The United and Association years
Having seen five Wigan association football clubs go to the wall (Wigan AFC, Wigan Central, Wigan County, Wigan United and Wigan Town) the public of Wigan, aided by some wealthy businessmen of the Borough, tried to keep the game alive in the town and in November 1919 a sixth team was formed and was to be known as Wigan United. This team was an entirely new outfit and had no connections at all with the old 1900/03 team.
The new club were to compete in the Lancashire Combination following a decision made at the AGM held in June 1920. The meeting was chaired by a Mr R Watson who was presiding over proceedings as the President, John Lewis, was with the FA team in South Africa at the time.
In total six clubs were elected into the league, the others being Dick Kerrs who successfully applied for re election and Atherton, Leyland, Morecambe and Bacup. Unsuccessful applicants were Leyland Motors (Leyland), Leyland Motors (Chorley) and Bryn.
At the same meeting it was agreed that attendance fees for Lancashire Combination games would be set at 8d, whilst referee’s fees would be increased to 15/-, from 12/ 6d.
By the start of the 1920/21 season United called Springfield Park their home but it was certainly not the most luxurious of places. The war had ensured that the ground had been completely neglected and whilst the facilities on offer were ‘spacious and within easy reach of everybody’, they had not been used at all during the war years. Nevertheless the club did build new dressing rooms which were paid for by the supporters. The price paid by spectators to witness United in action was 6d per game. There were concessions for children and the elderly of 3d per game, whilst a season ticket cost the rather princely sum of 7/6d.
Even before the first game of the season at Springfield Park, against South Liverpool, the directors of the club were in serious trouble, mainly due to the fact that the players were in fact being paid. At an emergency meeting of the Lancashire FA at the Clarence Hotel it was ordered that the club be wound up.
Wigan United would then have to reform and agree to work to the rules, regulations and bye laws of the Lancashire FA. This task was to be completed on or before 31st October 1920. The present board would also have to undertake, by writing, no later than Wednesday the 29th September 1920, to relinquish the running of the club and hand over to a new regime. Finally, no past or present member of Wigan United were to be involved in the new club.
Less than a week later association football supporters of the town were invited to a meeting at the Old Council Chamber, Wigan Borough Courts, the purpose of which was to reform the club according to the demands of the Lancashire FA. The chairman of the meeting Alderman William Henry Angus, (United’s President), Mr Tonge of the United committee and United’s secretary William Ashworth, all claimed that any players paid previously by the club were merely reimbursed for loss of earnings by playing for the club. They bemoaned the fact that this was common practice and could not believe that the LFA had come down so hard on them.
However, speaking of their other financial irregularities, they were not so forthcoming and merely put on record that they themselves had taken over from somebody whose ‘secretarial management was unsatisfactory’!
The meeting wound up having decided that the committee would write to the LFA suggesting that the ban on not allowing past or present members of the club to be a part of the new club be scrapped. They also suggested that the punishment for paying players for loss of earnings be punishable by a reasonable fine, or maybe overlooked altogether. They also informed the LFA that the new club would be funded by the issuing of 2000 shares at a cost of one pound each.
On 6th November 1920 the local press reported the outcome of the meeting that resulted in the formation of Wigan Association Football Club. The meeting was held at the Dog and Partridge public house. Everton FC were well represented at the gathering and William James ‘Bill’ Sawyer, a director at Goodison Park, had promised three or four Everton players to help the new club, who were bottom of the Lancashire Combination, should the restructuring be successful. Heading the meeting once again was John Lewis being ably abetted by Mr John McKenna the president of the English League and Mr Tom Laithwaite of the Lancashire FA. The Wigan contingent, prepared to take on the new club were Messrs Arthur Roberts, Richard Walsh, George Leyland, John William Asson, George Adam, Garfield Wallace ( a future Wigan Borough manager), JT Holding and Mr H Sanders, who was to take on the role of secretary. The meeting also heard that Richard Walsh was to be the treasurer and the bank in charge of Wigan Association FC business would be the Union Bank of Manchester.
