Wigan Casino

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The Wigan Casino has been named by a BBC review as one of the most famous clubs in the North of England^[1]. It was a major venue for Northern Soul music, carrying forward the legacy created at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester and Stoke-upon-Trent's legendary club The Golden Torch in Tunstall. Opened in September 1973, the Casino had previously been a popular dance-hall. Many famous soul performers appeared here, Jackie Wilson, Edwin Starr and Junior Walker to name but a few. A TV documentary (This England) about the venue was filmed in 1977. The Casino shut its doors for the final time in 1981, and the building itself burned down a year later. Russ Winstanley (the Casino's DJ and founder) and David Nowell wrote the book The Wigan Casino Story, which was published in 1996. A stage play about the Casino years, Once upon a time in Wigan, written by Mick Martin, debuted in February 2003 at the Contact Theatre, Manchester, and has since toured nationally. Ironically, the 'Casino' was hated, in its heyday, by the local council, who tried to close the venue down. However, that same council now promote the memory of the 'Casino', purely because of its now legendary popularity. Youngsters from all over the UK regularly made the trek to "The Casino" to hear all the latest Northern Soul biggies of the time, it was one of those places where it didn't matter if you weren't the best dancer all that mattered was the music. Queues to get in were sometimes 5 and 6 deep and stretched round the corner of the cinema and up into the town centre some 300 metres. The second dance floor (Mr M's)opened during the all-nighter till 6 am and played all the best oldies from a variety of top DJ's. Unfortunately amphetamine and other drug misuse lead to the downfall of the club with pressure from the Police and the Local Authority forced it to close in 1981.