Welcome to earlyWIGANrugby.co.uk
Wigan Warriors Rugby League Football Club has a very long and rich history. Players such as James Sullivan, Billy Boston and Ellery Hanley have all donned the World Famous Cherry and White jersey and in doing so have written themselves into rugby folklore for eternity. We know all about them, and the success Wigan has had during the 1960s, 1980s, 1990s and more recently in the Super League era as it is ingrained within our memories. But what about the Wigan Club before the time of Billy Boston, Martin Offiah and James Sullivan?
What the books don't tell you, it is earlyWIGANrugby's mission to! Long before records began in 1895, Wigan were a growing club with legendary players such as Jim Slevin, Charlie Samuels and Ned Bullough. Here you will find out about them. Even before the era of Jim Sullivan and Johnny Ring, Wigan were a huge success in the rugby world between 1895 and the World Wars, but not much is known. It is this sites aim to Champion, Research and tell the stories that have been forgotten or have been undocumented.
Here you will be able to learn about the Wigan clubs formation in 1872 and we will take you all the way through to the formation of the Northern Union in 1895 and carry on up until the Great War in 1914 and onto the start of World War II. This huge slice of history has been ignored, misrepresented and forgotten. Along the way you can learn about the great players that have donned the Cherry and White jersey and the stories that are to be told along the way!
VISIT OUR FANTASTIC VIRTUAL MUSEUM!!
VIRTUAL MUSEUM - Walk around the eWr museum, click images, read about our fantastic history!
WIGAN AGMs - 1890 - Slevin retires (Sept, 2020)
WIGAN AGMs - 1889 - Wigan won two cups... (sep 16, 2020)
WIGAN AGMs - 1895 - The season Wigan got suspended for Professionalism (sep 15, 2020)
WIGAN AGMs - 1888 - Someone wanted to withdraw from the Wigan Cup!! (sep 13, 2020)
WIGAN AGMs - 1886 - Wigan were now getting organised on and off the field as they look to move to a new ground (Sep 12, 2020)
WIGAN AGMs - 1873-7 - A first (basic) look at whatever meeting I could find in connection with the Wigan football club. Spoiler: not much!
TALES TOLD - William Marsden - A fantastically detailed insight into Wigans formation and life within the Wigan Wasps and beyond. - 6th September, 2020
WIGAN ON TOUR - A look at South Wales and Devonshire tours in the 1880s and 1890s with amusing tales of events that occured. - 3rd September, 2020
CLASSIC GAMES - St. Elizabeth's, Aspull - 1879 - 27th August, 2020
SEASONS
GROUNDS
CLASSIC GAMES
PLAYERS
WIGAN IN COLOUR
Due to the success of @Hunslet08 on twitter and social media, we are following Wigan's fortunes during the 1908-09 campaign. Hunslet won all four major trophies available to them and we followed with intrigue the season as it happened. It was a great factual event so I asked whether we can do it for Wigan and had no objections.
So here we are. We have our very own correspondent under the pseudonym "Offside" (pic). He is a local gent and is well known in Wigan and district rugby circles. On a good day he be found in the Three Crowns pub on Standishgate, and on a bad, well... who knows.
He is a proud Wiganer with safe business in the town. His flat cap always rolled up in his back pocket, a pencil in his ear, his hands are large and weathered meaning his claps can be heard all around Central Park.
Offside shall, through the season, keep us Wiganers up to date about the dealings with the club from player transfers, committee news, match reports and everything else he hears in the public houses around town. (They even say he once lost a bet that Wigan would beat Hull in 1902, Wigan lost, and as punishment had to walk home - which he did... whether that is true or not, we have his word)
Other Heritage Sites
Warrington Wolves Heritage Pages - authored by Neil Ormston: www.warringtonrugbyheritage.com "Dedicated to preserving the history of rugby league in Warrington "
Wigan Local History & Heritage Society - Discovering and protecting our Wigan history and heritage:
https://www.wiganlocalhistory.org/
Rugby League Record Keepers Club - To create and share a comprehensive record of rugby league’s history
https://www.rugbyleaguerecords.com/rugby-league-record-keepers-club