I don't think there were any tries scored!but a great game and the atmosphere looked unbelievable.

Saints fans perspective....

Meninga in the Lancs Cup Final.

22 - 6 down and won 32 -22.

The River Caves.

The Semi Final V's Widnes (Eyres sent off and Quirk in the corner)

Regal Trophy Final V's Leeds.

Dreading kick off for many many years....

I find this sort of thread really moving..........
It is easy to forget the wonderful history of our great game.
a lot of clubs have these new purpose built stadiums. They are technically brilliant structures with the best of facilities. But they all seem to lack the passion and the atmosphere of the traditional grounds.

It annoys me at times being a Saints fan when we get other clubs fans coming and slating our ground.

Yes it is old, yes it does not have great toilets or bars.

But places like Central Park, Knowsley road, Station Road and Wilderspool had character, passion and above all tremendous memories.

The memory I will always take with me was the 8-8 draw many many years ago when we hit th bar with a drop goal attempt with minutes to go......

There must have been 30+ thousand in the ground on a rally sunny day.

The atmosphere was tremendous........

It was on days like these that we knew as saints and Wigan fans that OUR derby was and still is the biggest and best in the game

My favourite memory doesn't involve a try. Around 1982, a band called Kajagoogoo had a No 1 hit with "Too Shy". The lead singer, Limahl, was from Wigan and was introduced to the crowd at half time, presumably for a round of applause.

Some local however took exception to his s blond locks

and threw a pie at him, and he didn't miss!

PMSL!!!

I dont remember Central Park



Rugby League only started for me when the JJB was built.

reminds me looking at that picture of the old scoreboard that they would lower, put another card on then raise back up to the window (believe Stains still have this type of scoreboard

) ofthe it got a bit exciting and the scorers lost count and the scoreboard would drop back down and get raised again with the correction

I've got a tear in my eye now!

Wigan v Halifax. I went to the toilets, came out within two minutes and the ground was covered in fog. Seemed like a miracle! The match was immediately called off.
In the hen-pen. Ice-cream salesman shouting. "Choc-blocks, only one left."
In the hen-pen. Everyone shouting, "Give it to Billy" and "Watch him miss it".
Having a season ticket for ringside seats.
Vigo having his teeth knocked out.
Someone saying, "How's your knee, George?" when they mistook me for George Fairbairn as I limped to my seat in the stands about 25 years ago.
Wigan versus Manly.
Henry Paul catching our line drop out on the half-way line and running on to score.
Chisnall falling down like a ton of bricks getting Brian Hogan sent off when he hadn't laid a finger on him.
crowd of 47,747 against Saints.
Players left unconscious in the wake of Billy Boston.
Mctigue's handling skills.

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A couple of things still stick out about the place.
1. The Tuesday night game with Widnes i was sat on shoulder of father and coudnt see one quarter of pitch!!!.
2. The strong smell of wintergreen coming out of the Billy Boston Stand.
3. The Prize that evertone wants (uncle joes mintballs).
4. The homecomings with the challenge cup (especially in 1989 when Nicky Kiss nearly fell off the stantion.


5. The speed the crowd used to empty out of cp.
6. Alliance games (1.00 to get in and go where you want?

1). The walk through Wigan to and from the ground from Wigan North Western.
2). A packed Kop.
3). Kevin Ward breaking his leg - the deadly silence followed by one of the most heart warming applauses ever witnessed as the Great Man was stretchered off.
4). Cup Semi finals Vs Widnes.
5). Those tall floodlights.
6). Annual slaughterings during Wigans dominance.
7). Billy Boston and Tom Van Vollehovan leading the teams out in 1996.
eight). Tommy Martyn scoing the last ever try.
9). Mal Meninga swatting Shaun Edwards like a fly.
10). Kevin Iro crashing over for the match winner on Good Friday 1999.

Plenty of good and bad memories of that old place.

