Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'Clubs just drifting aimlessly around the lower divisions, year after year, still trying to tell anyone who'll listen how good you were/are. Well I used to wear a shellsuit raving years ago and thought I looked the mutt's nuts...'

Caddy from the 5:

As the season reaches its final week, it looks like Latics will limp over the line to promotion with only one point really needed from the final three games. A truly miraculous achievement given where we were 12 months ago, and all credit must be given to everyone at the club for getting us anywhere near what we've achieved this season. The defeat at home to Cambridge with arguably our worst performance of the season was a blow. But with MK and Rotherham both trying their best to finish third and try their luck in the play-offs, there wasn't much harm done. And coupled with Tuesday's results, we really are in a great position to go up on Saturday in front of our own fans, and wave goodbye to the so-called big clubs in League One, and Bolton. If this season has taught me anything, it's the sheer jealousy, arrogance and bitterness of these self appointed 'big clubs' and their ridiculous notion that having millions of fans entitles you to promotion. The Horwich manager being the latest to have a pop last Saturday about how many more fans were watching them versus the leading clubs in the division. Well if I was one of their fans - and thank God I'm not - I'd be more bothered about why they're 21 points behind us, having played more games, for a start. It seems someone is deflecting the real issues to me, while trying to curry favour with the great unwashed. And you can file Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich in with Horwich for their obsession with our crowds compared to theirs. Lads, all three of you are clubs just drifting aimlessly around the lower divisions, year after year, still trying to tell anyone who'll listen how good you were/are. Well I used to wear a shellsuit raving years ago and thought I looked the mutt's nuts, but now I'd get laughed at...unless you're in Horwich, where no-one would bat an eyelid. Things move on! We. as a club. have had the ride of our lives, probably since Dave Whelan bought us in 1995, and we've experienced massive highs and dreadful lows. But guess what? We're here again, on the cusp of another promotion, another party, another drunken few days with our mates, and most of all...another chance to show our undying love for our club which never waivers. So keep your millions of fans, I'm quite happy with what we've got going on here, thank you, and wouldn't change it for the world. Onto Saturday, and it would be great if we sealed it in front of a bumper crowd. So if you can, get yourself down as it promises to be a cracker with Plymouth bringing a big following reminiscent of 1986...and I'm sure a repeat of that day's shenanigans wouldn't go amiss (ask yer dad!!). Right, I'm off to get the 'Bow on ice and measure out Wallgate again, but this time without our great mate Harry Parky. This one's for you, pal…

Matt Auffrey:

The window was open. For a brief period of time that lasted all of a few minutes on Tuesday night, Latics were in complete control of their own fate. We were officially one goal away from playing Championship football next season. Oxford had just defeated MK Dons at the Kassam Stadium, which meant victory at Ipswich would ensure automatic promotion. The window closed before we even got to feel the draft from second-division headwinds. Will Keane’s emphatic 86th-minute equaliser marked the last of our goalscoring magic at Portman Road. The match finished in a 2-2 draw. The promotion celebrations would be put on hold for at least a few more days. The past three matches have been as difficult as any three-match stretch we’ve encountered this season. If someone told Latics fans two weeks ago that we would only secure two points from Burton away, Cambridge at home, and Ipswich away, all-out panic would’ve likely ensued. Kiss the title goodbye. Kiss automatic promotion goodbye. Kiss promotion through the play-offs goodbye. We had peaked too early and our playing form was taking a turn for the worst at the most inopportune time. Yet, the sky has not begun to fall in the least. We are still top of the table, with a five-point cushion and a superior goal difference separating us from Rotherham and MK Dons. Our promotion rivals have struggled just as much as we have over the past few matches, and are likely kicking themselves even more than we are for not producing better results. No matter how frustrating the last 270 minutes of Latics' football has been to watch, the reality is this team is too good to not finish the job. However, in the same manner that large attendances don’t ensure the division’s 'biggest' clubs win every match, computer projections won’t guarantee we’ll win the league title or even secure promotion. There is still work to be done on the pitch. Saturday’s home finale against Plymouth will fight and claw for the designation of our 'most important' match of the season. Plymouth will make the long trip up north with aspirations of getting one step closer to locking in a play-off spot. They’re recent form has been just as spotty as ours, but they’ll be as tough of a side as any other we’ve faced at the DW. Between Wigan, Rotherham, and MK Dons, there are many different outcomes for how Saturday’s results could play out. Many of those outcomes would not only lead to champagne-fuelled promotion celebrations but a trophy-lifting ceremony as well. The easiest way to ensure any type of celebration can take place is by focusing on our own match before anything else. Meanwhile, in New York City, we’ll be preparing for a party on par with the Super Bowl, Fourth of July, and New Year’s Eve all put together in one! Before the match, we’ll be walking all the way from the ‘Park to the Pub’ to raise money for Joseph’s Goal, and to raise awareness of NKH for our city of nearly nine million residents. Other than the DW, there’ll be no better place in the world to be a Latics fan. I wish all of you a phenomenal day.

