2006–07 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

Wigan Athletic

2006–07 season
Chairman	Dave Whelan
Manager	Paul Jewell
FA Premier League	17th
FA Cup	Third Round
League Cup	Second Round
Top goalscorer	Heskey (9)
Highest home attendance	24,726 (v West Ham United, FA Premier League, 28 April 2007)
Lowest home attendance	14,636 (v Reading, FA Premier League, 26 August 2006)
Home colours Away colours
← 2005–06 2007–08 →

The 2006–07 Wigan Athletic F.C. season was the club's 29th season in the Football League and their second season in the Premier League.

Season summary

The club struggled to repeat the successes of its previous season and fell victim to "second season syndrome". They were knocked out of both domestic cups at the first round of entry, and finished 17th in the league after securing Premier League survival on the last day of the season in an away win against Sheffield United, who were relegated instead on goal difference.

A day after the end of the season, manager Paul Jewell resigned after six years in charge of the club. His assistant manager Chris Hutchings was appointed as his replacement. Summer signing Emile Heskey (signed for a record fee of £5.5 million) finished the season as the club's top goalscorer with a total of nine goals, and left-back Leighton Baines won the Supporters' Player of the Year award, and the Players' Player award.^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester United (C)	38	28	5	5	83	27	+56	89	2007–08 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2	Chelsea	38	24	11	3	64	24	+40	83
3	Liverpool	38	20	8	10	57	27	+30	68	2007–08 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
4	Arsenal	38	19	11	8	63	35	+28	68
5	Tottenham Hotspur	38	17	9	12	57	54	+3	60	2007–08 UEFA Cup First round ^1
6	Everton	38	15	13	10	52	36	+16	58
7	Bolton Wanderers	38	16	8	14	47	52	−5	56
8	Reading	38	16	7	15	52	47	+5	55
9	Portsmouth	38	14	12	12	45	42	+3	54
10	Blackburn Rovers	38	15	7	16	52	54	−2	52	2007 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round ^2
11	Aston Villa	38	11	17	10	43	41	+2	50
12	Middlesbrough	38	12	10	16	44	49	−5	46
13	Newcastle United	38	11	10	17	38	47	−9	43
14	Manchester City	38	11	9	18	29	44	−15	42
15	West Ham United	38	12	5	21	35	59	−24	41
16	Fulham	38	8	15	15	38	60	−22	39
17	Wigan Athletic	38	10	8	20	37	59	−22	38
18	Sheffield United (R)	38	10	8	20	32	55	−23	38	Relegation to League Championship
19	Charlton Athletic (R)	38	8	10	20	34	60	−26	34
20	Watford (R)	38	5	13	20	29	59	−30	28

Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
For further information on European qualification see Premier League – Qualification for European competitions.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

^1. Since the finalists of the 2006–07 FA Cup (Manchester United and Chelsea) and the League Cup winners (Chelsea) had already qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League through their Premier League positions, their 2007–08 UEFA Cup places were given to the 6th- and 7th-placed Premier League teams.

^2.The highest-placed team who applied for the Intertoto Cup and not in an automatic UEFA Cup spot was awarded with a place in that competition. Blackburn Rovers occupied the Intertoto place, because Portsmouth and Reading did not apply.^[2] A further place in the UEFA Cup was up for grabs via the Premiership Fair Play League. The winner is placed into a draw with the winners of Fair Play leagues in other countries. The representatives from the two countries that come out of the hat first are given a place in the UEFA Cup first qualifying round. Since the winners of the Premiership Fair Play League, Tottenham Hotspur, had already qualified for the UEFA Cup by virtue of their league position, their place in the Fair Play draw was given to Aston Villa. However, the places in the UEFA Cup were awarded to the representatives from Finland and Norway.

For further information on European qualification see Premier League – Competition.