Addressing the meeting Mr Lewis stated that it was a great disappointment that Wigan had not 'made good in the Association world' He implied that the town's population was big enough to support both the Northern Union rugby code and association football. He implied that the leaders of all the previous Wigan clubs all failed to have the right men at the helm. He went on to state that in his opinion association football was 'the best game for the youth of the country to play' and he was determined that Wigan should have a club of which the whole town could be proud.
Mr McKenna said he was pleased to help form this new club from the ruins of the old one and expressed delight at the Wigan men present who were determined to make a success out of Wigan Association FC. There was great applause when he stated that in his opinion that the new club could not be properly governed by men from another district as had previously been the case. He also stated that the new club would not be in competition with their rugby counterparts and that there was room in town for both codes. Mr McKenna was in a suitable position to make the comments as he had been involved with most of the previous Wigan association football clubs, stating that in many cases the running of Wigan clubs had been 'disastrous'.
Mr Sawyer the Everton director who was present stated that he had no ulterior motive and he just 'regarded it as a duty because it was the smaller clubs who provided Everton's players of the future'. He assured Messrs Lewis and McKenna that the men prepared to take charge of the club were fit to take on the task. When Mr Sawyer was asked just who the main person in charge would be he replied, 'Mr Alex Young', with that the questioner said, 'That's enough, I am quite satisfied’.
There was a thorny question of whether or not the new club could use the money that Wigan United had received from the sale of James Barrington to Bradford City and Mr Lewis stated that it was quite in order to do so. The new club agreed to re-organise Lancashire Combination fixtures to avoid any clashes with Wigan's rugby club and the new club colours were to be ' blue jerseys and white pants'. Mr Henry Augustus Scott Barrett JP was appointed the new chairman of the club and Alex Young was appointed club president.
Within a couple of weeks a meeting of the LFA took place in Preston. The meeting was set up to change the new team’s name again. It was reported that the FA vetoed the name ‘Wigan Association’ because it would be a breach of the agreement made with the Northern Union code. A Mr Sutcliffe, speaking on behalf of Wigan Association stormed. “If that is not red tape what is? How you can confuse Wigan Association with rugby is a mystery to me”.
The club was from that moment named ‘Wigan Borough’. Explaining the decision of the meeting John Lewis insisted that there was no trouble between the FA and the NU, but FA and NU rules insisted that two clubs from one authority could not merely affix the term ‘Association’ or ‘Rugby’ after the town’s name.
Copyright © 2012 - This Northern Soul. All rights reserved
The new club were to compete in the Lancashire Combination following a decision made at the AGM held in June 1920. The meeting was chaired by a Mr R Watson who was presiding over proceedings as the President, John Lewis, was with the FA team in South Africa at the time.
In total six clubs were elected into the league, the others being Dick Kerrs who successfully applied for re election and Atherton, Leyland, Morecambe and Bacup. Unsuccessful applicants were Leyland Motors (Leyland), Leyland Motors (Chorley) and Bryn.
At the same meeting it was agreed that attendance fees for Lancashire Combination games would be set at 8d, whilst referee’s fees would be increased to 15/-, from 12/ 6d.
By the start of the 1920/21 season United called Springfield Park their home but it was certainly not the most luxurious of places. The war had ensured that the ground had been completely neglected and whilst the facilities on offer were ‘spacious and within easy reach of everybody’, they had not been used at all during the war years. Nevertheless the club did build new dressing rooms which were paid for by the supporters. The price paid by spectators to witness United in action was 6d per game. There were concessions for children and the elderly of 3d per game, whilst a season ticket cost the rather princely sum of 7/6d.
Even before the first game of the season at Springfield Park, against South Liverpool, the directors of the club were in serious trouble, mainly due to the fact that the players were in fact being paid. At an emergency meeting of the Lancashire FA at the Clarence Hotel it was ordered that the club be wound up.
Wigan United would then have to reform and agree to work to the rules, regulations and bye laws of the Lancashire FA. This task was to be completed on or before 31st October 1920. The present board would also have to undertake, by writing, no later than Wednesday the 29th September 1920, to relinquish the running of the club and hand over to a new regime. Finally, no past or present member of Wigan United were to be involved in the new club.
