It all came about when the official Latics Supporters Trust asked for volunteers to help preserve our heritage. Through the dark days of previous owners and financial uncertainties, virtually all records - be it on computers, USB sticks or good old-fashioned paper - were either thrown away or shredded. In the case of the computers, they were sold off, along with items of irreplaceable memorabilia.
A sad, sorry state of affairs, but thanks to the request from Caroline and Jason from the Supporters Trust, quite a few Latics 'old-timers' answered the S.O.S., with the first meeting on the 10th of August 2023 in the welcoming Whelan's Bar in the Brick Community Stadium. A mention must also be made to Dianne Winnard from the Club, who is passionate and enthusiastic about our project, and has been a great help from day one. The inaugural meeting brought together a rich seam of talent from statisticians, writers, website designers, social media obsessives and good people with the best interests of the club at heart.
And so, the Heritage Project officially began. With the wonderful help from the Supporters Trust, we started by hosting a circular table in the corner of the South Stand bar on matchdays, which was adorned with shirts, books, programmes, photographs and scarfs. Interest in what we were doing gathered momentum, and long discussions about past players and our beloved old home Springfield Park topped the agenda most matchdays.
As more and more items were generously donated by our supporters, we soon needed a bigger area, and the Club offered use of the South Stand changing rooms for last season. This was an admirable gesture and gave us the space to set up new displays of the terrific donations we were constantly receiving. This soon transformed into our matchday museum, with shirts past and present hanging from each hook and the walls covered in photographs from every era. Along with our fans, many former players, staff and important people have visited our treasure trove of goodies.
From August, find us in the Blue Room in the East Stand, beside the Family Zone. The museum is open from 1pm on weekends and 6pm on midweek games and closes approximately 30-20 minutes before kick-off. We continue to work closely with the Club, the Supporters Trust, the Past Players Association and the Community Trust, but most importantly our loyal supporters who make our efforts all worthwhile. Follow our social media below to keep up with the Project in the close season too.
Twitter: @WAFCHeritage | Facebook: Wigan Athletic Heritage Project | Instagram: Wigan Athletic Heritage Project | YouTube: Wigan Athletic Heritage
The Wigan Athletic Heritage Project continues to be a volunteer-led project with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Working with Wigan Athletic Community Trust, the Project will be taking our heritage into schools and community spaces to celebrate the legacy of the Club over the coming years. Our oral history project is collecting and preserving memories of fans for future generations, so if you have a story to share, we would love to hear from you.
Our volunteers welcome visitors to the museum, lead stadium tours, write blogs and give presentations, care for the memorabilia collection, and collate the digital archive, to name a few roles. New volunteers are always welcome - please get in touch to find out more - wafcheritage@wiganathleticheritage.co.uk / community@wiganathletic.com