Interestingly the lease of Springfield Park insisted that greyhound racing must never take place at the ground. In County made a somewhat audicious bid for Football League status, but were not voted in. This rebuff disheartened the club and eventually they folded in , as interest and finance receded.
They were never able to make it in the shadow of Wigan RLFC, resulting in a folding in the summer of , their lifespan lasting only three years. The next attempt at producing a senior team in town came about with the establishment of Wigan Town in December They also unsuccessfully applied for membership of the Football League twice and by the outbreak of the 1st World War they too had faded away.
Meanwhile, another local team of reasonable status around was Wigan Amateurs. Yet, they achieved little of real note and since the 1st World War was a time for little football, they were sent into oblivion and the football enthusiasts of Wigan decided it was time to launch yet another senior club…….
And so, at last, we come to a club that was the forerunner of Wigan Borough, the team that finally brought Football League status to the town. In November Wigan United was formed, in no way related to that of the vintage United. Their application to join the Lancashire Combination was accepted during the summer of and Springfield Park was used for all home matches. Unfortunately events on the field were very soon overshadowed by the actual running of the club, for the Lancashire FA confronted the club with their serious breach of regulations.
Shades of Leeds City…. The local FA took a draconian step and directed that Wigan United would need to re- con structure itself as a professional club. The club would be reformed by the 31st October with no involvement of past or current members of Wigan United. So, in essence from that date on Wigan United no longer existed and the new club were left in a state of limbo for a month, known as Wigan Assocation FC, having taking over the fixtures of Wigan United. After ten fairly unspectacular years however they had to resign on 26 October because of insolvency, the result of a sorry mess of falling support, poor management and seriously dwindling finances.
They bought Springfield Park from its liquiditators and established themselves as one of the top non-league clubs in the country. They eventually successfully applied for membership of the Football League in at the expense of Southport. The club share the ground with Wigan Warriors rugby league team, now finally on an equal footing with their neighbours.
The same coloured shirts were worn throughout the Thirties up until the outbreak of the Second World War. In some seasons the team wore white shorts and hooped socks.
After the War due to clothing shortages the club, by now playing in the Lancashire Combination, could only get blue shirts from the local sports shop, and so blue and white were adopted as the club colours. By the late fifties English clubs had been competing in Europe for a number of years, and the continental influence was beginning to be felt, even in Wigan. Finally in , when the Latics made it into the League, the team started wearing what many fans still consider to be one of the smartest kits the team has turned out in — blue and white stripes with blue collars.
It is certainly a very privileged coat of arms, as few if any coats bear so many symbols of royal favour. The crown of fleurs-de-lis in the shield approximates to the type worn by Plantagenet kings. The supporting lions give fine distinction to a highly dignified and privileged coat of arms.
The branches of mountain ash, known in northern dialects as the Wiggin or Wigan tree, form a rebus pun on the name of the town. The motto adopted, Ancient and Loyal, is in keeping with arms, with its many symbols of antiquity and royal favour.
During most of their League career Latics have sported an emblem comprising two of the elements of the previous arms: a Wiggin tree encircled by a crown. The badge has appeared in slightly differing forms, usually surrounded by the club name, but the essence has remained the same. This badge is one of the most popular with the fans, and constant calls for its return are heard. The red roses refer to the County of Lancashire.
To wrongfully appropriate the identity of a third party. Wigan Athletic were founded in making them one of the youngest teams competing in the English Football League. Shortly after the decision was made to found a professional football team in the town of Wigan those responsible for the creation of the club began to construct an 'identity'.
Unhappy with simply calling the club Wigan F. Liking the appendage 'Athletic', the founders duly went with it thus creating 'Wigan Athletic'. It then dawned on the mostly inbred founders that a nickname for the club was required.
Before long the question was answered that Oldham used the then unique nickname: 'The Latics'. Having already stolen the appendage 'Athletic' the simple founders decided it was best to also call themselves 'The Latics' rather than rack their primitive brains for an alternative.
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