Statto:

Now with the impending promotion within touching distance (can we just get it over with?), I shall ask a question: Is Callum Lang becoming a liability to the team? Now there's no question of his ability or what he puts into every game effort-wise. I'm talking about all his cheap yellow cards. Take Cambridge, for example. He could have easily been sent off for two blatant dives from my view in ES5. All his other yellows have been for pulling a player back or backchat. Then at Ipswich, he gives a cheap free-kick away with a nothing tackle, and it leads to their second goal. I like him as a lad and as a player. But he certainly has some growing up to do over the summer to become a Championship player. Now let's hope we can have a good party on Saturday in our last home game and get over the line. Stay safe.

Emma Peters:

With the chance to gain promotion to the Championship looming over every remaining game, it’s making the end of this campaign a very stressful and very exciting affair. Never boring, is it? Saturday saw the Latics welcome Cambridge to the DW and let’s just say it was… interesting. And not in a good way. Look, let’s be honest here, we got it wrong. Whether it was the team selection, the formation or the style of play, it wasn’t our day and we got what we deserved - nothing. Tom Naylor’s fourth goal of the season wasn’t quite enough to gain anything from the game, but we moved on to Ipswich on Tuesday night. For the second time in three days, a win and some results going in our favour elsewhere would have confirmed automatic promotion. Rotherham finished 2-0 down at Burton Albion and MK Dons fell a goal short to Oxford. Our fate was in our hands, and it looked to be entirely possible going into the break a goal to the good thanks to the man Will Keane. But that’s far too easy, and not the Wigan way. Cue Conor Chaplin and, who else, but ex-skipper Sam Morsy to put the home side in front. With five minutes of the 90 left, we desperately needed something from this game, and up popped Keano with his second to grab us a point and stick himself joint-top of the goalscorers leaderboard and in line for the League One 'Golden Boot'. I think I’ve said this every week for the last six weeks, but what a season the man with the ponytail is having! Now onto Saturday, when Plymouth pay us a visit. For those of you that aren’t great with numbers, we win this game and we’re up. And anything other than three points in Rotherham’s favour would also see us champions. What a way to celebrate Leam Richardson’s first anniversary as gaffer! Just win on Saturday please lads. I don’t care how you do it. Just win. Up the ‘Tics!

James and Paul, Cornish 'Tics:

