Twenty years in the past, Nathan Ellington fired unfancied Wigan Athletic to the highest flight for the primary time of their historical past – he recounts the trip from third tier to Premier League…
Soccer’s street to success has by no means been properly signposted. Transfers that seem like no-brainers can flip into nightmares. Others that fail to get the heart beat racing can catapult a participant into the massive time. Nothing is assured.
Nathan Ellington wasn’t certain which path he was taking when he agreed to hitch Wigan Athletic from Bristol Rovers again in March 2002. The Latics had been a longtime third-tier facet since JJB Sports activities founder Dave Whelan had purchased the membership seven years earlier, however in a city the place rugby league dominated, the JJB Stadium hardly felt just like the centre of the footballing universe.
Championship cult hero Nathan Ellington displays on prolific 2004/05 season
Ellington holds onto the ball for Wigan (Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
“It appeared an honest sufficient transfer to a membership one division increased, however you may by no means be certain,” the previous marksman, 43, tells FFT . “However after I joined, I quickly realised simply how formidable they have been. The proprietor and the gaffer, Paul Jewell, have been speaking about reaching the Premier League , and once I began coaching with the lads I may see why. They have been a cracking group of gamers.
“Andy Liddell was an excellent goalscorer and I learnt a lot from him about ending. We had a younger Leighton Baines , who already had such a candy left foot. He was so quiet, actually into his music, however he was a troublesome little participant and a superb set-piece taker. Jimmy Bullard then arrived and was a top-class midfielder and so essential to the squad camaraderie, always enjoying tips on individuals. John Filan was a wall in aim – he by no means made an error. It was an excellent staff.”
Wigan have been profitable within the 2004/05 season (Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
Nicknamed ‘The Duke’ after his jazz-pioneering namesake, Ellington had banged them in at Rovers, plundering 30 league objectives throughout the earlier two campaigns, and Wigan have been hoping that the 20-year-old may energy them to promotion. He signed in time to internet twice in three appearances on the finish of the 2001/02 season because the Latics completed a good tenth, then hit 15 league objectives in his first full yr there. That helped to fireplace Jewell’s males to the title with 100 factors – some 14 away from second-placed Crewe.
“Even after we have been promoted to the Championship , the gaffer was saying that he wished us to kick on – to go for promotion once more,” says Ellington, with amusing. “A number of managers say that kind of factor, however Paul meant it. Wigan within the Premier League? It appeared like a reasonably wild thought, however we completely purchased into it.”
Early performances backed up Jewell’s optimism: his facet took 19 factors from the primary 24 accessible. In the end they fell two factors wanting the play-off locations, however whereas the Latics didn’t obtain their goal, they might replicate on an outstanding marketing campaign. What’s extra, that 2003/04 season marked the arrival of a ahead who would play a pivotal function in future successes: Jason Roberts.
“I’d been banging on at Paul for ages to signal Jason, having struck up partnership with him again at Bristol Rovers,” reminisces Ellington. “He’d been like a giant brother to me, after we discovered we’d grown up in the identical city and even attended the identical faculty. It was meant to be.”
Ellington luggage a penalty for Wigan (Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
The 25-year-old Roberts joined the Latics in January 2004 for a club-record £1.4 million and instantly set about paying them again in objectives, scoring in his first 14 league appearances and selecting up the place he had left off with Ellington.
“It’s a cliché in soccer, but it surely actually was like telepathy between us,” remembers the latter. “Jason was so clever, he was a deadly finisher, and we simply knew the place the opposite one can be on a regular basis. It was very straightforward enjoying with him.”
Roberts helped to raise his new staff to a different degree all through the next season. Wigan went 17 video games unbeaten at first of the 2004/05 Championship marketing campaign, a run which included wins over Brighton , Sheffield United and Leeds .
“We have been so sturdy from the off and obtained higher and higher because the matches ticked by,” says Ellington, smiling. “We weren’t simply successful however blowing groups away. I used to be scoring objectives, Jason was scoring objectives, and weekends couldn’t come round fast sufficient.”
The duo contributed 45 league objectives between them that season, making a symphony the unique Duke would have been pleased with. Ellington nabbed the lion’s share to win the Golden Boot with 24 strikes.
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan and supervisor Paul Jewell (Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
“That was most likely the perfect season of my profession,” he says, grinning. “I by no means performed with such freedom and pleasure earlier than or since. The entire city was buzzing. We began getting larger and larger attendances because the season progressed.”
A bit wobble in late March and early April led to the Latics slipping out of the automated promotion locations. Nonetheless, they recovered sufficiently to know {that a} win on the ultimate day towards Studying would assure promotion – second behind Roy Keane’s Sunderland – to England’s high flight for the primary time within the membership’s historical past.
“No phrases can actually describe a day like that,” beams Ellington. “There was no room for error. The JJB was bouncing and tensions have been excessive. We didn’t need to must undergo the dramas of the play-offs – it needed to be that day.”
Midfielder Lee McCulloch settled the hosts’ nerves after 18 minutes, then the demolition duo of Roberts and Ellington each netted in a cushty 3-1 victory. Wigan Athletic, who had been elected to the Soccer League as late as 1978, had made it to the promised land.
“When the ultimate whistle blew, it was pure euphoria,” remembers Ellington, who was named alongside Roberts and Bullard within the Championship staff of the season. “You all the time dream about enjoying within the Premier League, however I’d be mendacity if I instructed you I’d anticipated to do it at Wigan. However we completely deserved it – from the proprietor, to the gaffer, to the gamers and employees. It was an unbelievable feeling that day.”
Ellington joined West Brom after promotion with Wigan (Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
Alas, the Duke would by no means signify the Latics within the high flight. After failing to agree recent phrases with the membership, he signed for West Bromwich Albion in the summertime of 2005. The Baggies had simply carried out their very own nice escape to remain within the Premier League on the ultimate day of the earlier marketing campaign.
“West Brom have been clearly a giant membership and I actually loved my spell at The Hawthorns, however I by no means hit the heights I had finished at Wigan,” laments a participant who scored 5 Premier League objectives in 2005/06 because the Baggies have been relegated.
Wigan, however, completed within the high half as Roberts struck up a brand new partnership with Senegalese frontman Henri Camara. “I used to be thrilled for Jason and my previous team-mates,” Ellington tells FFT , earlier than confessing, “but it surely was robust to look at, figuring out that I ought to have nonetheless been a part of that squad.”
Wigan would survive one other seven seasons within the Premier League earlier than taking place beneath Roberto Martinez in 2012/13 – the identical yr they pulled off one of many best FA Cup triumphs in historical past. Whelan offered the membership in 2018, with Wigan since having skilled monetary hardship, administration and loads of bouncing between the decrease leagues. However they’ll all the time have that rise to the Premier League and the silverware that adopted.
“The proprietor, Dave Whelan, completely deserved that FA Cup fairy story story for every little thing he’d put into Wigan,” says Ellington, smiling. “It’s a unbelievable membership, and serving to to play a small half in that story is one thing I’m pleased with.”
