It is May 4, 2013, and Wigan have just won 3-2 at eighth-placed West Brom. Second-half goals from James McArthur and Callum McManaman have given Roberto Martinez's side a further boost in their fight for Premier League survival, a week after the home draw with Tottenham. Win their game in hand at home to Swansea in four days' time, and Wigan will leapfrog Newcastle, Norwich and Sunderland, moving up to 15th. That would put them a point behind Southampton.
The following weekend, Wigan beat Manchester City at Wembley. Wimbledon's victory over Liverpool in 1988 is credited as the ultimate FA Cup final upset, but Bobby Gould's Crazy Gang were seventh in Division One at the time. Wigan's achievement was just as unexpected, if not more so.
Wigan Athletic had peaked. A club that had only once previously reached the quarter-final stage had won the Cup. Eight years after earning promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history, a little club from a rugby town had taken on football's elite, and they had won. It may sound like sugary sentiment in hindsight, but at the time the cliché was apt: David really had beaten Goliath.
Against typical protocol, Wigan were led out by their chairman at Wembley. "The FA have given permission for the chairman to lead us out and we are all delighted," Roberto Martinez told journalists two days before the final. The story of Dave Whelan's broken leg has now become a running joke given its constant retelling, but once existed as an intriguing anecdote. This was a 76-year-old man laying ghosts to rest.
Two days short of two years after that Hawthorns win, Wigan lost 3-0 at Brentford's Griffin Park to confirm their relegation back to the third tier. They had taken five points from their final nine matches, sleep-walking their way to the drop. The ten-year sojourn was over.
There was an implausibility to Wigan's continued Premier League status, unlikely survival following unlikely survival. Their reversion to the mean of the small-town lower league club was not startling in itself, but the manner of their fall has been astonishing. That Wigan have managed to drop back into the third tier without anyone offering them a shred of sympathy is a tribute to their abhorrent decision-making of the last 12 months. The Latics have transformed from everybody's second team to one of the least liked clubs in the country. If the Premier League missed them, the Championship will not.
It is worth mentioning that Wigan's first season in the Championship was far from a disaster, despite the club's decision to replace Roberto Martinez with Owen Coyle. It's the equivalent of moving from white wine to Ouzo, a swift punch to the face that's difficult to swallow. Coyle's brand of back-to-basics football lasted 16 league matches.
Uwe Rosler then offered genuine hope of almost instant redemption for Wigan. He took 40 points from his first 54 available, leading Wigan into the play-offs. He also managed them to another victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup, eventually losing to Arsenal on penalties in the semi-final. Wigan fell to QPR in the play-offs, Rosler's players shattered after a 62-game season. Captain Emmerson Boyce, aged 34, played 57 matches that campaign. That deserves a bloody medal.
Wigan's problems clicked into gear last summer. Having sold James McArthur, Jordi Gomez, Jean Beausejour and loaned out Grant Holt, Ali Al-Habsi and Juan Carlos Garcia, Rosler spent more than £10m on Oriol Riera, Andy Delort, Emr Huws (initially on loan) and Adam Forshaw. The latter of those was sold to Middlesbrough in January, whilst the first three have started 25 league games between them. Delort, top scorer in France's Ligue 2 last season, is still to score in England. He cost £3m.
Rosler was sacked in November with Wigan in 22nd in the Championship. The German expressed his surprise the news, pointing out that Wigan were just five points from mid-table. Bimingham City, who finished the season in 10th, were level on points with Rosler's side when he was sacked.
It was Whelan's decision to replace Rosler with Malky Mackay that truly brought the circus to town. Mackay's appointment at Crystal Palace three months earlier had fallen through after the publication of sexist, racist and homophobic text messages, and he remained the subject of a Football Association investigation. Mackay had used the now infamous "It was just banter," defence, a weak fascia for some deeply unpleasant behaviour. Whelan was unmoved.
"He is the man to lead us back into the Premier League. He has led a team out of the Championship before and he knows this league inside out having played and managed in it," Whelan stated. "His achievements at Cardiff City were magnificent and we need a strong leader who will command the respect of a very experienced and talented dressing room.
"Malky made a mistake, he knows that, we know that and we have discussed this issue at length face to face. He has paid for what he did in terms of the bad publicity he has received since and will no doubt continue to suffer in the future. Contrary to the way he has been portrayed in recent months, the Malky Mackay I met this week, and who has been vouched for by the many different people from whom we have sought advice before making this appointment, is an honourable man."
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