- This topic has 40 replies, 19 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I wonder how many people around the globe had heard of Wigan Athletic before last May despite us being in the P L for 8 seasons. The whole planet watches the Cup and our little club and our amazing triumph was the topic of conversation of football fans from every Continent even if only for a short while. That’s why to me it has to be the Cup.
Funny because you would expect most European footballing nations to have heard of Wigan, what with us being in the prem for 8yrs & winning the FA Cup. Was talking with an Athletico Madrid fan on holiday last summer and he had never heard of us :) my overall football knowledge ain’t the best but I knew more about Athletico than he knew about us. I had to tell him about our recent exploits, he had heard of man city though!
Answer to the question, both for me…
A false argument. You met one person. How many English fans have heard of Levante or Elche? Or Chievo or Sassuolo? There will be large numbers of foreign football fans who just support “their team” who have not heard of us.
BUT – equally there will be lots around the world who have, because of having been in the Premier League, and that was the original point.
No team from outside the top flight won the FA Cup between West Brom in 1931 & West Ham in 1980.Sunderland 1973
Southampton 1976
Both 2nd Division ???????
A false argument. You met one person. How many English fans have heard of Levante or Elche? Or Chievo or Sassuolo? There will be large numbers of foreign football fans who just support “their team” who have not heard of us.BUT – equally there will be lots around the world who have, because of having been in the Premier League, and that was the original point.
Er, it wasn’t an argument, just a reply to his question. Understand there will be as many who have heard of us as there is who have not. This guy and his son knew a fair bit about the prem, but mainly the bigger clubs.
A false argument. You met one person. How many English fans have heard of Levante or Elche? Or Chievo or Sassuolo? There will be large numbers of foreign football fans who just support “their team” who have not heard of us.
BUT – equally there will be lots around the world who have, because of having been in the Premier League, and that was the original point.
Er, it wasn’t an argument, just a reply to his question. Understand there will be as many who have heard of us as there is who have not. This guy and his son knew a fair bit about the prem, but mainly the bigger clubs.[/quote]
Nail on the head for me Jimmy, Utd and Liverpool are global brands and sell the Premier League along with maybe a few more clubs. I wonder if a European Super League was born and our big clubs left the PL, how many countries would still show an interest?. Fans in places like China want to see United, Liverpool etc not the rest of the clubs in the league. Its the big boys not the division that is the attraction.
A false argument. You met one person. How many English fans have heard of Levante or Elche? Or Chievo or Sassuolo? There will be large numbers of foreign football fans who just support “their team” who have not heard of us.
BUT – equally there will be lots around the world who have, because of having been in the Premier League, and that was the original point.
Er, it wasn’t an argument, just a reply to his question. Understand there will be as many who have heard of us as there is who have not. This guy and his son knew a fair bit about the prem, but mainly the bigger clubs.[/quote]
Nail on the head for me Jimmy, Utd and Liverpool are global brands and sell the Premier League along with maybe a few more clubs. I wonder if a European Super League was born and our big clubs left the PL, how many countries would still show an interest?. Fans in places like China want to see United, Liverpool etc not the rest of the clubs in the league. Its the big boys not the division that is the attraction.[/quote]
That wasn’t quite the question though, was it? The original question was about whether people around the world knew about Wigan because of them being in the Premier League or winning the FA Cup. I used to travel the world with work and not one person had heard of Wigan pre-2005 but once we were in the Premier League everywhere I went they had heard of us. (Except Bulgaria, for some reason. The guys there hadn’t heard of us at all. But then again, I hadn’t heard of Varna before I had to go there.)
I suspect that even more now know about us because of the FA Cup win, but to say we weren’t known around the world from our time in the Prem is just wrong. Oh, and my sample was much bigger than JimmyC’s holiday Athetico fan ;)
Yes, it appears that I did write:
‘No team from outside the top flight won the FA Cup between West Brom in 1931 & West Ham in 1980.’
But, I was referring to a line from #127109
Sorry, it’s the old men and computers thing!
A false argument. You met one person. How many English fans have heard of Levante or Elche? Or Chievo or Sassuolo? There will be large numbers of foreign football fans who just support “their team” who have not heard of us.
BUT – equally there will be lots around the world who have, because of having been in the Premier League, and that was the original point.
Er, it wasn’t an argument, just a reply to his question. Understand there will be as many who have heard of us as there is who have not. This guy and his son knew a fair bit about the prem, but mainly the bigger clubs.[/quote]
Nail on the head for me Jimmy, Utd and Liverpool are global brands and sell the Premier League along with maybe a few more clubs. I wonder if a European Super League was born and our big clubs left
the PL, how many countries would still show an interest?. Fans in places like China want to see United, Liverpool etc not the rest of the clubs in the league. Its the big boys not the division that is the attraction.[/quote]That wasn’t quite the question though, was it? The original question was about whether people around the world knew about Wigan because of them being in the Premier League or winning the FA Cup. I used to travel the world with work and not one person had heard of Wigan pre-2005 but once we were in the Premier League everywhere I went they had heard of us. (Except Bulgaria, for some reason. The guys there hadn’t heard of us at all. But then again, I hadn’t heard of Varna before I had to go there.)
I suspect that even more now know about us because of the FA Cup win, but to say we weren’t known around the world from our time in the Prem is just wrong. Oh, and my sample was much bigger than JimmyC’s holiday Athetico fan ;)[/quote]
Pmsl… Well my comment was purely harmless, and whether it be my one example or jet set Griff lifestyle example, they had not heard if Wigan Athletic!
My work occasionally takes me off to foreign lands, Scotland! Was talking to a Dundee Utd fan as recently as December, and he asked me what league were Wigan in…. Suppose that backs up GL’s comment about foreign supporters supporting just their team :)I remember going to the bar in Olu Deniz in Turkey in 2003 and 2004 in my Latics shirt and being met with blank looks when I said which team it was for when asked by the bar staff. This was despite one of the entertainment team walking round in a Latics shirt he’d scrounged the year before.
However in 2006 they all knew who Latics were. Same in Skiathos, Rhodes and Zante later on. We were/are world famous in Greece.
In fact the whole bar in Skiathos jumped up and
cheered when Hugo scored the winner at Spurs and we were the only Latics fans in there.Our enthusiasm rubbed off on everyone. :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:They know about Latics now, was in Olu Deniz for a week last May just after we won the cup. Stopped a few times by the locals, including the bloke running one of the beach daytrip boats (who was wearing a Liverpool shirt). Just one look at the tree & crown proudly displayed on my chest and it was…..you from Wiggin, you win the cup?
…..yes pal, we did…..No contest for me, FA cup first but lets do both. 3 trips to Wembley, a lot more people would know who we are then!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
