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The end of the 1902-03 season ended rather dismally for the Wigan Club. The problems on the playing side were for all to see. At the Annual Meeting on May 21, 1903, George Taylor, the Wigan secretary, stated that the first team was not as successful as anticipated, but stated tat the quality of opposition was a class higher than the previous season. He also blamed the large number of injuries in the first half of the season as another major reason why they did so poorly as it 'disorganised the contingent'.
Some good news was that Mr. James Henderson read a statement from the honorary treasurer stating that it was the most successful season financially the club ever had. They had managed to pay off the ground in full and gate money had risen to £3,092 up from £1,157 at Springfield Park.
But things were changing in the sporting world. Mr. J.G. Smith submitted his motion "That the Wigan Rugby Football Club be converted into a Limited Liability Company." He said "there were many reasons why that should be so. Football nowadays were allowed to sell players and pay wages for playing football. It was a business, and to be conducted properly it must be on business-like lines." He argued that many of the leading Northern Union clubs were ran as LLC's and stated that if a man should put his hand in his pocket to keep a club going, he ought to have a share of the profits. He said this to great applause and his motion was seconded by Mr. W. Lea.
In opposition, Mr. J. Lewis stated that Mr. Smith hadn't given any advantages of floating the club. He asked that each member in the room were shareholders in the club, and were the people who had paid for the ground and the stand. Mr. Wilcox said whilst there might be something in the question of making money, he argued that becoming a LLC would be taking away the true spirit of recreation and it would bring about a system which would overlook their local lads and those in surrounding districts, ad would kill all rising junior clubs.
The Chairman, Mr. Almond, said that the committee had already discussed the matter and agreed unanimously to float the club. As such, the amendment that the club be not floated was the put to the meeting, and carried by a large majority. The meeting raged on and questions were asked how money was to be raised for the new season. To this point, no new players had signed on for the following season.
Another meeting of the club happened on June 12th. The business stated on the notice calling the meeting was "To consider, and arrange the best means of raising money to carry on the club." - They wanted to have another go at becoming a Limited Company again.
In the time between the AGM and now, the committee had met but could see no way of raising the money they needed. Discussion was had as to whether committee members not-willing to prop up the club should 'retire' in favour of someone who would pump money into it, for the gentlemen to be guarantors of a loan, a loan itself and then the idea came up again about floating the club. In the end, Mr. Prescott's amendment as to turning the club into a limited liability company was passed by 48 votes to 32. In basic terms at least. A third meeting was set up a week later to finalise arrangements but it turned into an argument between those who wanted the club to be floated, and those who did not. The proceedings were terminated suddenly, and members were left arguing amongst themselves as to the position of the club.
The summer came and went and as August came around Wigan had finally captured a new player, Harry Lowe. During this summer, a proposal was had that the Northern Union game should have 12 players aside rather than 15. Although 54 members voted for it, 24 against, the rules meant they needed a 3/4 majority for it to be passed. Another 5votes would have seen the game be played with 12 men. But back to Harry Lowe. Lowe was a well known local athlete and had been taken on for the pre-season practice matches.
First up for Wigan was a trip away to Hunslet. The season before, Hunslet had lost their first seven matches and were eager to start the season in fine form. With the Goldthorpes in the team maturing well, they had no reason to worry. By half time, Hunslet were leading 14-0 whilst one of the Wigan officials was heard to remark during the progress of the game that the team seemed to have "forgotten that they had brought their feet with them." At times Wigan did try to make a show, but their feeble efforts lacked finish.
Of course, if you've been keeping up with these early season's, Wigan were not good at all. Now, at the start of the 1903-04 season, Wigan were in an experimental phase. They had gotten quite a decent "A" team by now but the problem Wigan had was that the committee did not know what their best team was. With the season having kicked off by now and the only 'major' player in the Press being reported as Harry Lowe (who would become an important man for the Wigan club in time, but that's another story), Wigan had to rely on the local talent pool.
Among the debutant in the Hunslet game were Albert Brown, Harry Lowe, Jim Sharrock and Tom Whittaker. From small acorns do mighty oaks grow. Some of these names may ring a bell, but we shall see in time. As for their performance against Hunslet, Lowe and Middlen were relegated to the second eleven the following week.
The second eleven, now playing twelve a side, had a game against their St. Helens counterparts. They had not long to wait before it was discovered that the new rules lent themselves splendidly to fast and open play. A sign of things to come.
