the river caves!!!

You've got me there

I absolutely loved Central Park. Don't know how I can say that really, being a Saints fan, when almost every time I went there I ended up going home in tears.

The game on 27th December 1987 sticks in my mind. Wigan up 22-6 at half time and Saints managing to scrape it back somehow to win 32-22. The game was full of excitement but you definately couldn't have got the atmosphere at any other ground I have ever visited. Fantastic!!

Not many things I say this about but Central Park is definately one of them, bring back the 'good old days eh'!!

Playing amateur rugby, heading off to my nans for dinner, then walking the short distance across wigan lane was a regular thing in our family. We used to enter the ground beside the training field and stand in the top corner of the cop where there wasnt any cover. I remember it being £5 for adults and £3 for kids back then. One thing I remember is asking the local plod for rugby cards which they'd always dish out if yer asked em
My dad first took me when I was less than a year old so Ive been going for about 20 years now . Every match a box of chips and a carton of pop
When I was about 8 we started to stand under the scoreboard and had to use the awful urinals behind the pop at half time which were pitch black absolutely hummed
When I was about 13 I began to stand under the pop where the best atmosphere was and singers, those were my last days watching wigan at CP
The worst thing ever was the last day. Even at only 14, central park meant the world to me as it was a second home and Ive always been wigan daft. Ive also played there about 5 times. To see thousands of wiganers sat crying at the end is something Ill never forget

The jjb will never ever be what central park was and it'll never feel like home

The people who got to watch the game for free from the bridge (although I don't think they got to see many tries).

The Heinz family enclosure for a pie.

The way that people came to the gropund from loads of different directions seemingl;y drawn into it.

The two fellers (one of them sporting a bad 80's perm well into the late 90's) in the Whitbread who removed the TESCO sponsorship from their replica shirts collar and replaced it with 'Save Central Park'.

Walking under the Duggie and stewards shouting at you because they thought you were trying to get into the seating area.

Having to take your Whitbread stand ticket with you when you went for a p1ss because the stewards wouldn't let you back in.

The toilets themselves, great place to warm up on a winter's night with all the steam, even if there wasn't a roof.

Being able to go upstairs in the Pavillion to see all the trophies and which ever players/coaches/members of the board where up there at the time as my Dad wrote an article in the programme for years.

Trying to get a seat ticket on the day itself and having to go into that cramped room downstairs that was queueing out of the door.

Joe Lydon doing drop-outs over the Douglas stand and into the river, plus the netting that they put over the river to catch the balls that went in.

Entry of the Gladiators.

Being able to see the whole ground doing the 'point' during the Wigan chant. You don't see as many people doing the actions nowdays.

no matter where I started in the pop stand always ended up behind the bl00dy great big posts.

saving my pint for the first try just so I could aim it at the bloke who pressed the hooter.

super kel against featherstone

going to sully's bar and coming out the wrong side which resulted in half an hour of trying to get through the crowd.

drinks in the griffin

nettling myself walking down the alley from said above pub

entry of the gladiator

lydon last one out for warm up due to having a smoke

very cold knees on boxing day

doylie and his amazing three pie and a pint balancing act.

aisla the sheep


loved that place

more fond memories :-

watching NZ vs GB from the pop stand (no spare seats) and having got to my seat near the back realised it was under a huge hole in the roof, got wetter that day than if I had stood in the pen.

being caught up in a bottleneck at the top gate (Wigan Lane) after a match (forget which),due to some bloke on crutches, an older gentleman infront of me, turned to his also elderly mate and said ' there is a cripple in the way !' - I just love the non-pc things and old sayings that the older generation use (much like the person who posted about a 'couloured' winger, only last week)

how come A.N. Other never plays any more? - was a regular at central park


sitting on the concrete wall when I was about 7 (felt like I was about 30 feet from the ground)

I can remember the first game that Greg Dowling played and earned his nickname 'the wall'


still gutted I didnt take my seat from the pop stand.

the birth place of northern soul in wigan was the social club on friday nights, russ winstanley was the resident DJ and it was fully two years before the casino all nighters.

I vowed never to go back too. When I met Stuart and introduced to RL I told him all about CP and my history with Wigan.
I went back one day with him to the old souvenir/lotto shop to show him where CP used to be. As a grown woman I am a bit embarassed to say I had to get back in the car because after all this time i couldn't fight the tears. I was ok until i walked around the corner and saw Tesco!! I could still close my eyes and picture the ground on a match day, even with Binder selling his programs outside
Stuart now knows that I won't go back and I think he also understands why.

Anyone else still refuse to go into tesco in wigan?

I still havent been in and never will