Thank you/last team talk of the season: At 8:33am last Sunday, my nine-year-old son James and I arrived back in Looe, Cornwall after leaving Wigan at 2am so he could see his mum on Easter morning. We left Cornwall last Tuesday at 11am to travel to Burton and then went on to Wigan for the Cambridge match. What a week! As I drove home in the dark, any disappointment from the week disappeared as I thought back to so many amazing moments this season, and I was left with a real sense of gratitude. You see, before the first game of the season at Sunderland, James was 70 per cent a Chelsea fan and 30 per cent a Wigan fan. Now after that amazing atmosphere at Sunderland, when five minutes after Gwion Edwards scored, James finally came down to earth. He was back bouncing around again after Langy's winner at Plymouth, when Will Keane gave him his torn and tattered shirt. For a month, he went to bed in the shirt he took into his village school in Pelynt and to his football team in Saltash. James McClean's magic moment at Oxford and more crazy celebrations. Langy again at Wycombe. And his new hero, flare boy, and the coaching staff giving Glen Rea's shirt to James signed by the team to say thanks for travelling so far left us both in tears. And his best moment of the season...starting the 'Charlie Wyke' chant in the East Stand at the Bolton game and everyone joining in. All these moments have truly made him 100 per cent a 'Tic. Throughout the season, he's met Wiganers all over the UK at games in Cheltenham/Burton/Wycombe/Sunderland/Oxford/Plymouth, and he's come away having made new friends of all ages. This just doesn't happen here in Cornwall. After eight years here in Looe, I've realised the friendliness of Wiganers is unique and we should be proud of it. We make friends quickly and for life, and we talk to anyone again and again and again. So as I drove back to Cornwall at 3am last Sunday, I started to think that if myself and James could give the team one last dressing-room team-talk to inspire them to go again, one last time, over the last week of the season what would it be... and I couldn't get past the words: Thank You!

- Thank You for being so humble as professional football players to give so much time to us as fans.

- Thank You for signing our shirts and having the same picture with kids like James week after week.

- Thank You for never complaining or moaning or looking like you've had enough.

- Thank You for standing and chatting with kids like James and making them feel so special. You will never know how much those moments have changed his life and so many others. Especially Callum Lang, who he genuinely sees like so many Latics fans as his friend as 'one of us'.

- Thank You for making this season about us being one and you all buying into it.

We love how you all want to celebrate like fans with us every time one of you scores a goal. We love how you think of us as fans before yourselves at the end of each match. We don't want a different team next season, Leam, full of overpaid prima donnas. We as fans want you guys with us when we score in the Championship. When we win in the Championship, and when we lose. We won't be with you at Portsmouth as we pushed Miss Porter and Miss Edwards' generosity to the limit in leaving early on the Friday before the Bolton game, or at the DW for Plymouth (unless Dave Whelan lends us his helicopter), or at Shrewsbury (unless Dumi and Dave, who've got tickets, catch Covid). So we will say our final words to you now. As a team as a group you get us and from me and James whatever happens in this last week of the season: THANK YOU!

Michael:

When Fulham last won promoted to the Premier League, it meant we were relegated from the Championship in the early stages of administration. On Tuesday, they got promoted to the Premier League again. This time, we were a goal away from returning to the Championship. At Ipswich, which was our first match in League One following relegation. It feels like we’ve almost come full circle. Much has been written, here and elsewhere, about how the club has turned around in the time since we exited administration, with the new owners and the structures they’ve put in place. It certainly does feel like we’ve got our club back. The players who have come in have ‘got’ Wigan - what it means to the fans and the local community. This is down to the team behind the scenes, with the manager, finding good players with the right approach. This has led to us being top of the league, with the most wins, the best goal difference, and the joint-top goalscorer in the division heading into the last three games. Quite a turnaround, isn’t it? We’re in touching distance of a return to the Championship and, barring any last-minute hiccups, we should get the points to get the job done. I’ve really enjoyed this season. It's one of the memorable seasons I’ll look back on in the future and be proud to say 'I was there'. Hopefully we can seal the deal on Saturday in our last home game...but if we don’t? There’s no cause for alarm. I’m sure it’ll happen in one of the other two remaining games. Up the 'Tics!

Tony Moon:

A midge’s away, we’re so near, we can touch,

But we still need a point, well, it doesn’t sound much,

Wi’ three games to get it, we just have to stay strong,

And we’ll prove all the doubters (and crowd nonces) wrong;

It’s got to be said, what we’ve done is amazing,

And wouldn’t it be great to go out all guns blazing,

At a half full DW, with two games still to play,

Which we can watch wi’ no worries, no nerves left to fray;

Cos this season has been as good as it gets,

Aye, even wi all the worries and frets,

So we’ll all celebrate wi’ the lads from Bahrain,

(But who now come from Wigan … will they sing the refrain?)

