Wigan Town A.F.C. was a football club from

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

which operated between July 1905 and May 1908 and was the third club to use Springfield Park . The first game Town played was a friendly against

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on 30 December 1905 which they lost 5–7. In January 1906 they were admitted to

The Combination The Combination was a league during the early days of English football. It had two incarnations; the first ran only for the 1888–89 season for teams across the Northern England and the Midlands, and was wound up before completion. The secon ...

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. 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. The ban was lifted after a couple of weeks when the debts were settled. Scotsman, James Harold was appointed manager in February 1907 and he arranged friendly matches at Springfield Park with Preston North End,

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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. The final season, 1907–08, started with the club placing a bond of £20 with the

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 it ...

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. 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 Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and 10–1 against Haslingden after the new year. 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. 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; this too failed to capture the attention of the public and was wound up in June 1908 with all monies returned. On 21 May 1908, it was announced that Wigan Town had not applied for re-election to the

after finishing next to bottom of the league that season. It is assumed that they folded around this time as there is no record of a return for the 1908–09 competition.

Records

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

**Preliminary Round 1907–08 *Highest league position **

: 3rd, 1906–07

References

{{Reflist

External links

Wigan Town A.F.C.

The Springfield Park Memorial
Sport in Wigan Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs established in 1905 Association football clubs disestablished in 1908 1905 establishments in England Defunct football clubs in Lancashire