Looked at Bilkos site and Fairbairn missed about 12ish games after the lancs Cup semi final and we lost 8 of them after winning 8 of the opening 9 games

There's quite a few that I can't remember such as Davies, Taylor/Aspinall but I was quite young

The drop off in quality over the next 2 years was alarming

Steve Davies was seen as a promising young centre who, for some reason, never really fulfilled his potential. Alan Taylor was similar, an exciting young stand-off who Wigan unwisely sold about a year after this final. He then came back to haunt us in at least one match, playing for someone like Barrow IIRC, and ripping us apart.

You're right, that whole team was mismanaged and badly dismantled, but that seems to have been a hallmark of Wigan in the 1970s. It was only a year or so earlier when Wigan sold Eddie Cunningham and Stuart Wright, both of whom would go on to be Great Britain mainstays. I know it's easy to make judgements with hindsight, but both of those lads were clearly sensations-in-waiting, and the fact they went on to Saints and Widnes respectively was equally ridiculous, as those clubs were the dominant powers at the time. To make things worse, Keiron O'Loughlin and, almost unbelievably, Bill Ashurst, would be out the door themselves in another year.

But there was also the incredible business in or around 1978 when John Bevan fell out with Warrington and was offered to Wigan for the measly sum of £20,000 (a steal even then) ... and Wigan said it was too much.

It's no wonder we crashed downhill to relegation not long after this.

Thanks for that
Add to that Kurt Sorensen, 15 games and 8 tries.
And interestingly enough I was watching some clips from the Widnes FB pages the other day where they were picking their all time great teams and unsurprisingly Stuart Wright was on one wing (Offiah on the other).
And in the build up to that they discussed the options of each position and at centre Eddie cunningham was in the options with Frank myler, Darren Wright etc. But just missed out to the other 2.
But to think we didn't let Wright and Cunningham go after say 1 season, we let them go after 5/6 years each so we knew how good they were and then they both go on to be top players, GB internationals etc is astonishing, in fact I hadn't realised the both played at Wigan for so long before leaving. I thought they'd only done 1 or 2 yrs and maybe we let them.go before we knew their potential!

So to lose Wright, Cunningham, Sorensen, Ashurst and o'loughlin etc in the space of 2 years and end up were we did is ridiculous

As I mentioned on the OP I was very young so can't really assess or provide an opinion on what happened
Do you think it was purely a Board issue, or do you think the constant revolving door of coaches was a big issue (I appreciate it would be the board who employed and sacked etc, but maybe the coaches got rid of players they didn't want and brought their own players in that didn't work?).
6 coaches in about 7 years after Ashton resigned in 73 can't have helped.

Either way the period from 73 to 81 (which I can only really remember 78 onwards) doesn't appear to be stable in any way.
In the early part of the gang of 4 it seemed similar in that we had 4/5 coaches in 5/6 years, but you always got the feeling each step was a step forward

I've had this discussion many times on here, usually with posters who think Maurice came in and we immediately bought all the best players in the world, we didn't, we had evolution not revolution

We had 3/4/5 scrum halves before we got to Greg
We had 3/4 centres before we ended up with Bell/Iro etc.
We had 3/4 FBs before we got to Hampo
Same in the forwards, we had The Bambers/hodginksons/Campbell before we got to Case etc
Lots of 2nd rowers before West came in then potter and goodway 12months later

Really interesting to hear views of thise who fully experienced the 70s era

Never knew that about Bevan. My PE teacher in the mid 70s. Scary guy to an 11yo Wigan fan.

Sorenson was a great signing, seemingly from nowhere. Only for him to move on, as you say, after a relatively short stint. Then there was a Bill Francis, a regular international, who also got transferred just when we really needed him.

The board got blamed by the fans for most of these mistakes, and in my opinion, quite rightly, though I imagine there was a huge cashflow problem too. Crowds weren't great in the 70s, especially not after the 50s and 60s (and were much smaller than today, for example), and there was no merchandising operation worth talking about. I'm not sure what the TV money amounted to back then, but we only made rare appearances on the telly. And of course we made even rarer appearances in Cup finals in the 70s, even though there were many more to choose from than now.

The constant chop and change of coaches was bewildering and could hardly have helped. Vince Karalius was seen as a good appointment, but stories were rife that he didn't get on with the players at all. There was also a players' strike at Wigan some time around then. I'm not sure what the circs were, but the feeling was that it totally poisoned the atmosphere at the club. We also brought in Kel Coslett, who was something of a legend, but supposedly - and I don't know if this is true or not - on his very first day, he told the team that he wasn't interested in the job and was only there until a vacancy came up at Saints. Unsurprisingly, it was during his tenure that we got relegated.

