Wigan Athletic 1 v 0 Reading

Saturday 26th August 2006

Wigan Athletic and Reading met in a quite unique Premiership fixture on Saturday. Everybody knows that the teams are the Premier League 'babies', but how many people realised that the meeting of these two clubs provided the first instance of two Premier League clubs playing against each other, having also done likewise in all three of the lower leagues?

This then is how far both clubs have come.

Defeat for Latics in this game was unthinkable as newly promoted Reading would have been six points clear of the Blues, which in turn must have added a bit of pressure on the team. However, Latics started the game brightly and Emile Heskey, one of six players making their home Premiership debuts was working hard, linking up well with Henri Camara up front.

With twenty minutes on the clock Camara left the pitch with what looked like a hamstring strain and he was replaced by David Connolly and you sensed that Latics faced an uphill task from that moment on as the Senegal striker was tearing up the Reading defence at will until his enforced exit from the field of play.

Two minutes later the impressive Bobby Comvey had a shot saved by England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland whilst Emile Heskey was finding his way into referee, Mike Riley's book for the second consecutive game in the 23rd Minute. Luis Antonio Valencia had been endearing himself to the home fans and the Ecuadorian contingent in the East Stand with some superb football and he was unlucky not to score from a free kick in the 28th minute.

However, it only took another ten minutes for Latics to take the lead when Lee McCulloch set up Heskey on the edge of the Reading area, who in turn slammed the ball past Marcus Hahnemann in the Reading nets. This seemed to settle Latics down and rattled the Reading team who looked like conceding more goals and McCulloch was desperately unlucky not to score his second goal of the campaign two minutes from half time.

The half time whistle came as a relief to the Royals and they and their thousand or so travelling fans couldn't complain about the score line.

The second period started with no changes to either side with Reading looking dangerous on the break but defensive home debutants Emmerson Boyce and Fitz Hall, marshalled superbly by Arjan De Zeeuw looked comfortable, whilst you felt the Reading back line was looking slightly feeble. However, David Connolly was failing to inspire the team in front of goal and a general lack of penetration was slowly but surely beginning to frustrate the players and the somewhat muted fans and would get worse as the game wore on. Paul Scharner found his name in the referee's book in the 49th minute following a cynical foul on James Harper as he sped past him an on towards the Latics goal.

On the hour mark Heskey was clean through on goal with only Hahnemann to beat but he agonisingly hit the roof of the net with his attempted chip shot. Meanwhile Reading's Korean winger Seol Ki-Hyeon was booked for a cynical foul on Paul Scharner a minute later. On the 63rd minute mark Valencia was denied a goal when he unleashed a rasping shot which unfortunately struck Connolly, as opposed to the back of the Reading net!

Royals boss Steve Coppell made his first substitution of the game just seconds later, replacing Bobby Comvey with former Sunderland winger John Oster and in the 69th minute Stephen Hunt was brought onto the field of play to replace Seol Ki-Hyeon who had had a torrid time trying to get the better of England Under 21's left back, Leighton Baines.

With quarter of an hour remaining Pascal Chimbonda started to warm up and this produced some warm hearted applause, although there was still an element of the crowd not prepared to 'forgive and forget' the Frenchman's antics during the close season. However, whilst he is still a Wigan player it would be wise for the fans to all back him to the hilt every time he pulls on a Latics kit. He is simply too good a player to be left on the sidelines and he proved this within a minute of replacing Heskey in the 76th minute. Almost immediately he set off on a run almost the full length of the pitch along the right wing and whipped in delightful cross which was cut out by a Reading defender for a corner after Connolly failed to connect with it.

Two minutes later home debutant Denny Landzaat is substituted by Graham Kavanagh and you sensed that Latics were going to try and hang on to what they'd got. Graham had an amazing chance to seal the game in the 84th minute when he broke away from his marker and raced clean through on goal. Everybody was waiting for the ball to slam into the Reading net, but Kav shot straight at Hahnemann, when he had all the time in the world to run round him to score.