Less than a week later association football supporters of the town were invited to a meeting at the Old Council Chamber, Wigan Borough Courts, the purpose of which was to reform the club according to the demands of the Lancashire FA. The chairman of the meeting Alderman William Henry Angus, (United’s President), Mr Tonge of the United committee and United’s secretary William Ashworth, all claimed that any players paid previously by the club were merely reimbursed for loss of earnings by playing for the club. They bemoaned the fact that this was common practice and could not believe that the LFA had come down so hard on them.
However, speaking of their other financial irregularities, they were not so forthcoming and merely put on record that they themselves had taken over from somebody whose ‘secretarial management was unsatisfactory’!
The meeting wound up having decided that the committee would write to the LFA suggesting that the ban on not allowing past or present members of the club to be a part of the new club be scrapped. They also suggested that the punishment for paying players for loss of earnings be punishable by a reasonable fine, or maybe overlooked altogether. They also informed the LFA that the new club would be funded by the issuing of 2000 shares at a cost of one pound each.
On 6th November 1920 the local press reported the outcome of the meeting that resulted in the formation of Wigan Association Football Club. The meeting was held at the Dog and Partridge public house. Everton FC were well represented at the gathering and William James ‘Bill’ Sawyer, a director at Goodison Park, had promised three or four Everton players to help the new club, who were bottom of the Lancashire Combination, should the restructuring be successful. Heading the meeting once again was John Lewis being ably abetted by Mr John McKenna the president of the English League and Mr Tom Laithwaite of the Lancashire FA. The Wigan contingent, prepared to take on the new club were Messrs Arthur Roberts, Richard Walsh, George Leyland, John William Asson, George Adam, Garfield Wallace ( a future Wigan Borough manager), JT Holding and Mr H Sanders, who was to take on the role of secretary. The meeting also heard that Richard Walsh was to be the treasurer and the bank in charge of Wigan Association FC business would be the Union Bank of Manchester.
Addressing the meeting Mr Lewis stated that it was a great disappointment that Wigan had not 'made good in the Association world' He implied that the town's population was big enough to support both the Northern Union rugby code and association football. He implied that the leaders of all the previous Wigan clubs all failed to have the right men at the helm. He went on to state that in his opinion association football was 'the best game for the youth of the country to play' and he was determined that Wigan should have a club of which the whole town could be proud.
Mr McKenna said he was pleased to help form this new club from the ruins of the old one and expressed delight at the Wigan men present who were determined to make a success out of Wigan Association FC. There was great applause when he stated that in his opinion that the new club could not be properly governed by men from another district as had previously been the case. He also stated that the new club would not be in competition with their rugby counterparts and that there was room in town for both codes. Mr McKenna was in a suitable position to make the comments as he had been involved with most of the previous Wigan association football clubs, stating that in many cases the running of Wigan clubs had been 'disastrous'.
Mr Sawyer the Everton director who was present stated that he had no ulterior motive and he just 'regarded it as a duty because it was the smaller clubs who provided Everton's players of the future'. He assured Messrs Lewis and McKenna that the men prepared to take charge of the club were fit to take on the task. When Mr Sawyer was asked just who the main person in charge would be he replied, 'Mr Alex Young', with that the questioner said, 'That's enough, I am quite satisfied’.
There was a thorny question of whether or not the new club could use the money that Wigan United had received from the sale of James Barrington to Bradford City and Mr Lewis stated that it was quite in order to do so. The new club agreed to re-organise Lancashire Combination fixtures to avoid any clashes with Wigan's rugby club and the new club colours were to be ' blue jerseys and white pants'. Mr Henry Augustus Scott Barrett JP was appointed the new chairman of the club and Alex Young was appointed club president.
Within a couple of weeks a meeting of the LFA took place in Preston. The meeting was set up to change the new team’s name again. It was reported that the FA vetoed the name ‘Wigan Association’ because it would be a breach of the agreement made with the Northern Union code. A Mr Sutcliffe, speaking on behalf of Wigan Association stormed. “If that is not red tape what is? How you can confuse Wigan Association with rugby is a mystery to me”.
The club was from that moment named ‘Wigan Borough’. Explaining the decision of the meeting John Lewis insisted that there was no trouble between the FA and the NU, but FA and NU rules insisted that two clubs from one authority could not merely affix the term ‘Association’ or ‘Rugby’ after the town’s name.
Copyright © 2012 - This Northern Soul. All rights reserved