Daily Mail

MAKING IT TO MY BOY’S BIRTH TOPS HUMBLING CITY!

Wigan star on the day he scored twice, ran off the pitch and got to hospital just in time

- by Ian Ladyman Football Editor @Ian_Ladyman_DM

FOR Wigan Athletic, the season’s highlight may already be set in stone. Wigan 1 Manchester City 0. If it gets any better than that, Paul Cook’s team will have done very well indeed.

But for Wigan’s young forward Ryan Colclough, season 2017-18 was already very special even before City were taken down in the FA Cup at a frenzied DW Stadium.

Early in the second half of a League One game against Doncaster last November, Colclough jogged over to the touchline at a goal kick and spotted his father in the crowd.

‘He gave me this signal and I knew straight away that Steph’s waters had broken,’ Colclough told

Sportsmail this week. ‘My head just went straight away. My son was about to be born but I was in totally the wrong place, on the middle of a football pitch.

‘Before I knew it we were attacking again and I followed the play into the penalty area. I ended up scoring a goal.

‘I went straight to the bench and said they had to get me off.’ Less than an hour later, Colclough was standing in the delivery room at Warrington Hospital with his new son Harley in his arms. Still dressed in his Wigan kit, mud on his knees, it made for a memorable scene.

‘I was straight down the tunnel, threw my boots off and drove straight there,’ said Colclough, who also has a three-year-old son Miller. ‘Fifteen minutes later Harley was born. I just made it.

‘The hospital staff looked at me very strangely. I was trying to find the room and when I burst in they were like, “I take it this is dad?”.

‘I was still sweating from the game, mud everywhere. But I washed my hands and tried to be there for Steph.’

Colclough, 23, had already scored twice in the Doncaster game. Wigan eventually won 3-0 but what if his team had been losing when news came through? Would manager Cook have been quite so understand­ing?

‘The manager would have taken me off and got me on my way, whatever the result,’ he said. ‘He is a family man and knew it was important for me to get to mine.

‘He had my phone in his pocket during training that week, just in case it rang with news. Wigan are good like that. We are tight. My little boy is my priority.

‘I scored twice, celebrated knowing that my son was about to be born and then got straight off. I like to say he was my hat-trick.’

Before Sunday’s FA Cup quarterfin­al at home to Southampto­n, Colclough and his family took time out to talk at their new home just outside Wigan.

Only recently moved in, partner Steph suggests it has ‘been chaotic’ and things could ramp up a notch further this weekend. Wigan have already beaten West Ham, Bournemout­h and City in the FA Cup this season so there is no particular reason for them to fear the visit of Southampto­n and their new manager Mark Hughes.

‘The way we felt and trained after City showed what a result like that can do for us,’ Colclough said.

‘After beating three Premier League teams, nobody can say it was a fluke. We will respect Southampto­n but we will not fear them.’

Colclough was sent on from the bench against City with instructio­ns to ‘win the game’. Moments later team-mate Will Grigg scored and the job descriptio­n changed. ‘There was a lot of running,’ he laughed.

‘But we stuck together and ground it out.

‘I watched the first 75 minutes and it was special to see how City played, some of the best players in the world. But we beat them and will never forget that.’

For many the night will be remembered for the half-time tunnel arguments that followed the sending-off of City’s Fabian Delph and the pitch invasion at the final whistle.

‘I was there at half-time and I think there was a bit of a language barrier between Pep Guardiola and his staff and some of ours,’ he said. ‘Mind you there is a language barrier anyway with our gaffer and his Scouse accent! It was a dangerous tackle. We were upset because of the danger to Max Power. They were upset because of the decision.

‘In the end I think the gaffer and Pep did speak and just decided to get on with the game. Afterwards it was a little bit crazy. One of the young fans had my shirt off me. I got John Stones’s shirt.’

A boyhood Manchester United fan, Colclough grew up in Stoke and trained with both clubs, as well as Port Vale and Crewe, on consecutiv­e nights as a seven-year-old.

‘My nana Lynn used to drive me and I will never forget that,’ he said. Eventually, Colclough settled on Crewe and played 70 times before joining Wigan in 2016. This season promotion from League One remains the priority but already Wigan have special moments to look back on.

Bookmakers have already offered odds on young Harley playing for England but Colclough has kept his money in his pocket.

‘We aren’t allowed to bet anyway,’ he smiled. ‘Miller already likes football so who knows?

‘I have been asked whether the City game or Harley being born is the best memory and of course I will say my little boy.

‘Hopefully football will give me other great memories. But Harley will grow up with a story of his own and I can’t wait to tell him.’

 ??  ?? Who’s the daddy? Colclough with baby Harley now and (left) a photo he posted online holding his son after the birth... while still in full Wigan kit! PICTURE: IAN HODGSON
Who’s the daddy? Colclough with baby Harley now and (left) a photo he posted online holding his son after the birth... while still in full Wigan kit! PICTURE: IAN HODGSON
 ??  ??
 ??  ??
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom