Out of Business
Unfortunately, what was City’s biggest ever win on the ground was then expunged from the records as Wigan Borough went out of business six weeks later due to falling attendances and a serious lack of money. The first club to resign from the Football League in mid-season their final home game took place on 17 October 1931 when Carlisle United were beaten 3-2.
Many attempts were made to save the club, with Wigan Corporation being approached to buy Springfield Park but they declined and the arena was sold to a solicitor from Blackpool, who also owned the nearby Woodhouse Lane Greyhound Stadium. However, within nine months a new club was formed named Wigan Athletic and after lengthy negotiations Springfield Park was purchased for the sum of £3,500 with a condition that it would never be used for greyhound racing.
Wigan Athletic were elected into the Cheshire County League and proceeded to win the championship three years in a row from 1934 to 1936. During this time improvements were made to the Paddock area of the Main Stand and additional shelter was provided on the Popular Side at a cost of £400. Further work was done during the war with a new roof provided for the shelter and repairs made to the stand together with 500 of the 2,000 seats in it being upholstered
When football resumed after the war, Wigan Athletic continued in the Cheshire County League in the 1945/6 season but they finished bottom the following year and were not re-elected. They joined the Lancashire Combination in 1947, winning it in their first season, and after finishing as runners-up in 1950 came close to election to the Football League, narrowly losing out to Scunthorpe United. The championship of the Lancashire Combination was won again in 1951, 1953 and 1954
In order to improve the appearance of the ground with a view to attaining Football League status plans had been announced in 1948 for a new grandstand but nothing came of this. The issue was then forced at the end of May 1953 when the early 1920s wooden grandstand was completely destroyed by fire. Damage was assessed at £7,000 and it was decided to construct a new main stand similar to the one planned in 1948.
During the 1953/54 season a crowd of 27,526 watched Wigan Athletic beat Hereford United 4–1 in an FA Cup Second Round match which is said to be the largest attendance ever recorded between two non-league clubs excluding Wembley finals.
The middle section of the new grandstand, appropriately called the Phoenix Stand, was completed for the start of the 1954/55 season but the planned end sections which would have extended it along the whole length of the pitch were never built due to a lack of funds. The stand cost £23,000 and provided seats for 2,000 spectators.
The club returned to the Cheshire County League in 1961, becoming champions in 1965, and were founder members of the Northern Premier League for the 1968/69 season. Meanwhile, floodlights had been installed at Springfield Park in 1966 with the majority of the £17,500 cost being raised by the supporters. The Northern Premier League was won in 1971, the competition at this time, along with the Southern League Premier Division being one step below the Football League.
In October 1973, it was announced that a new stand with a seating capacity of 1,337 was to be erected on the Shevington End at a cost of £45,000, but as finances were limited the building work would start with a centre section providing cover for standing spectators. This was erected but that was as far as it got and it was demolished after three years with the steelwork sold to a local engineering firm for a profit. A smaller covered shelter was constructed instead at the top of the Shevington End and was fondly known by a generation of supporters as ‘The Cow Shed’.
The Northern Premier League championship was won again in 1975 and during the 1970s Wigan Athletic, along with the likes of Kettering and Scarborough were considered one of the leading non-league clubs in the country. The decade had already seen Cambridge United, Hereford United and Wimbledon elected to the Football League and in 1978 Wigan Athletic followed in their footsteps by taking the place of fellow Lancashire club Southport.
They had in fact finished the 1977/78 season as runners-up to Boston United but as the Pilgrims’ ground and facilities did not meet the Football League’s criteria, they were put forward for election instead and became the last club to enter the league in this way rather than by automatic promotion.
Wigan Athletic Into The League
Wigan Athletic’s first match at Springfield Park as a Football League club came in the League Cup, and 8,512 were present to see a 2-1 victory over Tranmere Rovers in a first round, second leg tie. The first league game on the ground since 1931 came a week later on 23 August 1978 when another very healthy crowd of 9,227 turned out to see visitors Grimsby Town win 3-0.
Their first Football League season was one of steady improvement for Wigan and they finished sixth although several points short of a promotion place.
During the summer of 1979 some ground improvements were carried out with new seats fitted to the Phoenix Stand and concrete terracing put down in front of it. Work was also started on extra terracing behind the Town End goal but due to difficult conditions during the winter this was not completed until the following year.
October 1979 saw the first visit of Lincoln City to play Wigan Athletic. Manager Colin Murphy had been unable to prevent relegation from Division Three (now League One) at the end of the previous season but after bringing several notable players to the club during the close season the Imps had made a good start to life back in Division Four. Currently placed fifth on the back of three successive wins, another two points would have seen them into the top four promotion places. Wigan themselves in contrast had just lost three games in a row and were in 19th place after a poor start to the season. However, a below-par performance by the Imps saw them emulate the events of 58 years previously and start off with a defeat on their first visit to a side playing at Springfield Park. Although gifted a first half lead when Wigan midfielder Jeff Wright sliced the ball into his own net the Imps were unable to build on this with striker David Sunley spurning two quick opportunities to double the lead. Less than five minutes later Wigan equalised through previous season’s top scorer Peter Houghton and the same player hit the winner midway through the second half.
I travelled to Wigan for this game, and having been that way several times by train, including on the way to matches at Preston, had often noted the prominent set of floodlights fairly close to the town centre. Making my way to the ground they belonged to and wondering why everything seemed so quiet I found it was the Rugby League ground – Springfield Park being less obviously situated on the opposite side of the town. Luckily there was still time to find my way there in time for the kick-off.
So many football grounds these days are all a bit ‘samey’ and – well – modern, but in the 1970s and into the 1980s, although their facilities can’t be compared to the present-day grounds still had a lot of character and quirkiness. At Springfield Park, apart from the big main stand occupying only the middle third of one touchline (think Sincil Bank but older), there was also the large banked end which had an area of terracing at the base and a covered shelter right at the top – with nothing but a grassy area in between. The attendance of 5,454 for that first meeting with Wigan Athletic was to be the highest ever between the two sides on the ground.
The ground capacity at this time was set at 20,000 with seating accommodation for just 1,069 – the lowest number at any league ground other than Rochdale. There was covered standing accommodation for 10,000, which apart from the shelter at the top of the end banking consisted of the Popular Side cover, the original part of which dated from the 1920s and which had been extended in the late 1950s.
Into the Eighties
City were back the following season and improved on their 1920s predecessors by winning just their second game at the ground against the opposition. The last day of January 1981 found City in the middle of a long unbeaten run in second place in the league table five points behind leaders Southend but with three games in hand.
In a display which Echo reporter Maurice Burton described as ‘team football of a high standard’ and which had Colin Murphy saying it was the best the team had played for two months, City took the lead minutes after the break with striker Tony Cunningham’s first goal for five months. In contrast, midfielder Phil Turner’s header which sealed the win on the hour mark was his second goal in three games.
With Southend not playing that day City moved to within three points of them at the top, but unable to catch them remained in second place for the remainder of the season. Wigan, in the lower half the division at the time of the match, shortly afterwards appointed former Nottingham Forest centre half Larry Lloyd as manager and he led them to promotion the following season.
With City having narrowly failed to win further promotion themselves in the 1981/82 season this meant a visit to Springfield Park for a third-tier game in January 1983.
Following a great first half to the season the Imps had been top of the table since the end of September and were currently four points clear of second-placed Cardiff. However, injuries were beginning to take a toll on City’s small squad, with Phil Neale having to play despite having suffered a broken nose a week before. Also, with leading scorer Derek Bell unable to play due to a groin injury City were forced to bring midfielder Stuart Hibberd into the side and the consequent change to their usual formation meant they struggled throughout to either create or score goals. Wigan took an early lead when winger David Lowe headed in following a corner but although Marshall Burke’s second goal of the season put City level five minutes later the match was won ten minutes after that when Wigan’s Graham Barrow headed high into the net. City were unable to make any impression in the second half and saw their lead at the top cut to three points.
