The Springfield Stand in its formative years

It’s been officially known as the Springfield Stand since the start of this season, but Sunday’s game will be the first time Latics play with the West Stand properly labelled as such. Yes, an ounce of tradition has finally seeped into the club, thanks to lengthy campaigning by supporters.

At the end of July, officials at the DW Stadium reached an agreement with fans over the naming of the East and West stands. There’s a distinctly American feel to both, with the East rebranded the Boston Stand, and the West renamed the Springfield Stand, presumably after the Simpsons or something.

Nevertheless, it was the result of a lot of hard work by influential figures over at Mudhutter, Ye Olde Tree and Crown and some other Latics stalwarts, and marked the moment when Wigan Athletic actually realised… they had some tradition worth noting. Personally, I would have renamed the whole stadium the Pie Dome rather than the DW when the naming rights came up for grabs earlier this year.

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Talk of the campaign to rebrand the East Stand ‘The Springfield Park Stand’ is spreading amongst the club’s fans like wildfire.

The influential bigwigs at Ye Olde Tree and Crown and Mudhuts Media, to name but a couple, are throwing their wholehearted support behind the project, and word is that serious progress is being made, albeit rather quietly.

The fans have spoken, and I should think it would be hard for the club to decline in the wake of a torrent of support from Laticsmen (and women) young and old. It has truly reinvigorated fans’ imagination to reminisce over the many afternoons and evenings spent watching a bunch of guys kick leather down Springfield way.

The old trotting track has a long and distinguished history, home to numerous incarnations of a Wigan football club, from Wigan County in 1897 to Wigan Town, Wigan United and Wigan Borough through the early twentieth century.

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