Wigan oh Wigan, oh why don’t you stay, Wigan stop sliding away!

Who’s up for a “Wigan Kebab” this season?

Jun 19, 2024

Wednesday 19 June 2024

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Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Wigan supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Wednesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore. (If you’re only just joining us today, for no reason at all, I’m somehow trying to use Oasis songs for every single one of our League One season previews. And today’s is combined with a classic Edgeley Park terrace song which will probably only make sense to a handful of older County fans!)

County haven’t played Wigan for over 20 years in the league, but you’ll be completely clued up on the Latics before we make the short trip this season, as Mudhutter editor Martin Tarbuck has penned this cracking piece for us today.

EURO 2024 – DAY 6

2pm: Croatia v Albania 🇭🇷🇦🇱

5pm: Germany v Hungary 🇩🇪🇭🇺

8pm: Scotland v Switzerland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇭

Here’s a list of the best places to watch today’s games…

Bask (SK1). All the action on two 75” screens.

Crown (SK2). Buy a pint of Helles today and you’ll be in with a chance of winning 52 free pints! There’s also a special menu throughout the Euros.

Armoury (SK3).

Reddish Working Men’s Club (SK5). There’s four screens in the games room, a new projector in the lower games room, and a screen in the middle room where families and children can enjoy the match. Check out the Special Offer Wheel which will be offering a variety of great deals before, during and after each game.

Railway (SK6).

Marple Tavern (SK6). Food served at half-time such as burgers, hot dogs, pizza and chips.

Steelworks (SK6). Games shown downstairs (sound off) and upstairs (sound on).

Shady Oak (SK7). Food served during the game from the matchday menu. Pick up a loyalty card to receive a discount on certain drinks.

Three Tunnes (SK7). Buy a pint of Helles today and you’ll be in with a chance of winning 52 free pints! There’s also a special menu throughout the Euros.

Cross Keys (SK8). Bitter £2.30 a pint all day. Discounts on certain lagers 12pm - 6pm.

Railway (SK9). TVs in every room, and outside. Discounted doubles on spirits and 10% off four pint jugs.

Flute & Firkin (SK12). Call 01625 879181 to book a table, and quote “The Scarf My Father Wore” to receive 10% off your first round of drinks. (Not applicable for walk-ins.)

Friendship Inn (SK13). Five big screen TVs with surround sound, including one outside in the beer garden.

Today’s edition is sponsored by GTG Gary The Gasman and That Oven Girl. A big thank you to both Gary and Fay.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 148.94 miles

Total steps so far: 237,462

Total raised so far: £1,881

Total completed streets so far: 304 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

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The “Wigan Kebab” – essentially a pie in a butty – is a much-loved delicacy in the Lancashire town (Photo credit: Manchester’s Finest)

I’m sorry to start with a political question, but as Rishi’s chucked a general election slap bang in pre-season, I feel we’ve got to mention it. Who are you voting for? If that’s too personal just give us a flavour of the current political feeling in Wigan? And which person at your football club do you think would make the best prime minister?

They always say in Wigan “tha could put a pig in a red rosette and tha’d get voted in”. I will swiftly move on before someone accuses me of insinuating that Lisa Nandy is a pig. She’s not. She is a fantastic, tenacious, superb human being. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Labour nationally, in their current guise, they’re just a bit meh, but recognise they need to get in. Nor am I fond of our local Labour run rugby loving Wigan Council, but Lisa gets my vote for MP every time. This isn’t a view universally shared, either by Latics fans or Wiganers in general, but the things I heard she did during our two rounds of financial difficulties means that, along with our supporters club chair, she deserves a lot of credit that Wigan Athletic even exist today. Rick Parry is still traumatised by her daily phone calls to him by all accounts. In some fans’ eyes, she is seen as just turning up to a crisis when there’s a bit of glory to be gained. Isn’t that the whole point of a politician though? To turn up and resolve prominent issues in her constituency? Who cares if she’s not at Wycombe away on a Tuesday night? What sort of lunatic goes to Wycombe on a Tuesday night anyway?

