Whelan eyes the great escape after FA Cup triumph
Source: Agencies |
May 13, 2013, Monday
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Print Edition
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SUCCESS or failure in sport is never down to just one person but it is no exaggeration to say that without chairman Dave Whelan, Wigan Athletic would not have won the FA Cup for the first time on Saturday or spent the last eight years as a Premier League club.
Whelan put Wigan on the soccer map and believes it can also keep its place in the top flight after its stunning 1-0 Cup final victory over Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday. Wigan, which has battled relegation for the last three seasons, is a club from a small northern town, situated close to Manchester and Liverpool.
Whelan is a born battler and, unusually for a chairman, was in the limelight almost as much as manager Roberto Martinez and his players during Saturday's FA Cup final victory.
At the age of 23, Whelan broke his leg playing for Blackburn Rovers in the 1960 FA Cup final against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Wembley, an injury that ended his top flight career and his ambitions of playing for England. "It is a dream come true of course," he told reporters after Saturday's win, "and especially after the heartbreak of what happened here in 1960 it's especially moving. It just proves what you can achieve if you have a dream and believe it can come true."
Whelan bought Wigan in 1995 when it was in the Third Division and victory on Saturday was the crowning glory of his footballing career.
"It is the most remarkable day, and I have to say we thoroughly deserved it. Roberto is a top manager who did a wonderful job for this club as a player and now as a manager. When the day comes for him to tell me he wants to leave for a bigger club I will understand that, of course I will, but right now he is our manager and we have two vital games to play to stay in the Premier League, so I am not opening the champagne yet."
Martinez has been touted as a possible replacement for Everton manager David Moyes, who is leaving Goodison Park to replace Alex Ferguson at Manchester United next season. Wigan is now looking to avoid adding an unwanted footnote to FA Cup folklore. Five clubs, including Manchester City in 1926, have appeared in the FA Cup final, lost and also been relegated.
Whelan put Wigan on the soccer map and believes it can also keep its place in the top flight after its stunning 1-0 Cup final victory over Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday. Wigan, which has battled relegation for the last three seasons, is a club from a small northern town, situated close to Manchester and Liverpool.
Whelan is a born battler and, unusually for a chairman, was in the limelight almost as much as manager Roberto Martinez and his players during Saturday's FA Cup final victory.
At the age of 23, Whelan broke his leg playing for Blackburn Rovers in the 1960 FA Cup final against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Wembley, an injury that ended his top flight career and his ambitions of playing for England. "It is a dream come true of course," he told reporters after Saturday's win, "and especially after the heartbreak of what happened here in 1960 it's especially moving. It just proves what you can achieve if you have a dream and believe it can come true."
Whelan bought Wigan in 1995 when it was in the Third Division and victory on Saturday was the crowning glory of his footballing career.
"It is the most remarkable day, and I have to say we thoroughly deserved it. Roberto is a top manager who did a wonderful job for this club as a player and now as a manager. When the day comes for him to tell me he wants to leave for a bigger club I will understand that, of course I will, but right now he is our manager and we have two vital games to play to stay in the Premier League, so I am not opening the champagne yet."
Martinez has been touted as a possible replacement for Everton manager David Moyes, who is leaving Goodison Park to replace Alex Ferguson at Manchester United next season. Wigan is now looking to avoid adding an unwanted footnote to FA Cup folklore. Five clubs, including Manchester City in 1926, have appeared in the FA Cup final, lost and also been relegated.
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