1978–79 Wigan Athletic F.C. season
Encyclopedia
The 1978–79 season was the 41st season in the history of Wigan Athletic F.C.
and their first as a professional club in the Football League
. After finishing 2nd in the Northern Premier League
during the previous season, the club was nominated to apply for Football League status, and were elected into the league to replace Southport
. After a poor start, the club exceeded expectations in the league, and towards the end of the season, a second consecutive promotion seemed possible. The club eventually fell short, finishing the season in 6th place with a total of 55 points.
Wigan entered the FA Cup
in the first round, but were knocked out by Bury
following a replay
. The club also entered the League Cup
for the first time, winning against Tranmere Rovers
before being defeated in the second round by Luton Town
. The club's first signing as a member of the Football League was Ian Purdie
, who along with Tommy Gore
and Jeff Wright, went on to play every league game during the club's first season. Peter Houghton
was the team's top goalscorer with a total of 13 league goals (14 in all competitions).
, and secured a second place finish in the last game of the season with a 1–0 win against Matlock Town
. Under normal circumstances, league winners Boston United
would have applied for Football League
status, but the League Management Committee had decided that their ground was not up to the required standards. As a result, runners-up Wigan became the Northern Premier League's nomination to apply for Football League status.
At the time, the only way a team could be promoted into the Football League was if their application received more votes than one of the bottom four teams of the Football League in an annual election system. In practice, this process was usually a formality, and very few teams were promoted – Wigan's application to join the league had been rejected on 34 previous occasions. The vote took place on 2 June 1978. In the first poll, York City
, Rochdale
and Hartlepool United
were all re-elected, Southport
and Wigan tied, and Bath City
, the Southern League nomination, received the fewest votes and were eliminated. A revote took place to determine whether Southport or Wigan would be elected into the Football League. Wigan Athletic received 29 votes to Southport's 20, confirming that Wigan would replace Southport in the Fourth Division
next season. It is believed that Wigan's strong performance in the FA Cup
, where they reached the third round, earned them the support they needed to be elected into the Football League.
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
and their first as a professional club in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
. After finishing 2nd in the Northern Premier League
Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League, is one of the regional English football leagues which sits directly below the Football Conference featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England, and the northern areas of the Midlands. Originally just one...
during the previous season, the club was nominated to apply for Football League status, and were elected into the league to replace Southport
Southport F.C.
Southport Football Club are an English football club, based in Southport, Merseyside. They are currently in the Conference National, and play their home matches at Haig Avenue, which has a capacity of 6,008...
. After a poor start, the club exceeded expectations in the league, and towards the end of the season, a second consecutive promotion seemed possible. The club eventually fell short, finishing the season in 6th place with a total of 55 points.
Wigan entered the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
in the first round, but were knocked out by Bury
Bury F.C.
Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...
following a replay
Replay (sports)
In sports, a replay refers to a second game between two teams after the first game's results were either nullified or ended in a draw. A game may be nullified if the game's result is protested and the organizers ruled to replay the game...
. The club also entered the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
for the first time, winning against Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers F.C.
Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...
before being defeated in the second round by Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
. The club's first signing as a member of the Football League was Ian Purdie
Ian Purdie
Ian Purdie is a Scottish former footballer who played as a winger.He started his professional career at Aberdeen before moving on to Dundee and then Motherwell....
, who along with Tommy Gore
Tommy Gore
Thomas John Gore is an English former footballer.-Wigan Athletic:Gore played as a youth for Liverpool and Tranmere Rovers before joining Wigan Athletic in January 1974. He made 185 Northern Premier League appearances for Wigan before the club gained its Football League status...
and Jeff Wright, went on to play every league game during the club's first season. Peter Houghton
Peter Houghton
Peter Houghton , was the longest surviving artificial heart transplant patient in the UK.Houghton was implanted with a Jarvik 2000 heart pump at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England, by professor Stephen Westaby, on 20 June 2000 owing to severe heart failure...
was the team's top goalscorer with a total of 13 league goals (14 in all competitions).
Background
In the 1977–78 season, Wigan competed in the Northern Premier LeagueNorthern Premier League
The Northern Premier League, is one of the regional English football leagues which sits directly below the Football Conference featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England, and the northern areas of the Midlands. Originally just one...
, and secured a second place finish in the last game of the season with a 1–0 win against Matlock Town
Matlock Town F.C.
Matlock Town F.C. is an English football club based at Causeway Lane in Matlock, Derbyshire.-History:The club was established in the late 1870s and have competed in the Central Alliance and the Midland Counties League before reaching the Northern Premier League.In the 1974–75 season the club won...
. Under normal circumstances, league winners Boston United
Boston United F.C.
Boston United Football Club are an association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. They currently play in the Conference North. The club is known as 'the Pilgrims' in reference to the Pilgrim Fathers, who fled from Boston to the USA and founded Boston, Massachusetts. The club's...
would have applied for Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
status, but the League Management Committee had decided that their ground was not up to the required standards. As a result, runners-up Wigan became the Northern Premier League's nomination to apply for Football League status.
At the time, the only way a team could be promoted into the Football League was if their application received more votes than one of the bottom four teams of the Football League in an annual election system. In practice, this process was usually a formality, and very few teams were promoted – Wigan's application to join the league had been rejected on 34 previous occasions. The vote took place on 2 June 1978. In the first poll, York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...
, Rochdale
Rochdale A.F.C.
Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921...
and Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United F.C.
Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...
were all re-elected, Southport
Southport F.C.
