League One · League One · Est. 1932 · Brick Community Stadium (DW Stadium)

Wigan Athletic Football Club

Updated March 17, 2026

FA Cup 2013 glory feels like a lifetime ago as Wigan fight back

Wigan Athletic's victory over Manchester City in the 2013 FA Cup final remains one of the greatest upsets in the competition's history, with Ben Watson's stoppage-time header writing the club into footballing folklore. The years since have been brutal: relegation from the Premier League on the same day as the Cup triumph, administration in 2020, and a plunge down the divisions that nearly destroyed the club. Wigan's journey back to League One has been powered by a supporter base that clings to the memory of that Wembley afternoon while fighting for the club's future with everything they have.

Administration recovery has forged an unbreakable community

Going into administration during the COVID-19 pandemic brought Wigan Athletic to the brink of extinction. Players went unpaid, staff were laid off, and the club was docked points that contributed to relegation. The recovery has been slow and painful, but it has also galvanized a community that realized it could not take its football club for granted. The Brick Community Stadium is now filled with supporters who understand the fragility of professional football and are determined to ensure Wigan never faces that kind of crisis again.

Roberto Martinez's legacy still defines the aspiration

The Roberto Martinez era at Wigan, which culminated in the FA Cup triumph and featured attractive, possession-based football, remains the benchmark against which everything at the club is measured. Martinez proved that Wigan could compete with and beat the biggest clubs in the country, and that belief has never left the supporter base. The long-term ambition is a return to the Championship and beyond, playing football that Martinez himself would recognise.