From a hard nosed business perspective, the football club brings 300,000 people into the town every year, home and away fans. If they’re spending £10, £20 each or more on food, drink, accommodation etc, then that’s millions of pounds lost to the local hospitality industry if we’d have gone bump. Whether it’s business or sentiment, any MP worth their salt would do the same if they do the maths.

Shaun Maloney could be prime minister I reckon. He’s calm, thoughtful, caring and measured and would undoubtedly change the world. However, he comes across like he’s already got the weight of the world on his shoulders, so it might break him. Let’s face it, you have to be arrogant, pig headed, quick to deflect blame and have a highly inflated view of your self worth to be prime minister. I’m struggling to think of a manager of another nearby North West football club who might fit that bill. I really am.

Nigel Farage has had cement and a milkshake chucked over him recently. If he was to do a lap of the ~~DW Stadium~~ Brick Community Stadium on a Saturday afternoon, what would Wigan fans be most likely to throw at him?

I suspect like most football grounds, it would be a mix of bricks and bouquets. At least we didn’t host an event with him and his political party before abruptly cancelling it due to the backlash. I’m struggling to think of a nearby North West football club who would do that either, I really am. Oh hang on…

As for Wigan, it’s not a very multicultural town, but thanks to our prolonged sojourn in the Premier League, we were fortunate enough to watch players from all over the world and took every one of them to our hearts. (Except Marlon King, but he was British, and a wife beating convict.) It shouldn’t have to be that we only become more tolerant and appreciative of different cultures because we have had dead good footballers of different race and religion play for us, but it certainly helps. And someone like Ali Al-Habsi opened our club up to the Arab world, to the extent that some people from the Middle East decided to buy us. They turned out to be the only skint Arabs in the world, but you can’t have everything.

If you had to compare the ownership and daily operations of your club to a political party, which would it be?

Probably someone relatively anonymous compared to previous owners, like the SDP. They seem to have disappeared and on the rare occasions they do pop up, they seem to be constantly trying to appease the warring Latics and Rugby factions. To some, at least it’s a refreshing change from the days of Talal Al Hammad spouting random nonsense on Twitter all day.

On and off the pitch, what do you think your club’s manifesto should say for the next 12 months?

To quote a famous, and apparently now deceased vox-popped fan: “Team’s alreet, don’t sell nobody. Let ‘em gel. Let Latics gel, and they can go anywhere.” (Click here for the video.)

Just carry on where we left last year, and this team will only get better. We’re not going to be spending big this year, but if we can hold on to our star players and add wisely to key areas, we should be up there this season. The young ones are all a bit older and on the days they click, they can be absolutely outstanding.

Right, that’s enough political stuff. Next question. “We’re all from Stockport, who the fuck are you…?”

I’ve heard the song and thought “how rude”. I’m tempted to respond with “we’re a diverse bunch of B/C1/C2/D demographic people congregated around the Wigan area of miscellaneous age and background who gather once a week to watch the most bonkers football club in the world and fall out with each other online all day”.

Which team do you most want to beat this season?

You’ve asked some daft questions here, but this one really takes the piss.

Which Wigan player is most likely to end up in League One’s team of the season?

Charlie Hughes and Sam Tickle, but I doubt they’ll be in League One for too much longer, given how much they’ve progressed at such a tender age.

County haven’t been to Wigan in the league since October 2002. In just one paragraph, sum up everything that’s happened at your place since then.

Last season was the first in over 20 years that we finished mid-table with nothing to play for. Every year we’ve either been fighting to go up, or fighting to stay up. In fact, I’m fairly sure we could consider ourselves in a relegation battle last year for the first couple of months, given the lovely eight-point handicap that the EFL handed out to us. That’s the same folk who continually wave through dickhead owners and then punish the club itself, not the owners, when they go rogue. I think it was Oldham who were in the same division for 20 years. That’s not for us. There’s riots here if we get a 0-0 draw. It’s never boring but I think it probably needs to be for a while for the sake of our sanity.

