Whenever I hear anybody talking about teams primed for relegation the summary seems to be that people would be glad if Wigan Athletic went down because they don’t usually pack their stadium out. Arguments about football clubs lacking supporters isn’t anything new, it’s been rattling on for years since teams like Wimbledon were in the top division, but what are the reasons for a clubs lack of support ? Does a lack of support really justify other supporters sticking their nose up at smaller clubs ?

For anybody reading this piece who doesn’t know anything about Wigan, let me fill you in on some history. In the 1992/1993 season (When the Premier league was formed) Wigan finished 23rd in Division Two. That’s below teams such as Mansfield Town, Leyton Orient and Stockport. As a consequence, Wigan were relegated into Division Three for the next season. Since that time however, the Latics have had a meteoric rise through the divisions to become an established Premier League team. It’s one of the reasons that the team doesn’t have a huge fan base- because they’ve come a long way in a relatively short time. If it was decided tomorrow that Barnet should be in the Premier League, I don’t think they would suddenly find an extra 40,000 fans every week. Fan bases have to be developed naturally.

Wigan’s location geographically has never helped with attracting fans . Currently, in the Premier League, 8 teams including Wigan reside in the North-West. Wigan are competing for fans against the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City. It’s a big ask for any team to draw fans away from a world renowned club like United, but for a team like Wigan who are situated in arguably England’s biggest Rugby League town, it’s an even harder mission.

The arguments about a lack of supporters at certain clubs are childish and don’t really hold up to scrutiny. If teams are to be rated by the amount of supporters they have, how do we get to judge what is acceptable ? For example, last year at Wembley, England U-21’s played Portugal U-21’s. The attendance that evening ? 33,833. That’s not even close to half of Wembley’s capacity, but should we cancel all U-21 fixtures for the foreseeable future ? Of course not !

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see a team like Wigan, packing out every home game, but being realistic, that isn’t going to happen over the course of a season or two. So, other fans need to stop being snobby and accept the level of support that some teams have. That’s the way it is, so deal with it. Just don’t use it as an excuse to rubbish another team.

Call me an old romantic but I’d much rather have a team that earns their right to be in the top division by going through each division one by one, like Wimbledon did in the 70’s and 80’s, instead of people like Sheikh Mansour and his Manchester City ‘project’. Wigan don’t have many fans, but I wish people would think for a second of the reasons behind it. Football needs teams like the Wigan’s and Wimbledon’s of this world. It gives every team hope, and as Andy Dufresne said so correctly in the Shawshank Redemption; “Hope is a good thing”

So, next time you hear someone saying how Wigan’s lack of support means that they won’t be missed, have a think to yourself about the reasons why. Personally, I think it’s football snobbery at it’s most blatant.

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