest Cobblers Game

Date	Comp	Match	Y		R
22/02/2020	League Two Play Off	Northampton 0 Cheltenham 2	2		0

Fleetwood Town Games

Date	Comp	Match	Y	R
12/12/20	League One	Wigan 4 Accrington 1	2	0

Grant Taylor and Kevin Morris
Fourth Official : Alistair Nelson

Match Program

All season ticket holders will have access to watch the Wigan Athletic game on Tuesday on iFollow (7pm kick off.)

To check….

1. Log in to iFollow
2. Click your name in the top navigation bar to get to the ‘My Account page’
3. Click the + sign next to ‘Purchased Packages’blob:https://cobblerspast.com/44681459-eafa-49d4-8b87-7b9d9cb20003

If you have access, you will see ‘Season Ticket – Northampton Town’ listed here.

If you experience any issues, please email ifollow@ntfc.co.uk

Thank you for your support.

In addition, any iFollow match passes purchased for the original game just over a week ago will automatically be valid for the re-arranged game. If you purchased a pass for original date, no action is required, you can log in and watch the game.

Non season ticket holders who do not have a valid match pass can purchase the game for £10.

Northampton Town have one win from their last seven meetings against Wigan Athletic in third tier English football (L6). The win was achieved in their most recent match against the Latics in League One (3-2).
Wigan Athletic have won all three of their last away meetings against Northampton town in the English League. They have scored five and conceded none in these matches.
Northampton have one win in their last 10 matches in League One (D3 L6), they have failed to score in seven matches during this run.
Wigan have two wins from their 10 away matches this season (D2 L6). They have conceded 17 and scored 10 during this run.

Stats	NORTHAMPTON	Wigan
Games Played	25	25
Goals	20	26
Shots on target	75	64
Shooting accuracy	40.50%	38.20%
Goals conceded	40	47
Clean sheets	5	4
Yellow cards	45	34
Red Cards	3	0