Wigan fans are used to winning things. Oh, just the 22 league titles, on top of countless cups, shields and medals: their lads have lifted more silver than a royal butler, or a very prolific burglar.
Wigan rugby fans, that is. Wigan Athletic Football Club? Barely a shiny pot to pee in by comparison, except for a load of non-league stuff and two Football League Trophies prior to their top-flight debut back in 2005. So, the minted Manchester City were hardly trembling with fear as they lined up opposite the Latics for the FA Cup final on May 11, 2013.
But what an occasion it was. Shocks, tears, rousing speeches, heartwarming manliness, some light backstabbing… and that was all before the game kicked off.
For Wigan, just reaching the showpiece was special. Backed by sportswear millionaire Dave Whelan, who had his own FA Cup final demons to exorcise, this was an opportunity for the football team from the ‘rugby town’ to outshine the Warriors as well as the giant Lancashire neighbours in their own sport: Liverpool, Manchester United, and now City.
“It’s a pretty proud town,” explains Stuart Maconie, the author, broadcaster and long-suffering Athletic aficionado. “But yes, that pride has predominantly been expressed through the rugby team.”
This rankles, as those fans often don’t get on, and many local football lovers choose to support bigger clubs instead. Maconie began watching the Latics in the Northern Premier League; umpteen promotions later, did he dare believe that they could go all the way in football’s oldest competition?
“I always knew that we had a chance,” he insists. “Manchester City hadn’t quite become the petrobillionaire playthings that they are these days. There was still a shred of the old City about them.”
Roberto Mancini’s glittering squad had started 2012-13 in high spirits after winning their first
