IAIN MACINTOSH: Wigan well worth supporting

A lot of nasty things have been written about Wigan’s supporters this week, but I spoke to both of them at Wembley on Saturday and they were lovely.

Badoom-tish! Mocking Wigan’s fans is easy. So easy, in fact, that everyone does it these days. But while ribbing a team for their lack of support is as much a part of English football as overpriced tickets and undercooked burgers, there’s a danger that we’re going to lose sight of a very important fact. For all the mickey-taking, Wigan are a breath of fresh air.

The Latics have been pilloried in the press over the last seven days for returning 10,000 tickets to their semi-final clash with Millwall. While fourth division Southend United took 32,000 fans to Wembley the previous weekend, Wigan could only attract 20,000. Conclusive proof, it has subsequently been argued, that Wigan are not a proper football club and have no business clogging up the top flight. But this is palpable nonsense.

As an excellent article in the fanzine Stand Against Modern Football pointed out this week, there are only 80,000 people in Wigan, compared to almost 150,000 in Southend. Essex is also considerably closer to London, something the FA apparently failed to notice when they scheduled the FA Cup semi-final. The annoying tea-time kick-off on Saturday meant that there were no trains to take the Wigan fans home after full-time, potentially adding a pricey hotel room to an already expensive day out.

Geographically, Wigan sits right in the middle of Merseyside and Manchester, helpless to prevent a haemorrhage of support. Let’s not beat around the bush, it takes a certain kind of oddball to choose Wigan over Manchester United or Liverpool. Claiming an average gate of over 25,000 when you’re outflanked by four more glamorous clubs isn’t something to be ashamed of, it’s nothing short of a miracle, not least because they only became a league club in 1978.

But these are just the standard excuses, wheeled out every time someone attacks the club. What really justifies Wigan’s place on the big stage is the way that they approach every season. The template for surviving a year in the Premier League is to play a flat back nine, punt the ball long to a busy striker and hope to snatch something on a set-piece. Wigan wouldn’t dream of operating in this manner, even though it would probably help them. They want to do it their way and that’s something to be relished, not scorned.

Roberto Martinez insists on a high level of technical ability from his players, he wants the ball played quickly and confidently around the pitch. He can switch between his favoured back three to a more rigid back four and his players barely blink. He signs players from a variety of leagues and levels, rather than just relying on known talent. As a man, he’s also intelligent, engaging and a pleasure to deal with. On every level, in every department, Wigan are a genuinely fascinating football club.

At Wembley on Saturday, they came up against a pugnacious Millwall side determined to show the world precisely how they dealt with fancy dans where they came from. To all intents and purposes, Wigan simply put a hand on their head and kept them at arms’ length, watching the Londoners’ little fists whirling through fresh air with detached amusement.

They have, of course, been generously supported by businessman Dave Whelan, but that is hardly a new phenomenon in football. If we’re going to start denigrating the achievements of teams with wealthy backers, we’re going to be here all night. Besides, what’s worse? Wigan have their first FA Cup final and, if Chelsea get their act together in the league, they may also have their first European campaign. Feel free to make jokes, they’re one of the main reasons why football is so wonderful, but don’t ever let it obscure the fact that this is a club that deserves to be applauded.