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Wigan Warriors
http://www.therugbyleaguewebsite.co.uk
11:49 09-Sep-2010
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Football Club was first founded in 1872 by members of the Wigan Cricket Club, and their first ground was located on Folly Field near Upper Dicconson Street. Their first official game was played on the 30th of November when the team split itself down the middle and played itself at Folly Field. This practice stood them in good stead when they were able to bring the more experienced Warrington side to a draw in 1873. In 1876 Wigan and District F.C was formed after the Wigan team merged with Upholland F.C, and the team changed its ground to the Wigan Cricket Club in Prescott Street. Wigan and District F.C was disbanded just over one year later, however hope was still present in the form of the Wigan Wasps team that was formed in 1879 by many ex members of the original Wigan Football Club. The RFU suspended Wigan for breaking the amateur code despite the teams argument that broken-time payments were necessary to avoid undue hardship for their players, many of whom worked long hours in industrial or mining related jobs. Wigan was joined by 21 other teams in 1895 who left the RFU to join the Northern Union and formed rugby league.
Wigan purchased half of the rights to Springfield Park, becoming sub-tenants in 1901 which they shared with Wigan United AFC. Their first game was played there this year and they were able to beat Moreombe 12-0 and take the Lacnashire Senior Competition. The largest crowd to view the side at the Springfield ground was 10,000 people when they played against and beat Widnes in 1902. Once again they took the Lancashire Senior Competition, beating all other teams that took part. A new ground was built for Wigan at Central Park and the first match of the brand new First Division was played there when Wigan took on Batley. The team went on to take their first Lancashire cup in 1906. Wigan took the bold step of registering themselves as a limited company in 1924 and they went on to wint he Challenge Cup in the same year. Wigan had the honour of being the first rugby league team to be watched by a royal when the Prince of Wales attended Central Park to watch Wigan beat a touring French team in 1934. Wigan then went on to play through the entire 1940-1941 season completely unbeaten until they lost in the Championship Final.
The post war years saw Wigans fortunes continue to rise on the whole although there were a few bleak moments. In 1948 the team took part in the first ever televised match when their victory against Bradford Northern in the Challenge Cup Final was broadcast across the Midlands region. This was also the first rugby league match that was attended by the reigning monarch (King George VI) who presented the trophy to the winning side. In 1951 a record breaking 33,230 people watch Wigan being Leight 14-6 in the final of the Lancashire Cup, and the following year saw Wigan win their sixth consecutive Lancashire Cup. Wigan were also a part of the first ever league match that was broadcast in a game against Wakefield Trinity in 1952. St Helens visited Central Park in 1959 to play against Wigan, Wigan took the game 19-14 however the game produced what is still to this day a record attendance when 47,747 people watched the game. Wigan went on to set the record for the longest unbeaten run of league matches as well.
The 80's and 90's saw the teams popularity rise due to an increase in public viewing of rugby league games. In 1985 Wigan took part in the first rugby league game that was played on the Isle of Man. The Charity Shield match between Hull Kingston Rovers and Wigan drew a crowd of just over 4,000 people who attended to watch the game at the Douglas Bowl stadium. Wigan went on to take victory against Hull KR 34-6. In 1987 Wigan went on to win a record 29 games in a row made up of 20 Division One games, 3 Premiership Trophy games, 4 Lancashire Cup games, 1 Charity Shield match and 1 World Cup Challenge. Wigan were also the first team made up of English players to beat the Australians at rugby league since 1978 when they defeated Manly-Warringah at Central Park. Wigan took the Challenge Cup every year between 1988 and 1995, and were the first team to win a national trophy three times in a row. Wigan were very popular during this period because they produced a large number of home grown stars rather than paying large amounts of money for players who were not local to the Wigan area. 1992 saw Wigan become World Champions when they beat the Penrith Panthers and to this day remain the only British team that have won the World Cup Challenge Cup in Australia.
In 1996 in preparation for the new Super League the club was renamed to the Wigan Warriors. Wigan beat the Leeds Rhinos 10-4 in the first final of the Super League, however their first game in their new JJB Stadium was a defeat against Castleford Tigers in 1999. In 2000 Wigan made it to the final of the Super League but were beaten to the finishing line by St Helens who took the game 29-16 at Old Trafford. The Wigan Warriors finished second in the Super Leage table in the 2001 season, loosing out in the final to the Bradford Bulls. 2002 and 2003 saw Wigan finish a respectable 3rd for both seasons but they did not come close to gaining another place in the final match. The Wigan Warriors had a difficult start to the season in 2005 when they lost a Super League game 70-0 to Leeds and a Challenge Cup tie 75-0 to St Helens. The club entered what has been termed it's "dark age" and they finished the season 7th place in the Super League, missing out on the play-offs for the first time in the history of the club and the Super League. In the 2006 season the team fared no better, with Wigan winning just one of their first eight games, however a string of late victories saved Wigan from relegation, however the team was docked 4 Super League points for breaking the salary cap which pushed them from 4th place to 9th place on the Super Leage table. The 2007 season saw Wigan beat St Helens (their closest rivals) 20-12 which allowed Wigan to finish 6th place. In the first elimination playoff Wigan staged the greatest ever comeback in the history of the Super League when they came back from being 30-6 down with 25 minutes to go against Bradford to finish 31-30.