Southport Football Club are an English football club, based in Southport, Merseyside. They are currently in the Conference National, and play their home matches at Haig Avenue, which has a capacity of 6,008...
and Wigan tied, and Bath City
Bath City F.C.
Bath City Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset. They play in the Conference National league after gaining promotion from the Conference South via the play-offs in May 2010...
, the Southern League nomination, received the fewest votes and were eliminated. A revote took place to determine whether Southport or Wigan would be elected into the Football League. Wigan Athletic received 29 votes to Southport's 20, confirming that Wigan would replace Southport in the Fourth Division
Football League Fourth Division
The Fourth Division of The Football League was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season...
next season. It is believed that Wigan's strong performance in the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
, where they reached the third round, earned them the support they needed to be elected into the Football League.
Player statistics
| Nat. | Pos. | Player | Start | Sub | Total Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
GK | 42 | 0 | 42 | 0 | |
| |
FW | 20 | 17 | 37 | 6 | |
| |
MF | 45 | 0 | 45 | 4 | |
| |
MF | 7 | 6 | 13 | 0 | |
| |
DF | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| |
DF | 10 | 2 | 12 | 0 | |
| |
DF | 33 | 0 | 33 | 0 | |
| |
MF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| |
DF | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| |
MF | 46 | 0 | 46 | 2 | |
| |
GK | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| |
DF | 39 | 0 | 39 | 5 | |
| |
FW | 23 | 3 | 26 | 13 | |
| |
FW | 40 | 1 | 41 | 9 | |
 |
MF | 46 | 0 | 46 | 11 | |
| |
MF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| |
DF | 40 | 1 | 41 | 1 | |
 |
DF | 44 | 0 | 44 | 0 | |
| |
FW | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| |
MF | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| |
MF | 46 | 0 | 46 | 7 | |
Final league table
| Pos | Club | Pld | Home | Away | Pts | ||||||||
| W | D | L | GF | GA | W | D | L | GF | GA | ||||
| 1 | Reading Reading F.C. Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship... |
46 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 49 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 27 | 27 | 65 |
| 2 | Grimsby Town Grimsby Town F.C. Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town... |
46 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 51 | 23 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 31 | 26 | 61 |
| 3 | Wimbledon Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football... |
46 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 50 | 20 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 28 | 26 | 61 |
| 4 | Barnsley Barnsley F.C. Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's... |
46 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 47 | 23 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 26 | 19 | 61 |
| 5 | Aldershot Aldershot F.C. Aldershot Football Club was an English Football League club, which was wound up in the High Court in March 1992. They became the first Football League club since Accrington Stanley to resign from the League during the course of a season. The club was nicknamed the Shots for both the last syllable... |
46 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 38 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 25 | 33 | 57 |
| 6 | Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic F.C. Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW... |
46 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 40 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 24 | 55 |
| 7 | Portsmouth Portsmouth F.C. Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from... |
46 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 35 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 27 | 36 | 52 |
| 8 | Newport County Newport County A.F.C. Newport County Association Football Club are a professional football club based in the city of Newport, south Wales, who currently play in the Conference National, the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system... |
46 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 39 | 28 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 27 | 27 | 52 |
| 9 | Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town F.C. Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One... |
46 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 32 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 25 | 38 | 47 |
| 10 | York City York City F.C. York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions... |
46 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 33 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 18 | 31 | 47 |
| 11 | Torquay United Torquay United F.C. Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley... |
46 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 38 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 20 | 41 | 46 |
| 12 | Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United F.C. Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One.... |
46 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 33 | 30 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 21 | 30 | 45 |
| 13 | Hartlepool United Hartlepool United F.C. Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season... |
46 | 7 | 12 | 4 | 35 | 28 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 22 | 38 | 44 |
| 14 | Hereford United Hereford United F.C. Hereford United Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Hereford. Founded in 1924, they are competing in Football League Two in the 2011–12 season. Hereford have played at Edgar Street for their entire history and are nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites',... |
46 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 35 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 18 | 35 | 43 |
| 15 | Bradford City Bradford City A.F.C. Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two.... |
46 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 38 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 24 | 42 | 43 |
| 16 | Port Vale Port Vale F.C. Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as... |
46 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 29 | 28 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 28 | 42 | 42 |
| 17 | Stockport County Stockport County F.C. Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport... |
46 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 33 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 25 | 39 | 40 |
| 18 | Bournemouth A.F.C. Bournemouth A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899.... |
46 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 34 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 13 | 29 | 39 |
| 19 | Northampton Town Northampton Town F.C. Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season... |
46 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 40 | 30 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 24 | 46 | 39 |
| 20 | Rochdale Rochdale A.F.C. Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921... |
46 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 25 | 26 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 22 | 38 | 39 |
| 21 | Darlington Darlington F.C. Darlington Football Club is a professional association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, currently playing in the Conference National. The club was founded in 1883, and originally played its games at Feethams, before moving to the Darlington Arena in 2003... |
46 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 25 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 24 | 45 | 37 |
| 22 | Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers F.C. Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in... |
46 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 25 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 25 | 51 | 37 |
| 23 | Halifax Town Halifax Town A.F.C. Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years... |
46 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 24 | 32 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 15 | 40 | 26 |
| 24 | Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra F.C. Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional football club based in Crewe, Cheshire. Nicknamed The Railwaymen due to the town's links with the rail industry, they currently play in Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football, and are based at the Alexandra Stadium.The club... |
46 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 24 | 41 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 49 | 26 |