WIGAN ATHLETIC

LAST SEASON

LEAGUE ONE 1st FA CUP First Round LEAGUE CUP Second Round TOP SCORER Will Keane ( 27)

FAN FILE

Last season was astounding – from not seeing our team for nearly two years, to maybe not even seeing them ever again, to becoming champions. It was beyond expectations. This season will be different because the general vibe has changed. There was a big party factor in evidence last season, as the first after COVID. Add in that we probably won’t be fighting for promotion again this term and it’s an unknown proposition.

Our key player will be Max Power [ below]. He didn’t have the best of it at Championship level in his first spell with us, but after another promotion he’ll be one of our main assets. The active player I’d love to have

back is Cedric Kipre, part of a side that really was going places under Paul Cook until Au Yeung and Stanley Choi stopped us in our tracks. The one change I’d make would be getting some new seats. Preferably blue ones.

Fans think our owner is brilliant. Abdulrahman Al Jasmi and Talal Al Hammad rescued a club on its knees and, along with a wise and innovative board, gave us a season many of us thought we’d never experience again.

Our most underrated player is Jack Whatmough, a classy centre- half who Portsmouth fans insisted was injury- prone and wouldn’t last more than a season. He ended up playing in every league match.

I won’t be happy unless Galloways pies make it onto the shelves at the DW. Ask your nearest Wiganer if you don’t know what I’m talking about. The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is roundly positive. For the majority of last season, Leam Richardson could do no wrong. We had a few iffy results in the final stretch, though, and more and more fans got on his back. The worry is that those voices will grow louder if the campaign doesn’t start in the way that some want – nay, expect. If he left, he should be replaced by a certain former Wigan manager who may be looking for a new challenge after the World Cup…

We’ll finish between 7th and 14th. We’ve not had a quiet season in more than 20 years.

FFT VERDICT 20TH

With a popular manager and an even more popular chairman, the Latics are a tight- knit bunch, but few of their players have thrived at this level before and survival is the objective. Reducing the 101 yellow cards picked up last term – League One’s second- most – would help.