Apart from last year, 2006 was probably my favourite from the SL era. The way the team and fans bonded in common cause was like nothing I'd seen before or since (up until the advent of Matt Peet who's managed to achieve a similar feeling whilst also winning!) I'm not sure I can claim it had too many positives going forward although crowds did rise during that season.

Good as it was, I'd always choose winning everything, obviously, but it was a great season in it's own way.

The first half of that season was absolutely awful, we'd let a very good team either get too long in the tooth or they'd gone off to RU, add on we'd lost Central Park and there was a general malaise around the club.
We can't give Bran Noble enough credit for what he did, the atmosphere did change and it really was a fantastic turn around in the second half of the season.
Looking back I think it's fair to say that season caused a total reset at the club and we're reaping the benefits now with how they've re-engaged with the town.
Next season will be a challenge, we've got a massive target on our backs now but I think we've got the squad to be right up there again, getting through that six or seven weeks without French/Field relatively unscathed last season should give them the confidence to know they can handle a bit of adversity.

I think it gave us the shock we needed to make some positive decisions in better recruitment and overall direction of the club and it fired up the fanbase which was tending more towards apathy. I think we would have continued to stumble along for quite a number of years if we hadn't had that dip.

The big difference between Wigan and Man U is that Man U have no soul left at the club. Liverpool and Arsenal still have it, they know what the club stands for and it's place in the community, what it means to the fans. Wigan RL live and breath it everyday from top to bottom thanks to Radders, Peet, Lenegan and now Mike Danson.

The partial buyout by Jim Ratcliffe at Man U has made things even worse, cutting contributions to player welfare charity is another sign of the petty, short term vision that shows he has no understanding what binds a club to its fanbase. They are on a downward spiral with no sign of any plan to get them out of it and judging by the decisions made to date haven't got the management that understands how to do it.

they had a UTD fan on Sky Sports news yesterday , i think he was from one of the fanzines and he echoed what you are saying about decision to cut costs have been at the expense of the clubs standing in the community, when the ownership changed I thought the only change would be mores sports science based with ideas taken from the Ineos cycling team. It now seems more about boosting share holder benefits

I would swap it for 1980

For me as a teenager at the time, it was about something which I took for granted (i.e. Wigan always winning things / Wigan being there or thereabouts every season) being in real jeopardy. I already had a season ticket so was already attending games in the early part of that season but that risk of something very bad happening with the threat of relegation just brought out some extra passion and fervour.

I think with how attendances swelled and atmospheres improved it showed that many of our fan base felt the same. Dare I say, a few came out of the woodwork to get behind the team in our hour of need.

Noble, Fielden and Dobson coming in really made a difference to the playing side of things and the team began to play with some confidence. We won 10 of the last 12 Super League games that year and the two we lost were both away fixtures and we lost by 2 points and 1 point respectively if memory serves me correctly.

I know opposition supporters will point to the "spirit of the cap" breach but this was a loophole Wigan exploited at the time to our advantage rather than a blatant and flagrant "we are going to break the cap ceiling" approach and it is a loophole which the RFL subsequently closed.

With you speaking of the unthinkable and the club being huge, something else I also remember was the rumours that Wigan wouldn't be relegated regardless and Dave Whelan appeared on Sky Sports to squash those rumours saying if we finished at the bottom of the ladder, it'd mean we deserved it and we would be relegated. It seems strange that he'd need to go on TV and say that but such were the rumours at the time.

I'm not sure I'm in the minority here but I absolutely hated the 2006 season right through until we were absolutely safe (by beating Hull FC at home IIRC). Obviously we can look back on it fondly and be proud the way our support not only increased but galvanised once the wins started coming, but the rugby played under Millward was the worst I've still seen in forty years (despite the team on paper should be top five minimum). Then you had the salary cap breach which was both disgraceful and embarrassing at the same time which amplified just how far we had fallen.

You have to fall to get up again which we did and just got better.
Re-Millward,that was the worst thing Wigan could have done take that clown on board (smug little tw*t).

I personally did like the atmosphere, increase of gates, the,fans getting behind the team as the season went on.
Anyway that was then but I do like now so much better

I agree the atmosphere and increase in attendances were incredible as each game came and went. Not sure any other team before or since has had such an instance of this. I think the worst I felt personally (more so than the 75-0 / 70-0 fortnight) was Wakefield away where Richards 'scored' in the final seconds which was ruled out. At that point I thought we were gone.
The Wire home win out of nothing gave us the smallest glint of hope, I think we struggled a win v Hudds with a late Danny Orr try under the sticks.

One of the reasons I can only slightly recall certain events is that I won't rewatch anything of that season as it still sends shudders.

One good thing about 2006 I suppose it accelerated a change of leadership (Whelan quitting immediately and then Maurice months later). Without this maybe we'd have missed out on the tenure of Ian Lenagan and ultimately where we are now.

2006 helped shape the future for sure and it was probably a good reality check for a lot of our fans. Stu likened it to Man U currently and they're getting towards that sort of low point but unlike Wigan, it won't be anywhere near as straightforward to rebuild it. There is too much money in the game, too many good teams and too many rules around spending now to get anywhere quickly.