Then came a scare for Latics as Leroy Lita broke through the normally solid Latics defence in the 88th minute. Having raced through on goal with only England's number one to beat, Kirkland proved what a quality goalkeeper he is by saving bravely at the strikers feet. The save seemed to boost Latics and the last few minutes of the game went by relatively calmly and the first three points of the season had been earned, moving the Blues up to twelfth position in the fledgling Premiership table.

WIGAN ATHLETIC, Chris Kirkland, Emmerson Boyce, Arjan De Zeeuw, Fitz Hall, Leighton Baines, Luis Antonio Valencia, Denny Landzaat (Graham Kavanagh 78), Paul Scharner, Lee McCulloch, Emile Heskey, (Pascal Chimbonda 76), Henri Camara, (David Connolly 20). Subs not used, Mike Pollitt, Matt Jackson.

Goal scorers, Emile Heskey 38 mins

Booked, Emile Heskey 23 mins, Paul Scharner

READING Marcus Hahnemann, Graeme Murty, Ivar Ingimarsson, Sam Sodje, Nicky Shorey, Seol Ki-Hyeon, (Stephen Hunt 69) Steve Sidwell, James Harper, (ShaneLong 87), Bobby Convey, (John Oster 64), Kevin Doyle, Leroy Lita, Subs not used, Graham Stack, Brynjar Gunnarsson.

Booked, Seol Ki-Hyeon 60 mins,

Referee, Mike Riley (Yorkshire)

Attendance, 14,636

Newcastle United 2 v 1 Wigan Athletic

Saturday 19th August 2006

Wigan Athletic started the season with a new look team at St James' Park today. No fewer than six new faces were on display for the Blues with England goal keeper Chris Kirkland, Emmerson Boyce, Fitz Hall, Dutch international midfielder Denny Landzaat, Ecuador right winger Luis Antonio Valencia and former England striker Emile Heskey all making Paul Jewell's starting line up.

The Magpies, who have struggled to add to their squad during the pre season were at least boosted by good news from the midweek international games with goal keeper Shay Given and Steven Carr and Damien Duff returning unscathed.

It was Newcastle who started brighter but both the new Latics defenders Boyce and Hall under pressure on a pitch that was very close to being waterlogged after an earlier torrential downpour in the City. Duff and Shola Ameobi missed early chances as the Latics side stated to get frustrated and as early as the eighth minute Latics picked up their first booking when Emile Heskey was booked for a horrible tackle on Celestin Babayaro, although the very wet pitch could have been the main culprit of the challenge.

Two minutes later Nicky Butt received a bang to his head which necessitated his substitution on the quarter hour mark Charles N'Zogbia replacing him. Two minutes later Scott Parker let loose with a ferocious shot from long range, but England goal keeper Chris Kirkland produced a stunning save to deny the Magpies what would have been a deserved opening goal.

On the twenty minute mark Latics decided that they had better participate a bit more in proceedings, Heskey and Henri Camara teamed up well to force two corner in the 25th minute, but both corners were cleared by the Magpies defence who were defending in numbers to deny the Wigan attacks.

As the game edged towards half time there were concerns that the weather was ruining the game as tackles by both sides, were getting a bit dangerous due to the very wet conditions. Then in the 38th minute, with the Blues in the ascendancy persistent running from Ameobi paid off for former Latics transfer target Scott Parker as he headed the Magpies in front following Ameobi's pinpoint cross.

The goal seemed to galvanise Latics as both Emile Heskey, in the fortieth minute and Henri Camara three minutes later missed golden opportunities to equalise, with Camara's effort deflecting of Lee McCulloch which enabled Given to make the save.

Latics went in at half time 0-1 down and could have felt aggrieved, but at least the chances were coming and the game was still in the balance.

An army of St James' Park ground staff started removing surface water as soon as the players were in the tunnel, and with the weather looking just a bit better it looked like their hard work had indeed saved the game from being abandoned, although within seconds of the restart there was still a lot of surface water re appearing.