So, it was problem upon problem. But it all boils down to mismanagement in the end. The CEO and his sidekicks must always take responsibility in my book. Even the appointment of George Fairbairn as player-coach was an error for me. This was a guy who would run his blood to water for Wigan. Even in our relegation season, he won the Man of Steel, and in his first year as player-coach, he got us promoted back to the top flight, but it was plainly too much for him, as we weren't really impressive even in the 2nd Division (though strangely, our attendances went up - shades of 2006!). But when they inevitably replaced George as coach, he asked for a transfer and we lost the one true star we had left.

Compared to all this, the Gang of Four were an enormous breath of fresh air. We weren't noticeably better for the first half of the 80s, but the atmosphere at the club was much more positive. We made better quality signings than we had done for years - Gill, Stephenson, Whitfield, West etc - and were constantly after Dougie Laughton as coach, though getting Alex Murphy was a coup, because while he might be seen as a dinosaur today, he knew how to win trophies and subsequently secured the Regal Trophy for us and got us back to Wembley for the first time in a decade. The rest is history of course. We lost at Wembley in 84, but never really looked back after that.

Sorry, History Time over. But the lesson I take from all this is that, when people complain about the club's management today (in my opinion, having decided that the once-in-a-lifetime era of the early 90s should be the benchmark), they honestly don't know what they're talking about. We've been there or thereabouts since 2006, regularly appearing in finals and taking our share of silverware. Not as good as during the late 80s / early 90s, but a world away from the 1970s, which was a genuine period of very poor, short-sighted management at Wigan RL.

From a personal point of view I think that the rot set in by not changing an ageing team in the mid 60's.
Ashton, Boston McTigue etc were all past their best after the 65 CC victory.
Just my luck to start watching them in the 67/68 season when we were poor and I think we finished 16th in a one table setup?
For what it's worth my old feller always thought that the rot set in when Joe Egan left.

The one bight spot in the 70's was are record of being unbeaten I think for 31 league matches from 70 to 71 seasons. At that point we had a team to build on but we just drifted away from potential contenders without delivering to some truly appalling seasons before our totally predictable relegation.

Yes, it was a very difficult time to be a Wigan fan. To see all those star players getting older and slower was awful. You're absolutely right that in the very early 70s, things could have gone the other way. We had the makings of a new, very good team, but the succession of bad decisions we've already discussed then followed.

Back in the 70s my dad was engaged in getting adult education available for people who hadn’t necessarily done well at school, and was involved in getting some Wigan players in that scheme. There’s always been a “don’t tell” culture in pro sport but several things became apparent. The club was skint and sold off as many players as it could. The players were treated abysmally. The directors picked the team, not the coach. I met Vince Karalius and, though surprisingly quietly spoken, he was obviously a very hard man indeed. He gave me some advice on dealing with opponents which I shan’t repeat here. I agree entirely that there was enough talent at the club to win trophies, but the club was a shambles. Thank goodness for the Gang of Four, and Maurice Lindsay in particular. I’m pretty sure that without him the club would have gone under.

As someone who was young and only vaguely remembers the back end of the 70s its really good to hear people's opinions

Also, Cruncher emphasises some great points imo
Particularly around the 86-96 Glory years being used as an unsustainable Bench mark as if Wigan had always been that great.
True we were successful in the main, but nowhere near those 10years or so

If I remember correctly Billy B only has 1 championship winners medal from a 15/16 year career at Wigan?
Is it 3 challenge cups?

No major trophies from late 60s to 83

So even though I do complain about posters when they complain about the club, I can understand anybody older than me remembering the whole of the late 60s and 70s, early 80s being even more in disbelief at the criticism today's owners/management get with the relative success we've had since then, and even our periods of downs in say 97, 99, 2005/6 to 2009 Were short lived fallow periods and never got anywhere near as bad as the 70s
That age old crowds subject as well
Averaging 4500 to 5500 throughout the 70s !!!

If anyone has more opinions on the late 60s, 70s and early 80s Wigan I would love to hear them, and learn more about the coaches, administrators and players of that era.