The first home match of the season saw the visit of Widnes, which also doubled up as a South West Lancashire League (SWLL) tie. Despite heavy storms and the River Douglas bursting its banks in the days leading up to the game, the ground was quite dry. Another benefit of having a new ground with purposeful drainage. More changes were afoot, as expected. Fred Gleave could not play in the halves, Brown had to leave centre for this position and forward Harry Ball had to leave the forwards for the centre spot. This gave Wigan a clear disadvantage in the forward pack and it showed throughout the game, despite the score ending 0-0. The Wiganers played without any style or finish, and the Widnes players were out of condition it was said. The points were there for the taking yet Wigan couldn't capitalise.
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company again put on a special train the following week for the visit to Swinton. However, not many people took to the offer as more tastier offerings were to be had over in Broughton as the Rangers hosted Salford, which commanded a capital crowd. Wigan lost 0-3. The Athletic News contained the following account of the game:- "The visit of the Wigan team to Swinton will long be remembered, for a more uninteresting match has rarely been witnessed on the Swinton ground." What was remarkable was that more and more people were starting to watch the Wigan "A" team in the twelve a side game rather than the first team. The trains were half empty and justifiably so, the second "twelve" played a great game, with Harry Lowe being the star back. Things were looking bleak with Hull Kingston Rovers the following week too.
An injury grabbed the attention of Bert Brown, the half-back, and Bucky Green was unable to play by reason of not having satisfied the authorities that he had worked the requisite number of days. As a result, Benny Rouse filled in at three-quarter after Harry Lowe decided to travel with the second team to Pendlebury. Wigan were lacking pace. Hull KR came late onto the Central Park turf but that did not matter as the referee missed his connecting train at Manchester. The seven thousand in attendance gave a 'hearty cheer' when Mr Crompton finally made his appearance. In the end, half the Wigan team played well (the forwards) whilst the backs led the shame for the other half of the team. Hull KR won 5-0, giving Wigan their fourth defeat in as many matches and still without scoring a try.
The County match between Lancashire and Cheshire was coming up as October sprang into life. Only "Bobs" Hilton was called up to the trial squad from Wigan in a team dominated by Salford, Broughton Rangers and Warrington players. There was one name from a club in Lancaster - Jim Leytham.
Further losses away at Oldham and at home to Halifax further made the struggles of Wigan seem much worse. "Safety Pin" Mason grabbed Wigan's first points of the season with a goal in a 14-2 defeat to Oldham whilst a 2-0 loss at Halifax wasn't great either. Nine thousand spectators gathered at Central Park to watch the A team play against Oldham A, whilst news filtered through that the Wigan committee had secured the services of Pickering and Dai Harris to cover in the centres.
Despite an improved performance against Huddersfield on the 17th October, the league table saw Wigan sit rock bottom having played seven, losing six. Huddersfield themselves were having a poor start to the season, with the Wigan win their first. The half-back pairing of Anderson and Gleave were 'commended for their play' whilst Harry Lowe caught the eye on the wing. The forwards were again in good form and yet again, quotes from the weekly papers suggested that Wigan's forward line and defence were one of the best in the League - Wigan's problems lay in the backs. As such, the Wigan committee did not let up on finding talent in that back division in time for the next match against Bradford. Eli Davies and Sydney Rees. Rees impressed for Oldham A a few weeks earlier. A smack of desperation it seems from the Wigan Committee. With the poor fortunes of the Wigan club on field intensified, it looked like it did not drive away enthusiasm for the game of rugby in the town. The Wigan A vs. Plank Lane (Leigh) match was witnessed by 4,000 spectators at Central Park. If only we could get a fraction of that today at a womens match!?
It was only amatter of time before Wigan would win, at it came in game 8 against Bradford. New signing Eli Davies made his debut in front of 9,000 at Central Park whilst Syd Rees missed his debut on account of having the flu. It was a dull game but it was a win Billy Anderson scored the sole try for Wigan as Bradford could only muster a penalty goal. The win lifted Wigan off the bottom of the table, leapfrogging Huddersfield. Future Wigan signing Gomer Gunn filled in at fullback for Bradford but had an unusually quiet came for his reputation and standards. Trouble was brewing with Jim Sharrock. The Football Association an the Northern Union were in a dispute of sorts. They didn't recognise each other's professional registrations. Ashton Town Association club (who at this moment were at the top of the Lancashire Combination Division B league ahead of clubs such as Barrow and Skelmersdale United) had signed on Sharrock for the season but they did not protest against Sharrock playing for the rugby club until now. They wanted money from the rugby club...
Another Wigan against Hull pleased the Wigan supporters immensely. A 12-0 defeat of the Black and Whites was only put down by the fact that Harry lowe suffered an injury due to 'following up too fast' on a tackle. Davies had been called back to Wales by his employer, with Brown and Gleave also on the injuryed list, Wigan made a remarkable effort against Hull.
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