County were beaten 2-0 at Wigan in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy last season (Photo courtesy of Mike Petch)

It feels like Wigan and County have been on an exactly inverse journey the past few decades since I started watching us, only to end up in the same place. And even though we’re at the same level again now, I suppose you lot are buoyant and on the rise, and we are perceived, by some of our fans at least, as being on the decline or stagnating, now the money has dried up. In truth, we’re probably back at the level we should be, albeit with much stronger infrastructure, and just get to enjoy watching a good, young team play decent football. We’d like to get back up to the Championship, of course, but I’m in no hurry. It’s like the Wild West these days, where financial collapse can happen on the spin of a roulette wheel. Not to sound ungrateful but if we hadn’t seen such riches, we could live with being poor.

Wigan away. I think of a rugby league town with a few football fans knocking about, two train stations right opposite each other, and every single person eating a pie up and down the high street. Do I need to educate myself further, or is that fairly accurate?

I would heavily dispute the first point. A town that plays rugby, perhaps. A rugby town, never. The rugby lot only show in town on a handful of occasions a year for the big games, bussed in from all points across the north on supersized coaches. And you only have to look at the place currently, when there’s a major tournament on, to recognise that football is far, far more popular than rugby league ever could be in the town. You could fill the DW Stadium, sorry Brick Community Stadium twice over in an instant if the buggers actually turned up to watch a match in person for once in their lives but therein lies the problem. Sadly they prefer to hang on to the coat-tails of the Merseyside and Manchester clubs, who don’t even need their support. Spot on about the pies though.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Stockport County?

Kevin Francis snapping Dean Connelly in half during those particularly bad tempered Autoglass games. And also, considerable violence on the streets of Springfield following early 90s league and cup games. I’m sure we’re all friends now like.

Rotherham play at the New York Stadium. NFL star Tom Brady is involved at Birmingham. Wrexham are plastered all over Netflix or Nickelodeon or whatever it is. League One has a bit of an American flavour this season. What’s the most American thing about Wigan?

We share a ground with a team who play a shit form of American football. Just like the real version, they tell everyone it’s a massive deal and constantly claim that they are world champions, despite the fact that 99% of the country, let alone the world couldn’t give a toss about it.

I’ve been watching Football Cops on Channel 4 recently, featuring Sunderland fans kicking down barriers after the game at Coventry, and loads of little Crewe rapscallions playing up at home to Walsall. On a scale of 1 to 10, how naughty are Wigan fans these days, and how safe will our lot be when we make the trip to Lancashire this season?

To give a serious answer, it’s very generational and fragmented. On a good (bad) day, an 8, on a bad (good) day, a 2. There are plenty of groups of handy semi-retired chaps in their 40s and 50s who you would not like to get on the wrong side of. Then at the other end of the spectrum, there’s little groups of kids aged 14 who hang around the ground to start a fight, then shit themselves and run off. Springfield Park back in the day, with a few thousand on, could be a bit of a rough day out, but I don’t think the DW, FFS the Brick Community Stadium, is quite as fearful. It’s about as intimidating as a trip to the garden centre most weeks.

I’ve seen the videos of some of your “Ultras” making their way to the ground en masse, and it would be easy to take the piss, but I actually think it looks great and I wish we could do the same. Not that I’d take part myself, heaven forbid. Our lot just turn up at 3pm, watch the game and return to pub of choice. The other factor is the opposition. A big away support tends to attract a dafter home support. I don’t get it myself, well I do really, I just don’t like it. I turn up to watch my team, some can’t be arsed if there’s only going to be a few hundred away fans and a shit atmosphere. Wigan is like most Lancashire towns, warm, friendly and welcoming to all, but if you take the piss, someone will probably punch you.