Newcastle made a half time substitution, replacing Craig Moore with England Under 21 international Steve Taylor, whilst the Latics line up remained unchanged. The game re started at a slower pace and it was Newcastle who had the first shot at goal on the 50 minute mark, when Steve Carr shot straight at Kirkland in the Wigan goal. That seemed to be the fuse that lit up an electrifying second half. Within three minutes of Kirkland's save Denny Landzaat had blazed a free kick over the bar, whilst Arjan De Zeeuw was unlucky to see Nolberto Solano clear his goal bound header off the line with Given beaten all ends up.

Three minutes later all Latics fans were holding their breath as Kirkland went down heavily after clattering into Ameobi. Both players needed treatment on the pitch and almost a soon as play had resumed, in the 59th minute, Lee McCulloch scored the Latics equaliser as Steven Carr failed to clear a Heskey drive with the ball falling perfectly for the Scotland international to rifle home.

However, just five minutes later the Magpies were in front again when Chris Kirkland could only parry a Charles N'Zogbia shot which fell to Ameobi who gleefully slammed the ball home as the rain started lashing down again. Paul Jewell was livid at the Latics defence who had gone AWOL just when they needed to be at their most alert when Damien Duff originally threaded the ball through to N'Zogbia who had acres of space in which to create the goal.

With fifteen minutes remaining Emile Heske headed tamely wide just before Newcastle boss Glen Roeder made his final substitution, bring on Albert Luque for the injured Shola Ameobi. Ameobi was the Magpies only goal threat and it soon became clear that Newcastle had settled for hanging on to what they'd got, hoping to sting Latics on the break. Within a minute Latics had forced a corner but as Landzaat swung the ball in Latics were penalised for a foul on Luque.

In the 78th minute, following a superb break by Camara, Landzaat missed the chance of the match. Camara passed to the Dutchman from the bye line, and instead of scoring what would have been a glorious debut goal, he blasted the ball high wide and not so handsome over the Newcastle bar.

The final ten minutes saw Latics pressing for the equaliser but the Newcastle defence was holding firm. Jewell brought on Graham Kavanagh for Landzaat for the final five minutes and then with a last throw of the dice David Connolly replaced Luis Antonio Valencia with a minute of the game remaining, but despite the best efforts of the Wigan team the Magpies held on for the 2-1 victory.

The crowd of 51, 569 had witnessed a great game played in bad conditions. Latics fans in that crowd travelled home safe in the knowledge that the Blues would play a lot worse this season and still win.

NEWCASTLE UNITED, Shay Given, Celestine Babayaro, Stephen Carr, Titus Bramble, Craig Moore, (Steve Taylor 46), Nicky Butt, (Charles N'Zogbia 15), Scott Parker, Belozoglu Emre, Damien Duff, Nolberto Solano, Shola Ameobi, (Albert Luque 75). Subs not used, Steve Harper, James Milner.

Goal scorers, Scott Parker 38 mins, Shola Ameobi 64 mins

Booked, Albert Luque 90 mins

WIGAN ATHLETIC, Chris Kirkland, Emmerson Boyce, Arjan De Zeeuw, Fitz Hall, Leighton Baines, Luis Antonio Valencia, (David Connolly 89), Denny Landzaat (Graham Kavanagh 85), Paul Scharner, Lee McCulloch, Emile Heskey, Henri Camara, Subs not used, Mike Pollitt, Matt Jackson, David Wright.

Goal scorer, Lee McCulloch 59 mins

Booked, Emile Heskey 8 mins, Luis Antonio Valencia 56 mins

Referee, Martin Atkinson (Yorkshire)

Attendance, 51, 569

The Legend - Micky Worswick

MICKY WORSWICK TALKS TO YOTAC!

Just recently, I have had the privilege of getting the legendary Micky Worswick to promise to provide YOTAC visitors with some of his memories of playing for Latics in the non league days. I thought this would be a very good idea and provide the perfect platform to entertain, and hopefully educate, some of the newer Latics fans following our elevation into top flight football. Wigan Athletic AFC is a proud club with a fantastic tradition. Before the pomp and the glamour of the Premiership this club was one of the greatest non league clubs in the world and had some of the finest non league players play, with a huge amount of pride and not a little skill at the housing estate that was Springfield Park. Micky Worswick was one of the very best.