The win moved Wigan up to eighth place but they then began a slide down the table to eventually only avoid relegation by a single point. Although still well placed it was also arguably the match which started a decline in City’s fortunes as they slipped out of the promotion places to finish sixth. Consequently, they were back at Springfield Park the following October for a mid-table clash which again saw two goals conceded but this time without reply.
City’s fourth defeat in five away matches in the league so far also saw their disciplinary record take a dent with four bookings in addition to centre half Keith Houghton being sent off. Already booked, Houghton gave away a penalty eight minutes into the second half which was converted by Wigan’s Steve Taylor, and after continuing to complain he saw a second yellow card. Left back Paul Comstive then completed the scoring with a 20-yard free kick midway through the half.
Both sides went on to finish the season in mid-table – in fact level on points – and met again at Springfield Park under a year later with both teams struggling on three points from four games. A physical game on a Tuesday night saw City play over an hour of the match with ten men after George Shipley had to go off after 24 minutes with an elbow injury, and his replacement John Fashanu forced off a minute later with possible internal injuries following a collision. The only goal of the match came three minutes before half time with a penalty awarded for handball being converted by striker Steve Johnson who then evened up the numbers by being sent off for dissent three minutes from time.
The win enabled Wigan to go above City but both sides finished the season well down in the lower half of the league table.
Late Eighties
The end of November 1985 saw me pay what turned out to be my last visit to the ground and I was rewarded with that rarity – a goal from City’s star summer signing, ex-England international centre forward Bob Latchford.
Since their previous meeting both clubs had changed their managers, with Colin Murphy’s assistant John Pickering taking charge in the summer while Wigan were now managed by former Northern Ireland international Bryan Hamilton. Under Pickering the Imps had made a reasonably good start to the season but a nine-game run of seven defeats and two draws had put them into the relegation zone while the home side were just above mid-table. Making his debut for the Imps was experienced midfield man Peter Daniel, recently signed from Sunderland for a fee of £20,000. Also making what turned out to be his only first team appearance was non-contract utility player Frank Harrison who came off the bench in place of winger Andy Toman late in the second half. The game also marked the last appearance in an Imps shirt of left back Steve Collins. City took the lead after ten minutes when Latchford headed in a corner, but despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Stuart Naylor Wigan equalised less than 15 minutes later through Tony Kelly and thanks to further goals from Mike Newell and Colin Methven were 3-1 up at half time. Playing some good football at times City pulled a goal back with left winger Gordon Mair’s first goal for the club early in the second half but in the end were well beaten for their fifth away defeat in a row although the two goals scored equalled City’s their best return at Springfield Park against Wigan Athletic.
After losing 4-0 at home to Cardiff two weeks later Pickering was succeeded as manager by George Kerr, but the Scotsman, in his second spell with the club was unable to prevent the season ending in relegation. It was therefore as a Fourth Division club that City visited Springfield Park in an FA Cup First Round tie the following season. Although the Imps were doing well at the time, having reached seventh place in the league table after a run of four wins and two draws in six games they found their Third Division hosts too good for them. Wigan opened the scoring midway through the first half with a free kick from left winger Ian Griffiths and although top scorer Gary Lund headed in a Daniel free kick to equalise, two goals from Wigan’s David Lowe made it five defeats in a row at Springfield Park, Lincoln’s worst ever run of results at the venue.
At the end of the 1986/87 season City were relegated to the GM Vauxhall Conference while Wigan continued in the third tier for several more seasons until relegation to what following the creation of the Premier League was now named Division Three.
Alterations to the ground during those years saw the Popular Side stand rebuilt to extend the full length of the pitch while as a result of the Taylor report the ground capacity was cut to 10,800.
The ground saw rugby league for the first time since 1902 when Blackpool Borough played there for one season in 1987/88 renaming themselves Springfield Borough before leaving to become Chorley Borough.
