Wigan County F.C

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Wigan County F.C was the first football club to play at Springfield Park.

[edit] Wigan County (1897-1900)

In May 1897, a new association football team formed, the team was accepted in the Lancashire League. The club pulled off something of a coup, they signed Robert Menham, a former Everton goalkeeper, and announced that their ambition was to play in the football league. The first match was played on the 25th August 1897, with the club letting the supporters in for free, with the intention, of course, to raise the club’s profile. The second game was played in atrocious weather conditions, but still attracted a crowd of over 3000. The first recorded game was on Wednesday 1st September 1897, at Springfield Park. 1,500 peopled braved the awful weather conditions that persisted in Wigan for the last month or so, to see County draw 1-1 with Burton Swifts. The clubs first Lancashire League game was against Southport Central, a game in which they won 5-1, 4000 people watched the game. Admission prices where considered to be steep, costing 4d and 8d. County made a cheeky bid to join the football league in 1898, nobody was surprised more than the County board, because they received seven votes and Coventry City, a big club at the time, received none!

[edit] County And The Cups

In County’s first ever F.A Cup run, they qualified for the first round proper by beating Fleetwood Ramblers 1-0, Hunt Ramblers 4-3, Blackburn Park Road 2-1 and Nelson 3-1. County drew Manchester City, who at the time played in the old Football League Division Two, at Ardwick. The game took place on the 28th January 1898, a game which City won 1-0, courtesy of a goalkeeping error! Playing for county that day, was Jack Gordon, who scored the first ever football league goal for Preston against Blackburn in 1888. He also played in the most record margin of goals in an F.A cup game, as Preston dispatched Hyde United 26-0 in 1887!

County’s first Lancashire cup game was against Bacup Borough at the end of October in 1897, County won the game 1-0. In the next round in December 1897, County played Newton Heath (later to become Manchester United). After eighty minutes, the game was stopped due to bad light, with county losing 6-0. After the match the club tried to get the result overturned, but the Lancashire F.A ruled that the result would stand. In the 1898/99 season, County won Wigan’s first ever trophy, the Rawclife Charity Cup. Wigan beat St. Helens rec, at Victory Park in Chorley 2-0 and in front of 6000 spectators. Later the club paraded the trophy around Wigan in a wagonette, accompanied by a brass band!

[edit] The Demise Of Wigan County

On the 13th September 1899, George Wilcock offered Springfield Park up for auction, at the venue where the ground was born – The Ship Hotel. The ground covered almost 18 acres of land. The land contained a ‘half mile cinder trotting track’, a ‘excellent cinder pedestrian track’, a ‘grand cement cycling track’ and a ‘splendid football ground, with a grandstand, entrance turnstiles and refreshment bars’. Bids started at around £5000, it was also revealed that County had a contact to play there until 30th April 1900.

In October 1899, there was a meeting of all local football clubs to discuss if there where any means of helping County. Thirty clubs attended the meeting and all agreed that the club could have the best of local talent. At the time County had a squad of only 13 players. In return County provided the amateur clubs with a qualified instructor, to help them improve. Two months later, the club was rumoured to be closed, this was not the case. However after poor results and falling attendances, the club agreed to fulfil all its fixtures, before folding in April 1900.