Says Micky, "It was a phone call from Les Rigby, just after he had taken over from Gordon Milne, that started it all off. He wanted to buy me from Chorley, for £200 I think it was, and make me his first signing along with my old mate Mick Taylor from Netherfield. It took me about two seconds to say yes to joining the finest non-league club in the country, and would you believe, I did not even discuss terms with Les. He just said, "don't worry it will be okay" and of course it was okay - for the next six wonderful seasons or so".

During a previous session of me badgering Micky to help to bring the past alive once more, I enquired as to how it felt to play with Kenny Morris and Billy Sutherland, among others.

Micky answered, "Among the players that you mentioned Bernard were Kenny Morris and Billy Sutherland, the best pair of full backs that ever played non-league football. Whenever I played out wide on the left, or the right, I always felt safe with those two behind me and with the legendary JK (he means the mercurial Johnny King - ed), being another 'minder' in midfield, not many opponents took the liberty of trying to kick me off the park! One particular incident regarding Kenny that I will never forget was during an away match at Boston when their back four had pushed our front men up to the halfway line and a ball from one of our defenders was knocked long over the top of us on it's way towards their keeper. But no one had noticed that Kenny was coming through on a full head of steam past us all deep into the Boston half. 'Surely he won't keep going?' I thought, as the odds were about 70-30 in the keepers favour. But kept on going he did and a few minutes later, after the goalie had been stretchered off to Boston Royal and Kenny had fortunately only been booked, he trotted back past us towards his right back position and muttered "well I wasn't going all that way for ++++ all was I" (Priceless)."

By now Micky was in full reminiscent mode and continued......

"I would imagine that the tunnel incident involving Kingy against Great Harwood is still mentioned from time to time in Wigan. Well I was coming up the tunnel at half time just behind John, and all I can say is that it was not pretty and on that note I think the incident is best put to bed. Kingy and Rogers (John - ed), as I am sure you are aware, were a bit like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, all action, on and off the pitch, never a dull moment and a million laughs along the way.

"Micky, obviously not one to forget the often unmentioned players of the time cited how one particular player and his team mates could rattle in the goals for Latics (from 1972 until the advent of Latics' election into the Football League) from all positions on the park, "There is one player who is maybe not as well remembered as some of the others of the time and that is Albert Jackson. He was a fabulous goal scoring centre half, he seemed to score headers from set pieces almost every game, in fact I came across a programme recently from the 1973/74 season and on 23rd February 1974 our leading scorers were Albert Jackson (18), Tony Marsden (18), John Rogers (13), and myself lagging behind on 10. What an incredible feat for a centre half! Oh and Billy Sutherland and Kenny Morris had scored half a dozen between them. Goals came from all over the park in that team. Bernard I'm off to pick my two grand daughters up from school but more memories will follow soon if I'm not boring you too much.

RegardsMick.

Micky, there is no way that you ever did, or ever will, bore any true Wigan Athletic (or Chorley) fan and here's hoping that we can all hear from you on a regular basis.

PLEASE!

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MICKY WORSWICK TALKING ABOUT LATICS CUP RUNS AND WAYNE ROONEY

The legendary Micky Worswick has been in touch again, as he promised. Hi again Bernard, As I write this (12-15pm Sat) you are no doubt inside the JJB waiting for kick off, so good luck and my fingers are crossed for a memorable victory.I thought it might be of interest if I wrote a few words about some of the various cup matches that I played in during my time at Springfield Park. I'll start off with our FA Trophy run in the 1972/73 season.

This was a marvellous time for players and fans alike, we played eight games in all before reaching Wembley and one of my lasting memories was winning the semi final replay against Stafford Rangers at Oldham Athletic's Boundary Park. And the party that followed it in the Springfield Park social club when we got back, which was filled to the rafters with our wonderful supporters. One thing that I could never understand about that cup run was the venue for the semi-final, Port Vale's ground, situated about ten miles north of Stafford, and remember this was not over two legs, the Oldham venue was a replay. A semi -final like that with a once in a lifetime chance for most of the players to play at Wembley should surely have been at a more neutral venue.