Results

Wigan Athletic's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
19 August 2006	Newcastle United	A	1-2	51,569	McCulloch
26 August 2006	Reading	H	1-0	14,636	Heskey
9 September 2006	Portsmouth	A	0-1	19,508
16 September 2006	Everton	A	2-2	37,117	Scharner (2)
23 September 2006	Watford	H	1-1	16,359	Camara
1 October 2006	Blackburn Rovers	A	1-2	17,859	Heskey
14 October 2006	Manchester United	H	1-3	20,631	Baines
21 October 2006	Manchester City	H	4-0	16,235	Heskey, Dunne (own goal), Camara, Valencia
28 October 2006	Fulham	A	1-0	22,882	Camara
4 November 2006	Bolton Wanderers	A	1-0	21,255	McCulloch
11 November 2006	Charlton Athletic	H	3-2	16,572	McCulloch, Camara, Jackson
19 November 2006	Aston Villa	H	0-0	18,455
26 November 2006	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1-3	35,205	Camara
2 December 2006	Liverpool	H	0-4	22,089
6 December 2006	West Ham United	A	2-0	33,805	Cotterill, Spector (own goal)
9 December 2006	Middlesbrough	A	1-1	23,638	Camara (pen)
13 December 2006	Arsenal	H	0-1	15,311
16 December 2006	Sheffield United	H	0-1	16,322
23 December 2006	Chelsea	H	2-3	22,077	Heskey (2)
26 December 2006	Manchester United	A	1-3	76,018	Baines (pen)
1 January 2007	Blackburn Rovers	H	0-3	14,864
13 January 2007	Chelsea	A	0-4	40,846
21 January 2007	Everton	H	0-2	18,149
30 January 2007	Reading	A	2-3	21,954	Heskey, Landzaat
3 February 2007	Portsmouth	H	1-0	15,093	McCulloch
11 February 2007	Arsenal	A	1-2	60,049	Landzaat
21 February 2007	Watford	A	1-1	18,338	Folan
25 February 2007	Newcastle United	H	1-0	21,179	Taylor
3 March 2007	Manchester City	A	1-0	39,923	Folan
17 March 2007	Fulham	H	0-0	16,001
31 March 2007	Charlton Athletic	A	0-1	26,500
7 April 2007	Bolton Wanderers	H	1-3	18,610	Heskey
9 April 2007	Aston Villa	A	1-1	31,920	Heskey
15 April 2007	Tottenham Hotspur	H	3-3	16,506	Heskey, Baines, Kilbane
21 April 2007	Liverpool	A	0-2	44,003
28 April 2007	West Ham United	H	0-3	24,726
5 May 2007	Middlesbrough	H	0-1	21,204
13 May 2007	Sheffield United	A	2-1	32,604	Scharner, Unsworth

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	6 January 2007	Portsmouth	A	1-2	14,336	McCulloch

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2	19 September 2006	Crewe Alexandra	A	0-2	3,907

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK John Filan 2 DF Andreas Granqvist (on loan from Helsingborg) 4 DF Matt Jackson 5 DF Fitz Hall 6 DF Arjan de Zeeuw (captain) 7 FW Henri Camara 8 MF Kevin Kilbane[4] 9 FW Emile Heskey 10 MF Lee McCulloch 11 MF Andreas Johansson 12 GK Mike Pollitt 13 GK Chris Kirkland 14 MF Denny Landzaat 15 FW Julius Aghahowa

No. Position Player 16 MF Antonio Valencia (on loan from Villarreal) 17 DF Emmerson Boyce[5] 18 DF Paul Scharner 19 DF Ryan Taylor 20 FW Caleb Folan[6] 21 FW Tomasz Cywka 22 MF David Cotterill 24 MF Josip Skoko 25 DF David Unsworth 26 DF Leighton Baines 28 GK Carlo Nash (on loan from Preston North End) 31 MF Lewis Montrose 32 MF David Owens 36 DF Joey Waterhouse

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 DF Pascal Chimbonda (to Tottenham Hotspur) 3 DF Stephen McMillan (retired) 8 MF Graham Kavanagh (to Sunderland) 15 DF David Wright (to Ipswich Town) 20 MF Gary Teale (to Derby County)

No. Position Player 22 FW David Connolly[7] (to Sunderland) 23 DF Andy Webster (on loan to Rangers) 25 MF Svetoslav Todorov (on loan from Portsmouth) 27 MF Kristofer Hæstad (on loan from Start)

Transfers

In

Player	From	Fee	Date	Notes
Fitz Hall	Crystal Palace	£3,000,000	26-06-2006	[8]
Tomasz Cywka	Gwarek Zabrze	Undisclosed	05-07-2006	[9]
Emile Heskey	Birmingham City	£5,500,000	08-07-2006	[10]
Denny Landzaat	AZ Alkmaar	£2,500,000	18-07-2006	[11]
Emmerson Boyce	Crystal Palace	£1,000,000	01-08-2006	[12]
Kevin Kilbane	Everton	£2,000,000	31-08-2006	[13]
David Cotterill	Bristol City	£2,000,000	31-08-2006	[14]
Andy Webster	Hearts	Free^[A]	04-09-2006	[15]
Chris Kirkland	Liverpool	Undisclosed	27-10-2006	[16]
David Unsworth	Sheffield United	Free	07-01-2007	[17]
Caleb Folan	Chesterfield	£500,000	26-01-2007	[18]
Julius Aghahowa	Shakhtar Donetsk	Undisclosed	30-01-2007	[19]