If "Jimmy" is reading (he doesn't post ) it's stuff like being at Hunslet away in div2 and arguing who was going win with a Hunslet fan, and he called you out and said I'll give you Wigan with 2 start and Bottling it coz we weren't sure Wigan would win!
Hunslet !!!

If you’ve not seen Doug Laughton’s book it gives a pretty good idea of the situation at Wigan and Rugby League in general in the late 60’s and early 70’s

Been a member of that site for a while and regularly watch old games. Definitely recommend it.

I remember the Leyth game quite vividly.
I was working in Hindley Green at the time so quite a few Leyth fans worked at my place of work with a couple who worked for me.
If I remember correctly it was a clear dry day and pretty perfect for open rugby. As you say we were totally outnumbered in the fans department and totally outplayed on the pitch.
I took some stick before the game and it was a lot worse after the result.

I can't beat your Blackpool memory but I remember going to York in the John Player Special and loosing something like 22-11.On the way to York we were laughing at what it would be like to lose to York. We were not laughing on the return journey.
I used to go to the games with 2 or 3 old mates and we hardly missed a home or many away games from about 1974` to early 1980s. The game in general was poor and continued to regress throughout the 70s. Salford and Cas were pretty decent in the early 70's but after that I can't really say any other teams really impressed during the decade. It wasn't until the 80s after the Invincibles tour that the game started to improve with both Hull teams and Widnes.
We made concerted efforts to watch the majority matches whilst we were in Div 2 and our "claim to fame" for quite a few years was to be one of the four thousand.

I'd say we had a few false dawns from around 68 until thankfully, Uncle Maurice rode into town. I remember when Joe Coan was appointed coach and I thought that at last we had a decent coach. Alas, even Coan couldn't turn it around and I often wondered why he really left us

The 70s was a dire time to be a rugby fan and a Wigan fan in particular.
83 to 95 was a great time to be a Wigan fan. The smell of change was very apparent when Maurice took over and after more than a decade and a half of near misses and disasters when success came it was all the more sweeter.

As a slight aside one of my favourite seasons was 2006. The atmosphere for home games was fantastic and the away trips were always memorable. The thought of relegation again made me sick to my stomach but when we started to turn it around it was fabulous time and I couldn't wait for match days.

Its a funny old game.

You've certainly got to have experienced the depths of 1970s despair to really have enjoyed the dizzy heights of the late 80s early 90s. Just going to matches reasonably confident of victory was a completely new experience. Some of the rugby we saw was staggering. To have players like Hanley, Gregory and Edwards in your team, all at peak power, was a glory unimaginable ten years earlier. To fear no one was unprecedented.

I remember coming out at Halfiax circa 1990 - the 'Costa del Halifax', as John McDermott called it due to the unending blizzard that blew all through the game - after we'd won a real tussle. This surly Faxer said to a bunch of us, 'Do you not get bored always winning?' One of our lot replied, 'Not as bored as when we always lost.' Nothing else needed to be said.

Went to the British Lions RL Dinner on Saturday - We go every year about 16 of us
Always go with Colin Clarke & Bill Francis and this Year Phil Clarke came with us - Great day as always and before I go on to my main point, fair play to Chris Joynt & Dave Lyon for bringing 85+ people on 2 coaches - Loads of Ex Widnes & Saints players etc. also so a great turn out from Travelling Lancs People.

Anyway - Lo&Behold who was on the next table sat Back to back with me?
Stuart Wright !!!!

Ended up at the end of the meal having around 30minutes talking to him and I explained that we'd been discussing Wigan in the mid/late 70s and I hadn't realised how long he'd played at Wigan
He said he loved his time at Wigan and he went into the reasons behind his departure which were based on contractual issues (Money) as well as other things like feeling the club were happy to let him go and that Doug Laughton was a Big reason behind him leaving as he wanted him really bad and convinced him that Widnes were going places so to speak.
I guess Dougie was right

A bit later when we went into the Bar - a Few of the lads that are a bit older than me came across and had a good chat & one of them didn;t recognise him and it turned out that whilst at Wigan they played for same Football team, Hindley Town (Bet youngsters won;t believe that!).

He also said he left Wigan but didn;t go straight to Widnes as he was in dispute for a while - Ended up working in America in Seattle and played some Americal football as a wide receiver for the Seattle Seahaks reserves or whatever they call them
Lots of discussion around Drinking Hostilleries they used to frequent and he also talked about being a sprint coach when he finished playing
Spent a good Hour or so in his company and a really enjoyable chap to speak to