I think though that it probably made us even more determined to win through. Before carrying on with his e-mail he took a break to take in the Preston North End v Sunderland Championship clash and obviously returned home very happy after seeing 'his' Lilywhites stun the Black Cats. He was also disappointed about the Latics result and enquired as to how the Latics fared. I e-mailed back...... Thanks for more of those wonderful memories Micky.As for the United game, we played very well in the first half and Baines' goal was an absolute cracker! That lad is destined to play for England. He is certainly a better left sided player than Wayne Bridge and Latics, if they continue to struggle (just four wins from our last 19 now) may have a job to keep hold of him when the transfer window opens in January.

Alex Ferguson must have dusted down his hair dryer in the dressing room at half time because United came out for the second half and obliterated us. Oh, and for those people who think Wayne Rooney is over hyped - they are talking absolute rubbish. He was the best player on the pitch by a mile.Being in the Premiership is a dream come true to fans like me and on many occasions last season players like Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, Edgar Davids, Steve Gerrard, John Terry - and Pascal Chimbonda mesmerised me. In fact Henry is without doubt the best player I have ever seen 'live'.I feel desperately sorry for people like Arthur Horrocks, Jack Sudworth and Ronnie Charlton, all people who deserved to live this dream that I'm living. Stalwart fans like the, err, loud Jack Meredith and little Ernie Claxton also deserved to see these days. However, I digress and can talk and write about Latics and their fans forever. So I'll pack it in now!

Preston seem to be going great guns and I suspect Roy Keane borrowed Fergie's hair dryer to use on his players later that day! Although Latics and Preston were rivals for many years after our election into the football league, it would be great to continue that rivalry in the Premiership. Just imagine, Wigan, Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Preston North End - almost half of the Premiership fixtures would be local derby games. All we would need then would be for Burnley to finally get their act together!Micky's first e-mail continued...Anyway, back to yesteryear and a mention for Graham Oates a very classy midfield player who scored in five of the nine ties during that FA Trophy run including the only goal in the semi-final replay. A mention should also go to the late Ian Gillibrand, only five foot seven but a giant in stature in our wonderful defence, Gilly was our brilliant sweeper before sweepers were invented! Unfortunately, we really did not perform as well as we could have done in the final against a good Scarborough team, but our fans were certainly up to their usual standard, cheering us on for the full ninety minutes.

There is nothing to rival the magic of the FA Cup, and during my time at Wigan, I was fortunate to play in some memorable ties, none more so than the ones during the 1977/78 season when we beat York City 1-0, Sheffield Wednesday 1-0, with the only goal of the game coming from Maurice Whittles fabulous left footed free kick, and then losing 4-0 at St Andrews to a Birmingham City team that contained the likes of Trevor Francis Jim Montgomery, Keith Bertschin and Terry Hibbitt. Birmingham at the time were in 16th place in the old first division and above the likes of Middlesbrough, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers and Leicester City. Despite the heavy defeat I am sure the Wigan fans who were at the game will remember how well we played and deserved better than the result that we got in front of 30,000 fans. The Birmingham City manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, came straight into our dressing room after the game. We were sat there, very disappointed, when Sir Alf's voice broke the silence and he said to us all, "Lift your heads up, you can be very proud of your performance and you are a credit to yourselves, to your club and to your fans, well played", and with that he turned and headed off towards his own team's dressing room. Words that I am sure all the players and management team of Wigan Athletic on that day will never forget.

More to follow if that's okay. Regards Micky Micky has been in touch again after receiving my Manchester United e-mail and he commented...... Hi again Bernard, it really is good to swap memories with you and I must agree with you about Rooney even though I am not a Manchester United fan or a Liverpool fan or a fan of any other Premiership club, apart from our beloved Wigan Athletic.Speaking about Wayne Rooney, Micky commented, The lad is a rare talent, and managed in the right way, he can become the best player since Pele, (but that is just my opinion). I am writing now after a couple of drinks on a Saturday evening at my local pub, The Plough at Eaves, so please forgive any spelling errors or bad grammar. I haven't seen Baines's goal yet but one of my mates in the pub said that it was sensational, so I look forward to seeing it later. Yes, it is wonderful for the club to be playing at the very top level and I agree with you that it is a shame that some of the people who put so much into the club in the past are not here now to enjoy it. I really envy you for having had the pleasure to see the likes of Thierry Henry play in your wonderful stadium. Oh, by the way our fourth stand at Deepdale is going to be built during next summer which will hopefully stop you lot from singing "Three stands, you've only got three stands".