Out

Player	To	Fee	Date	Notes
Jason Roberts	Blackburn Rovers	£3,000,000	04-07-2006	[20]
Damien Francis	Watford	£1,500,000	14-07-2006	[21]
Pascal Chimbonda	Tottenham Hotspur	Undisclosed	31-08-2006	[22]
Graham Kavanagh	Sunderland	£500,000	31-08-2006	[23]
David Connolly	Sunderland	£1,400,000	31-08-2006	[23]
David Wright	Ipswich Town	Undisclosed	11-01-2007	[24]
Gary Teale	Derby County	£600,000	11-01-2007	[25]
Matt Jackson	Watford	Free	End of season	[26]

Released

Player	Date	Notes
Steve McMillan	04-03-2007	[27]
Arjan de Zeeuw	End of season	[28]
David Unsworth	End of season	[28]

Loans in

Player	From	Start Date	End Date	Notes
Chris Kirkland	Liverpool	12-07-2006	27-10-2006^[B]	[29]
Antonio Valencia	Villarreal	11-08-2006	End of season	[30]
Svetoslav Todorov	Portsmouth	31-08-2006	31-12-2006	[31]
Kristofer Hæstad	Start	01-01-2007	31-03-2007^[C]	[32]
Andreas Granqvist	Helsingborg	01-01-2007	End of season	[33]
Carlo Nash	Preston North End	19-02-2007	18-03-2007	[34]

Loans out

Player	To	Start Date	End Date	Notes
John Filan	Doncaster Rovers	06-10-2006	05-11-2006	[35]
Tomasz Cywka	Oldham Athletic	01-11-2006	20-12-2006^[D]	[36]
Mike Pollitt	Ipswich Town	15-11-2006	23-11-2006^[E]	[37]
Andy Webster	Rangers	05-01-2007	End of season	[38]
Mike Pollitt	Burnley	11-01-2007	10-02-2007	[39]

Notes

A. ^ For more information about this transfer, see Webster ruling.

B. ^ Kirkland initially signed on a six-month loan, but the deal was made permanent on 27 October 2006.

C. ^ Haestad initially signed on loan until the end of the season, but the deal was ended early.

D. ^ Cywka was initially loaned out for a month, but the deal was later extended.

E. ^ Pollitt was initially loaned out for a month, but was recalled early by Wigan

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References

1. "The Bain Man". 19 May 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
2. Spurs win may harm Rovers' Intertoto chances
3. http://www.statto.com/football/teams/wigan-athletic/2006-2007/results
4. Kilbane was born in Preston, England.
5. Boyce was born in Aylesbury, England, but also qualified to represent Barbados internationally through his parents and would make his full international debut for Barbados in March 2008.
6. Folan was born in Leeds, England.
7. Connolly was born in Willesden, London, England.
8. "Wigan sign Palace defender Hall". BBC Sport. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
9. "Wigan complete signing of Cywka". BBC Sport. 5 July 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
10. "Heskey in the jar". 8 July 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
11. "Holland star Landzaat joins Wigan". BBC Sport. 18 July 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
12. "Wigan sign Palace defender Boyce". BBC News. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
13. "Wigan sign Kilbane from Everton". BBC News. 31 August 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
14. "Latics swoop for £2m Cotterill". BBC News. 31 August 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
15. "Fifa allows Webster to join Wigan". BBC Sport. 4 September 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
16. "Latics beam up Kirk on a permanent deal". 27 October 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
17. "Because he's 'Worth it!". 7 January 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
18. "Striker Folan secures Wigan move". BBC Sport. 26 January 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
19. "Wigan complete deal for Aghahowa". BBC Sport. 30 January 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
20. Little, Tony (4 July 2006). "Jase moves Rover for £3m". London: The Sun. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
21. "Malaysia Star". 14 July 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
22. "Chimbonda in record fee exit". 31 August 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
23. "Irish trio make Sunderland switch". BBC Sport. 31 August 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
24. "Exit stage Wright". Wigan Athletic F.C. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
25. "Teale leaves Wigan to join Derby". BBC Sport. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
26. "Jackson leaves Wigan for Watford". BBC Sport. 27 May 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
27. "Mac to call it a day". 4 March 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
28. "Arry and Unsy leave club". 19 May 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
29. "Chris and Tell". 12 July 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
30. "Victory for Valencia". 11 August 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
31. "Toddy's hot for Latics". 31 August 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
32. "Norwegian Blue". 29 December 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
33. "Jewell's Swede on Granqvist". 29 December 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
34. "Nash landing". 19 February 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
35. "Donny Oz Man". 6 October 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
36. "Poles Apart". Wigan Athletic F.C. 1 November 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
37. "Polly-gone, but not for keeps". 15 November 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
38. "Web sets sight on Rangers". Wigan Athletic F.C. 5 January 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
39. "Polly Gone - on loan". Wigan Athletic F.C. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2010.

External links

• Wigan Athletic 2006/07 fixtures

See also

• List of Wigan Athletic F.C. seasons
• 2006–07 in English football