Well said that man!

Eddie Duggan, Wigans longest serving landlord, ran that trip.
His, and the drivers, faces were a picture when some Millwall fans starting banging on the windows of the coach and a load of our mob piled off.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

veta madre……..

What a thread……….what a f£ckin thread……..so much given up, by so many, for so few (there are lessons to be learnt here).

The anthropologist in me is …..well you know the rest.

Lecturing us from the smoke filled snug of the Ol’ Swan… …what a complete wheeze. Days of glory past and ‘chuckin’ in for players wages went out with ‘Capstans Full Strength’ and Woodbines, Electric Blue Parallels and Crombie’s. Reminiscence is a thing of the past. Literary prose is always welcome when relating to times gone by, however, this board is not about c0ck measuring, and books without pictures can be particularly frustrating – ‘Uncle Bulgaria’ told me that…(stupid winky thing here). Sharing of opinions, however, is what we do (or should do) if allowed, before the self righteous, fence sitting one line paraphrasers tell us otherwise.

I thought that this one was going to be a difficult one to call but, after taking a reality check, looked at the calendar and realised that I do indeed live in The Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Ten.

Tears to eyes moment came after reading the sycophantic responses protecting “the TaNaKh.”…. The ‘author’ must be creaming himsef – in his ivory tower – over some of his really sad (no honestly) sad subordinates……. it’s going to be an embarassing debrief over the usual ‘half of mild’ this week.

Quite honestly………..I’d rather see the return of ‘beetlejuice’ et al than suffer the moanings of the ‘fifth columnists’ – who can’t leave the past alone and have no affinity with this generation.

It’s been said that since our inception to the ‘Greed League’ we have seen an invasion of the JCL…..FFS it’s been 5 years….are we not allowed new supporters?

I suppose that’s why I’m ‘tarnished’………all those flat capped, whippet racing, mild drinking, woodbine smoking, pit working drunks knew more than me when I was a JCL watching Sir Milne and Mr Fleming knock them in in their day – but hey………it’s obvious that we need reminding.

Maybe it would have been better received had it been written in latin……. just a thought like.

Micky, that’s a very eloquent (drunken?) way of totally missing the point, I think

I really enjoyed the article but LMB is right in saying that most of these superfans never went when the club was really on its arse. In the late 80s/early 90s only around 80 regulars went home and away. When i think back i can pretty much name em individually with few of your mudhutters there. The old Latics Liner run by Joe and Mick had 50 on each week. People like Old Fred, Daz Orme, Alan Fairhurst, Brian Sabin, Alan Hart, Jeff Wood and Danny were home and away come hail or shine. When the club was at its lowest ebb over the last 30 years these 80 remained. Most others (like Arky and a few of the other mudhutters) were on their way to Wembley with Wigan Rugby clad in Ellgren!

Most years, the supporter of the year award was basically between Darren Orme and Danny Kennedy. My dad and I used to book on the coaches run by Joe Mills and Jeff Rourke, when they took bookings in the Supporters Club.
I recognise some of the other names, especially Brian Sabin, who people reckoned got loads of ‘freebies’ off the club. Don’t know if that’s true or not. It mentioned in the programme that it was his birthday, a game or two ago.
There were quite a few others as well. Colin Boughey? John Hammond and his daughters? Quite a few faces who’s names you didn’t know, but you knew their face.

I remember in our relegation season, 1993, going away to West Brom, right at the end of the season. They were almost promoted, we were almost relegated. Think we took about 100, at most. Sparsely spread out on that big terrace they had. We got well and truly thrashed 5-1. If you happen to have the programmes from back then, look at the Plymouth Argyle one (I think) from the last game of the season, when we were confirmed as down. There’s pictures from West Brom away in it (we played in red shirts, and blue shorts and socks) and you can see me and my dad stood on the terrace. (I have a mustard coloured coat on. It’s blurred, but it’s me and my dad)

A lot of people who go now and said they went then, I don’t recall them. Mind you, people have thrown that one at me a few times. I started off in Phoenix Stand in 1986 when I was 9, then we went in the Family Enclosure when it opened in 1988, before we started going on the St Andrews Terrace when I was about 13.
Remember, just because someone was never seen on a supporters club coach, doesn’t mean they didn’t go. They might of used trains, or gone in a car.
The only terrace ‘gang’ I can recall, is that gang that the late Dave Wiggans was part of. His mate with the glasses, and at one time some big, fat, lad who looked like the leader. Remember them clearly from home games and aways.

Google’s a good what?

I do hope you’re suggesting I haven’t really written that book, as that would make you look a proper chump

Thank you for your kind words, however, I totally got the authors intonations. An entertaining read nonetheless, spoilt in places when turned from essay to lecture – and maybe a touch too long. Had I the time or inclanation I’m sure a ‘grown up’ debate could be driven right through some of the ‘points’ made, but to be fair, I applaud anyone who finds the time to write passionately about their own beliefs – however cloudy they may be.

Me?…….. I’ve moved on; I’ve lost none of the fervour of the terraces and still ‘stand and shout’ in the Springfield Stand – and from your high vantage point you may have even seen and heard me….but I tend to live in the here and now; my days of ‘pulling up sandbags and swinging the lantern’ are over. I embrace our ‘new’ fans however few they may be and will encourage them to continue their support – even through these ‘lean’ times.

Now this is my radical take on things; let’s reverse this ‘support’ thought process and put the responsibility back to the players. When they come out of the tunnel on match days and look up and see 14000 of us applauding they need to believe that we may be few in comparison but we are massive in passion and belief and should apply their craft accordingly…

…………..Matthew 18:20