'I’m from Wiggin, me' sings the boss and Talal,

Linked arm in arm, wi’ their chief exec Mal,

Aye the lads from Bahrain were as good as their word,

They wanted promotion, and t’ worst ‘d be third;

But up in t’ top two is where we’re gonna finish,

And nothing can possibly try and diminish,

The achievement of Leam, his team and the boys,

Representing little Wigan, and making all t’ noise!

Sean Livesey:

Nearly there Wigan, nearly there. One last push is all it will take, one last stretch through tired legs...and those legs are tired now. Don’t let anyone tell you this side isn't deserving of promotion if it does indeed come this Saturday. A team that had four contracted players at the start of the summer has already played a staggering 58 games in all competitions this season with another three left to go. No wonder they’ve looked exhausted in recent weeks. Not only is this a side thrown together in the summer, they’re also a side that has had to do without its No.1 striker and main summer capture for three quarters of the season due to the most horrific circumstances. So cut those lads some slack if they look like they’re struggling, you and me would be too. Despite all of that, despite the games, despite the injuries, despite the loss of Charlie Wyke we’re nearly there. Only the most optimistic of Wiganers would have predicted we would be in this position with three games left. Top of the table, four points ahead, and all in our hands? I was many of those at the start of the season who thought a late push for the play-offs was probably the best we could hope for. I underestimated the job being done behind the scenes in our name, by that fantastic manager of ours and the ownership group who saw something in this ‘always punching above our weight’ football club from Lancashire. We’ve struggled in the last week, no doubt about that. As mentioned above, the players are running on empty, as you would expect. So much has been left on the field this season. The loss to Cambridge was disappointing and, although we were under the cosh in midweek, the late equaliser at Ipswich felt more like a late winner, especially as it moved us a further point forward with MK Dons and Rotherham both losing. If one player embodies the Latics spirit, it’s Will Keane. So important to last season's survival, and even more important to our bid for glory this term. I was delighted he managed to score a brace against his old club on Tuesday, and what a brace it could be. The scenes in that away end when that equaliser went in will live long in the memory. I saw something interesting on the wall of a pub before the match at Portman Road: ‘Ipswich Town, the pride of Suffolk, formed in 1878’. Ipswich Town, one of the illustrious names of English football. The club of Sir Alf Ramsey and of Sir Bobby Robson. Formed a whole hundred years before Wigan Athletic had been voted into the Football League. So, when the Ipswich net nerds tell us just how terrible our support is for taking over 400 people to a game 240 miles away, re-arranged from Easter Monday to a Tuesday night at late notice, remember we’re on a level playing field and we’ve achieved success in the last 25 years that clubs like Ipswich could only dream of. Leave the negativity at the door on Saturday, and remember the previous promotion seasons. In 2004/05, we stumbled in the last few weeks with draws against Nottingham Forest, QPR and, most famously, that horrific game at Deepdale against Preston. A nervier 0-0 you will struggle to find. In recent years, the same happened in the title-winning seasons under Gary Caldwell and Paul Cook, but we still got the job done - and I believe we’ll still get the job done this time around. We may have stumbled in the last three matches, but so have those around us. Rotherham, who were running away with the league a month ago, now look like they can’t buy a win. MK Dons, who looked so dangerous four weeks ago, have struggled to keep pace with us. It’s all still in our hands, and hopefully it comes on Saturday. But if it doesn’t, don’t get disheartened, we will get there. A lot of wrongs could be righted on Saturday. Less than two years after the cruellest of blows, we could return to a league we should never have left. Paul Cook, alongside Leam Richardson, had assembled one of the most exciting Latics sides in over a decade - a side that could well have seen us reach the play-offs in normal times. But we know that the summer of 2020 was not normal by any stretch. Still, time is a great healer and, although the pain of that horrific nine months will never leave us, we can reach redemption this Saturday. Be loud and be proud, Wigan.