Back in 1872, Rugby started up in Wigan town by a group of Cricketers who wanted to stay competitive during the winter months and also bring in a good stream of revenue to keep their Cricket ground healthy. These men met in the now vanished Dicconson Arms pub on Upper Dicconson Street and decided to set up a rugby team and play a few trial matches. A meeting of the Cricket Club was called for the 21st November, 1872 and was to be held at the Royal Hotel, Wigan to discuss the possibility (whilst sober) of forming a Wigan Football Club. Once this was all agreed, the Cricketers decided to find a venue for their trial matches in the hope of forming a team. The Wigan Cricket Club based on Frog Lane were doing quite well in their respective league and of course, there was no chance of tearing up the wicket pitch whilst playing this new sport of rugby.

The Cricketers knew of an expanse of land which was big and wide enough to carry out the training needed, an area known as Folly Field. It was located inbetween Mesnes Park and Swinley, to the North West of the town centre up towards the Royal Infirmary. It was only a stroll from Cricket HQ and a stones throw from the watering hole of the Dicconson Arms. Of course, thirty years earlier, the Field would have been much larger. Wrightington Street in this map cuts across Folly Field and the building of dwellings along Avondale Road, Shaw Street and Sandycroft Avenue have also eaten into this land. You have to remember, in 1906 Wigan no longer needed Folly Field.