Sad to report Micky, that the Preston supporters' chant of "Three stands, you only need three stands!", will ring true if the Premier League and the clubs within it, Latics included, don't get their act together and give football back to the fans by lowering their astronomical match ticket prices.It's been great Micky, until next time, I wish you and your family all the best

MICKY'S MANAGERS

Hi again Bernard,

I thought it may be of interest if I wrote down some of my memories of the managers that I played under at Wigan. I'll start with Les Rigby who as you know signed me for Latics and who was a man with the most incredible knowledge of non-league players that I have ever known. He was well known at every non-league club from the Midlands upward, due to the fact that he was out watching matches every night of the week. He was also a man with a wicked and somewhat sarcastic sense of humour. One of his favourite pre match comments would go something like this, "Right son, I want you to go out there and play like you've never played before, I want you to play well!". Maybe some of the fans reading this will say, "Oh yea, the old one's are the best", but I am convinced that it must have originated from Les.

Incidentally, that is also a quote from one of Fred Eyre's books, (Kicked Into Touch - an awesome read - Ed), who many of the older Wigan fans will no doubt remember managed the Latics reserve team for a time during the mid to late seventies and I had the great pleasure of playing for Fred when I was coming to the end of my time at Wigan. I am still convinced that had he not turned to media work and after dinner speaking he could have managed at a very high level.

After Les, came the splendid Brian Tiler who had been a very good player with Aston Villa and Rotherham (his home town club) and indeed started off his time with us at Wigan as player manager. However, this turned out to be a mistake, as his best days as a player were behind him, and to his credit he recognised this pretty quickly. From then on he concentrated on management and turned out to be incredibly popular with his players. His motivational skills in the dressing room were second to none and he sent every player out onto the park feeling ten foot tall. In fact reading some of his programme notes from his time at Wigan he gave praise, not only to his players, but to his chairman and fellow directors, and also, just as importantly, to the fans.

In fact, in the 1974/75 season under Brian we won the Northern Premier League by attaining a record number of points, 72 I think it was, and that is when it was only two points for a win. A lot of credit for this success was down to him. Unfortunately, Brian left the club to go to the USA and manage in the North American League. Brian eventually came back to England and was Managing Director of Bournemouth FC when he was tragically killed in a car crash travelling to the 1990 World Cup in Italy with his good friend Harry Redknapp, who was fortunate to survive the smash that also claimed the lives of four other people.

Finally, I played under Ian McNeil, who will always be remembered as the manager who took the club into the Football League, and I will always be grateful to Ian and the board of directors for offering me a full time contract for that first historic season, even though I was 33 years of age at the time and had a steady job with British Aerospace. When I told them that I would not be turning full time professional they kindly asked me if I would like to stay as a part-time pro, an offer that I immediately accepted, even though I realised that it would be unlikely that I would get back into the first team. Nevertheless, I think I must have created some kind of record for Football League appearances --13 minutes I think it was , as a substitute against Newport County.

Ian McNeil was a canny little Scotsman, and as thrifty as many of his countrymen. I remember him taking us on a short pre season tour to Scotland where we were to be based in Edinburgh. Anyway, on the way up the M6 on the club coach Ian was asked about the accommodation that he had booked for us, "Well", he said, "I can tell you that it is a nice wee place and there are 15 singles for the players. On hearing this some of the younger players were rubbing their hands in anticipation of going on the pull in Edinburgh that night and maybe bringing some bonny Scots lassie back to their own room. Well sure enough the coach pulled up outside the hotel which looked tidy enough and once inside we were pointed in the direction of our accommodation, and sure enough 15 single beds it was. All in the same bloody dormitory! The wee Scotsman also had a warped sense of humour.

Regards Mickey

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