Monthly Archives: January 2013

A Strange Few Months

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FCUM

FCUM

It’s been a testing few months in FC land to be honest. This eighth season has been a slog off the pitch. Frustration at the NIMBY’s in Moston and the drawn out nature of the Judicial Review has left this particular member feeling that if there was a plan B we really should go full steam ahead with it. I have no enthusiasm for Moston anymore.

Anxiety over the uncertainty with the ground has undoubtedly contributed to the strange vibe that has been apparent in our online community recently.  The nadir has undoubtedly been the fallout from the infamous resolution 5 aka no Sky TV in the new ground. A resolution was put forward that no club funds should be used to fund a satellite TV subscription in the new ground.

Those who pointed out that it was a nonsense to have this debate when there is no ground yet, or that the resolution encompassed many smaller issues worthy of their own resolutions, were portrayed by some as being Pro Sky when they were nothing of the sort. This hardly helped matters. Factor in that at all previous General Meetings, resolutions have been trusted to stand alone on the strength of the persuasiveness of their wording. However, on this occasion, a concerted publicity campaign was undertaken (including canvassing the views of a supporter of a fellow supporter run club) of a nature that made you feel there was no escape or room for free thinking. This left many feeling uneasy.

Rightly or wrongly there is view that just like many other left wing organisations we have turned in on ourselves and that alternative interpretations of the key principles of our club will no longer be tolerated. I hope that isn’t the case.

Not aiding the situation is that the club hasn’t really evolved as much as it should in terms of its transparency and accountability. Being cited as issues by some include:

- the editor of the club’s most active fanzine ( a fanzine that was seen by some to be at the centre of the spin surrounding resolution 5 and has begun to see it’s role increasingly as the self appointed Moral Compass of the club) being married to the Club Secretary

- said fanzine editor being paid a fee to create the club’s, admittedly excellent, programme

- a board member (now ex) writing for said fanzine

- lack of transparency over the recruitment procedures for key paid and unpaid club roles leaving key personnel open to accusations of Cronyism

I personally don’t think the club has been compromised by any of the above or that the integrity of the club is in question. However, they certainly haven’t helped matters and there are clear conflicts of interest. We have some growing up to do as a club on the administration and governance side. Oh and I need to get to more games as well before anyone points that out :-)

2015 Election

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Ed

Ed

From my WN5 perspective, the horrors that I feared with the return of a Conservative Government (admittedly neutered to some extent by Clegg and Co) have proven to be mostly correct. The saving grace would be that we are over halfway until the next election in 2015.

2 pieces have appeared in recent days that offer an insight into current thinking on the likely outcome in 2015. Paul Goodman’s piece in the Telegraph was highly encouraging for those of us who want to see an end to the current ‘We are all in this together but we really are looking out for our rich mates’  spin.

There then appeared a piece from Dan Hodges in the same paper that struck a chord with me and confirms that Labour are far from home and dry in 2015. Why is Labour’s lead only in single figures given the failure of the austerity plan and the pig’s ear that Cameron and Clegg have made of most things in 2012?

The plain and simple biggest reason why Labour’s lead is so precarious is the ineffectiveness of Ed Miliband. The fact that the Unions overrode the wishes of the PLP and CLP in putting their man in charge of the party could cost Labour power in 2015. Some people are born to be leaders- to take people with them. Ed Miliband is not one of those people. He will not conect with Southern voters and you can see already that the Tories will play on that issue as the crux of their campaign.

The Unions got their man but it may cost Labour the 2015 election. I hope I am wrong.

Two Tribes

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Two Tribes

Two Tribes

Wigan is a town of just over 80 000 people. For it to have a Premier League football team for the last 8 seasons (the greatest achievement in recent English football history given the club’s resources) and a world renowned Rugby League team should be a source of great pride to everyone associated with the town. Or so you would think……..

A sizeable proportion of each club’s fanbase do not get on. The roots of this family squabble are various. What is not open to debate is that a great chasm opened in the 1980’s.  A Rugby League club that had been on its uppers a few years before rose to become the pre-eminent force in Rugby League. Meanwhile a Football Club who had entered the Football League on a wave of euphoria at the end of the previous decade, and soon experienced promotion, hit upon hard times. The perception was that the Rugby Club, as well as the local council, did nothing to support its struggling neighbour.  A view encapsulated by the refusal of the Rugby Club to allow its footballing neighbour to play a high profile cup match at its ground, Central Park.

A brooding sense of injustice pervaded the hardcore of Latics over this sleight and the perceived second class treatment from authorities in the town. Highly unfortunate comments from the then Rugby chairman (and future Latics director) Maurice Lindsay didn’t help matters as it gave the impression of Latics being an inconvenience to be tolerated at best. It is an interpretation of events that I would agree with- Latics were treated as the outcast of the family. I had better declare an interest at this point that at this time I was watching almost as many Latics matches as United matches due to my young age limiting my awaydays somewhat. I might also add for balance that I have grown to love watching RL too and I want my town’s RL team to win every match it plays. RL is a fantastic spectator sport. However, reflecting on this over 2 decades later, I believe my feeling the time was the correct one.

To try and understand the mindsets of these two tribes it is necessary to explore the circumstances of Wigan as a town. Not having had a professional football team until 1978, and given its geographical proximity to Manchester, Liverpool as well as the old Lancashire Mill town giants of post war football, Latics are still playing catch up in terms of attracting local support. There is a Diaspora from Wigan every weekend as thousands seek their footballing fix elsewhere- including myself with United and now FC United. Factor in the plethora of armchair EPL (eugh!) fans that frequent the town’s bars to watch their team and it is apparent that there are more people in this town who support a football team than follow the local Rugby team.

