Myth: Wigan Athletic get far smaller crowds than the Wigan Warriors
Truth: Well it certainly was true, once. But that doesn?t stop the typical lazy Fleet Street hack trotting out the same old myths without bothering to research the facts.
Even before reaching the Premiership, Wigan Athletic crowds were on a par with those of the Warriors. For the last two years we have had average attendances within a thousand or so of the Warriors?.
Wigan Athletic Division 1 2003/04 average 9,155
Wigan Warriors Super League 2003 average 10,500
Wigan Athletic Championship 2004/05 average 11,563
Wigan Warriors Super League 2004 average 12,645
Wigan Athletic Premiership 2005/06 average 20,450 (up to January 2006)
Wigan Warriors Super League 2005 average 13,894
Wigan Athletic Season Tickets 2005/06 14,000
Wigan Warriors Season Tickets 2006 8,000 (Estimated)
When you take into consideration that Rugby League is effectively only played along what is known as the ?M62 corridor?, so virtually every game is either a local derby or a Lancashire / Yorkshire ?War of the Roses? clash, and that the Warriors regularly give hundreds, if not thousands, of tickets away free to local schools in order to boost their attendances, you can see that Wigan Athletic?s attendances have been better than those of the Warriors for years, even before we reached the Premiership.
Myths
This is a series of articles debunking some of the many myths that surround Wigan Athletic and are used by many of our detractors to belittle the club and its spectators.
Click Here to go to the Myths Section
If you know of any other myths that spread about our club, and would like to see an article countering it, then please email me with details of the myth, and the arguments against it, to editor@wigan.vitalfootball.co.uk If you want to write the article yourself, then just let me know if you want your name adding to the bottom as the author.
