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.

Still, Robin Park’s Big Dee Dubya is a fitting tribute to the man that got us where we are today. It’s also testament to commercialism and the rapid influence of merchandising and advertising in British football, but I’m not going to moan about it. It, after all, brought Premier League football to the town of Wigan, and put us on the map as far as the football landscape is concerned.

Many do not like it, but it’s a fact of life these days – football is a form of entertainment more lucrative than Strictly Come Dancing and the X Factor put together. It’s pleasing that the club chose to recognise a part of Wigan Athletic’s history with the imminent Springfield Stand, and Sunday will be the culmination of much effort on the part of the supporters.

I won’t be sitting in the West Stand this Sunday. I’ll be sitting in the Springfield Stand. See you there. Unless you’re in the Boston Stand. Or the South…

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.

None survived for more than ten years, as one by one, each entered liquidation and extinction due to various financial problems. Wigan football fans were more hopeful, however, that the 1932 incarnation of the club, Wigan Athletic, would be more successful. So this would prove to be: the Latics would play at Springy for the remainder of its life right up until 1999, when it was sadly abandoned to make way for a housing estate.

The old Springfield era is gone, but certainly not forgotten. What better way to ensure its legacy lives on for future generations than in a new Springfield Park Stand?

Some useful links

• The Springfield Park Memorial by Yotac, pretty much a complete history of the ground.
• Springfield Park Wikipedia page, fact checked and expanded by yours truly
• A Pictorial History of Springfield Park at the Ultimate Wigan Athletic Website

Springfield Park Stand campaign

• IPetition to name a DW Stadium Stand after Springfield Park
• Campaign Facebook group

Wonderful pic of Springy in this post is by StuartP from Flickr.