This is where it gets tricky though. Probably the most throny bone of contention between the two clans is whether this is a Rugby or Football town. Inspite of what I have just explained above, I would still argue that this is a Rugby town. Rugby League is in the DNA of this town- pure and simple. The amateur RL game is deeply embedded into numerous local communities and ensures that you are never too far away from someone either involved with or playing for an amateur club. The success of the amateur game in Wigan can be seen by the number of local lads plying their trade in Super League and below. As an aside, the amateur RL, for all that I have praised their work, have displayed a staggering arrogance in moving Junior Rugby to the summer and affecting the Junior set ups at many local Cricket Clubs in the process.

If Rugby is more deeply entrenched in this town, it hasn’t half been used by some to belittle the  fantastic achievements of Latics. There is an arrogance amongst some Rugby folk that has to be seen to be believed. For them no other sport exists and certainly not Football with its glamour and money being at odds with the earthiness of RL. Football fans are hooligans who are not there to actually watch the match but to run amok. They use every opportunity to push the merits and worthiness of their sport at the cost of all others. The mill town yonner ‘chubster’ caricature of your typical rugby fan has grown out of this amongst some Latics fans. The fact the many of these types seem to have lost the ability to enter the stadium since the move from Central Park and now espouse their views from local hostelries ( along with the armchair United/Liverpool brigade) instead merely adds to it all.  Not forgetting of course that the internet has given a raised platform for these views and this hasn’t helped either. The unfortunate situation is that these views are now generational on both sides and we are now in the third generation of these conflicting views on who owns the keys to the heart of this town.

All this enmity on both sides ignores the many in the middle (Purples?) who follow both and must despair at all this silliness. They have my total respect. Indeed before the current gap opened, and before RL portrayed itself as a family sport, it was not unknown for the more active football elements to attend high profile Wigan RL matches……

So what am I actually trying to say? Well, whilst recognising that there are many good, mainly historical, reasons for there to be bitterness from a Latics perspective, I do rather feel that some sections of Latics more clued up support are in danger of disappearing up their own backsides over this issue.

Coming at this from a semi detached viewpoint, there is an obsession from some Latics fans on this issue now that is morphing into a wider paranoia over all outside perceptions to their club.

Every transgression from an RL player is picked up on completely ignoring the fact that you average RL player is still in the social stratosphere where your average footballer was 20-30 years back i.e. they have a slightly better house or car than you but they are still just normal people unlike the Ivory Tower inhabiting top flight footballer of the present. That some RL fans still cling to the canard of it as a family sport should be source or mirth and not the apoplexy that it seems to have become amongst those who should know better.

This paranoia has spread to the local paper. The Wigan Evening Post does tend to favour the Rugby team and it does behave sometimes as if it is a village paper rather than the mouthpiece of a conurbation of 300 000+.  However, when that paranoia spreads itself to the coverage of Bradley Wiggins in said paper then it has gone a little far in my books. Yes the link between Mr Wiggins and Wigan seems tenuous at best. However, it is one he is happy to play up to and for me brings nothing but benefits in terms of positive publicity to the town- heaven knows we need it. However, Kilburn’s finest has committed the grave sin of declaring his passion for RL and Wigan RL in particular.  Now every story and achievement of his is ridiculed by some. It is getting boring to be honest.

This paranoia has spread onto the internet and in particular Twitter. As touched on above, the internet has opened up a whole new playground for crackpots to hide behind pseudonyms and spout nonsense. The issue of Latics crowds are brought up by some of the Twitter intelligentsia as a way of deeming them unworthy of a place in the Premier League. You know that is nonsense, I know that is nonsense and the vast majority of people of all footballing persuasion that I speak know it to be so- they are at pains to recognise the amazing achievement of Wigan in staying in the Premier League for so long. However, for some reason, normally sensible members of the Latics Twitterati seem to be actively searching out these ill informed types for a cyber spat. Why bother? Why waste your time?

This mindset is leading to some pretty sussed people making the same sweeping generalisations that they get upset about when an opposition ‘fan’ spouts online. It must be hard when you get back to your local after a cold and miserable away defeat and armchair Johnny ten teams the lifelong Liverpool/United fan is sat at the bar ready to tell you how mush better his team is than yours. You really should rise above it and pity these people.

The town of Wigan is often run down in the media and suffers from a negative perception. Some of that is justified- the current depressing state of the town centre being one pressing instance. The two professional sports teams in this town are beacons of hope and something to be proud of.  There are some on the Rugby sides whose views on Latics you will never change. Why worry about them? Equally there are some on the Latics side who need to let the bitterness they feel from 20-30 years back go and to live in the present- a present where the town’s football club has a higher profile around the world. Some out of town Latics fans  need to stop stoking up this internal dispute with their dislike of the Town’s Rugby team. You might choose to support another RL team but then don’t equate your support for Latics with a hatred for the town’s RL team. It might make your feel like a top Latic but it really isn’t helping the situation.

Take a step back and open your eyes. Support your team(s) and don’t take everything that the other team does, or the utterings of a few space cadets on Twitter, as a personal attack on the integrity of your club. You are both doing great. Enjoy the ride.