That’s just reminded me of something. When we played Spurs in the Prem, a minibus full of them rocked up to a long-lamented pub in Newtown called The Bowling Green. They walked in, all brash and full of jewellery and Cockney swagger. Only to get kicked straight back out of the doors and windows ten minutes later. It wasn’t even Wigan Athletic fans who dished it out, just a bunch of narky locals who were trying to watch the racing on the telly and had their peace disturbed by a loud of noisy southerners.

Who or what needs to be top of Wigan’s shopping list before the new season starts in August?

A striker. We lost three last season: Charlie Wyke, Josh Magennis and Stephen Humphrys. All three were from the previous regime, therefore were on billions of pounds a week and whereas all three of them had their limitations, that’s a lot of experience gone from the front line. We’re left with a cracking young lad called Josh Stones, but he’s still recovering from a serious knee injury. We’re also an even younger squad than before with all the older (overpaid) player departures, so an ageing (but mobile) midfield growler would be appreciated too – we were simply too soft in too many games last season.

What’s your early predictions in terms of the promotion and relegation places?

I’d expect one of you or Wrexham to fly straight through with a bit of momentum, but I’ve no idea which one. Birmingham seem to think they are also going to piss the division. Rotherham will be even more of a set of absolute bastards than usual under Steve Evans, and I’m sure Huddersfield will be decent. Then you’re looking at your Barnsley, Bolton, Peterborough and ideally ourselves to challenge. There’s lots of good teams like Lincoln and Exeter who could kick on. And Charlton and Blackpool who will be in with a shout if they can get their shit together. It’s going to be wide open, Clive.

For going down, you can’t look far beyond those who just escaped last time, though you’d expect Reading to finally get themselves sorted off the field and could be a challenger at the top end.

Click on the links below to read the other 2024-25 season previews we’ve published so far.

Crawley / Leyton Orient / Rotherham

Is it time for a new boiler?

You might have an old boiler in your house that isn’t as efficient as it once was. Perhaps now would be a good time to give GTG Gary The Gasman a call and have it replaced.

Gary has replaced old systems with new A-rated boilers recently for lots of happy customers.

The boilers are all fitted with protective magnetic filters and standard wireless controls or smart controls for better efficiency leaving customers with reliable and well-functioning boilers!

If you’d like a quote for any work, give Gary a call on 07931 416165 or email garythegasman@yahoo.com.

Let’s play a game of ‘Spot the Difference’!

Can you spot the difference between the two photos above? It’s not exactly the hardest game you’ll ever play, is it? That’s because Fay from That Oven Girl is very good at what she does!

The “before” photo is your oven on a Sunday afternoon, after it’s taken a battering with roast chicken and potatoes and vegetables.

The “after” photo is your oven once you’ve given Fay a call, and she’s got it looking brand new for you once again.

Book your oven cleaning slot by calling Fay on 07487 252758 or email thatovengirl21@gmail.com.

Photo of the day

DW Stadium, Wigan

Just the 22,082 empty seats on County’s last trip to Wigan. (To be fair, it was a Wednesday night in December. In the Bristol Street Motors Trophy. And it was f*****g freezing!)

Today in SK

🎬 Cinema

Two films at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. Civil War (15) at 5.30pm, followed by Wicked Little Letters (15) at 8pm. Click here for tickets.

🍺 Food and drink

The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £4.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £2, and 3 for £6 on Jägerbombs. 12pm - 11pm.

If you find yourself in Stockport today, pop into The Petersgate Tap (SK1) for a pint or two.

Discounted doubles on spirits and 10% off four pint jugs at The Railway (SK9).

100 random grounds that County have played at

#42 – Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster

Last visit: January 2024. County thrashed Donny Rovers on their last trip to the Eco-Power, 5-0 up after just 55 minutes. Paddy got a couple, along with The Lemon, Tanto and an own goal. County went on to win the league; Donny miraculously ended up in the play-offs.