I miss getting onto the Trolly Bus in Atherton then getting off at the Bird in the Hand in Hindley before changing buses to Wigan and Central park, all in the 50s.
Being at Central Park for a Good Friday match against Saints with the other 47000 plus for the record crowd, trembling before my boss (an ex Leigh Director) to ask for time off for a Wednesday 3.00 pm kick off match against Leeds in a reply at Central Park, the crowd was approaching 40.000 and the score was close to 40 (for Wigan)as well. This same day me and my mate had to get off the bus at Ince Bar and run the rest of the way because the traffic was gridlocked.
Being there for most of the trys Billie scored during his career, a pleasure in itself.
Having my heart in my mouth when playing Saints at home and Murphy broke through, in your own mind you knew he was gone such was his pace over the ground. Also the little tussles (LITTLE TUSSLES
) he used to have with Mick Sullivan.
The same could be said about Tom Van Vollenhoven (without the tussles), he was a truly remarkable runner.
Brian Mctuige in my eyes a prop supreme who would have stood out in any era.
The match against Manly in the W.C.C in 1988,? Central Park was really buzzing, with Sean Wane running round thumping any Manly player he encountered, with Nicky Kiss being his willing helper.
I could go on and on talking about going to most grounds in the league, mixing with the opposition and having a bit of banter . I think a lot of enjoyment went out of the game when fans at Central Park started changing ends at halftime, losing the banter with the opposition fans somehow seemed to make the match a bit sterile.
Finally a mention about visiting Knowsley Road , my favourite away ground, we used to park up on a long street at the Wigan end of the ground. There was l little club which I think belonged to Pilkingtons, we would walk in and straight away Saints fans would make us welcome by making room for us to sit down, often on the same table.
I have already said I could go on and on and on, hopefully the memories will always be there.
Hence my user name. Still in the Past.