Turning up for the Wigan Sevens in the hot sun one year. Had a bag with a watermelon, two cans of coke, some snacks and a knife (for cutting the melon). They took the cans off us and left the knife.

Some time later sat in the Kop with a beer each eating watermelon, a wasp buzzed my mate, who panicked and flung a full pint and a slice of melon about 10 rows forward; the pint narrowly missing some bloke sat near us. Laughed so hard I cried....



Stood by the barrier with my GF is the early years of the Big Screen. Our faces suddenly appeared in front of about 20,000. I took one look and said "F_ck me". Not hard to lip-read, I've never made 20,000 people laugh before.

But in general - being able to watch the team through the late 80s and into the 90s was a pleasure and a privilege. Boxing Day still ain't the same without the derby.

Super Kel, Edwards, Dermott, Bell, Hanley, Gregory, Iro, Miles, Betts, Goodway, Lydon, Hampo, Connolly, etc - I doubt if we'll ever see teams like that again.

My first visit was Boxing Day 1969. Wigan 11 Saints 53.

My favourite memory is Good Friday 1971. Wiagn 6 Saints 9

Other memories are

CC Semi Saints 10 Wire 10 in 1972
Play Off Wigan 16 Sainst 22 in 1975

And who will ever forget

Wigan 8 Manly 2. Even as a diehard Saint it has to be said.

[u
I remember that game. Wigan scored first...after about 11 seconds. Stephens, our prp, was the scorer. Then we went to pieces.

Oops! Meant to highlight Wigan 11 Saints 53.

To many to mention..

From standing at the scoreboard end from the age of 3 to swaying on the Popular Side getting drenched in ale... (aged 4

)..

From beating Manly to Mission Impossible to being mascot on a title winning game..Central Park [iwas[/i the place to watch Rugby League

Watching Wigan lift their first Championship in years in 1986-87 season. They put on a Rugby League masterclass that day, winning 62-7 or there abouts.
Watching Martin Offiah score 10 tries against Leeds in 1992.

Possibly the first 2 things that pop into my head when Central Park is mentioned.

I remember many greta days there watching the Wire in the 70's.

Down on the special, going round the pubs in the town centre then down to CP, usually followed by some playful jossling with the locals.

I remember a cup quarter final where we were in the popular side, winning and the Kop had nearly emptied.

At the final whistle we were wondering where you lot were we all headed to the turnstile in the corner. Next minute we were charged by a few hundred Wiganers chucking bricks etc. after the initial surprise, they stopped dead when they realised we weren't running. then the tide turned and a thousand wire fans chased them back round the back of the stand.

The walk back to the station was horrendous. Packed like sardines, I saw someone booting Debenhams window till it cracked.

Once on the train we had to endure a hail of missiles as we headed out of pie-land.

happy days, a fantastic stadium with an atmos to match.

I remember reading once long time ago that wigan was the most supported team in england ,no other sport matched it is this right?

Highly unlikely!

1/ Manly - Say no more!
2/ Widnes 91 (& the rest of Mission Impossible)
3/ The first 1st division championship 87

Funnies

The shrubbery growing out of the steelwork holding the Kop up.

Scoreflash!!!!!!!!!!
Les Boyd taking a swing at Hampo and missing - hits himself & breaks his own nose
The guy with the Religious banners outside.
Old season tickets with the numbered vouchers & always arriving slightly nervous in case the voucher number on show had already been used!

My dad & uncle getting a "Freebie" off Trevor Stockley and being told to meet him in the players tunnel before the match after prematch players bar drinks. They get to the tunnel and Stockley pushes them out the tunnel to the tune of "Entry of the gladiators"

Going for a pee at the back of the KOP.

I remember a Wigan fixture against Bradford in the eighties. I think it was in Feb and might have been a Challenge cup tie. I can't quite remember. It was frosty but Wigan had recently installed undersoil heating and so I was convinced the game would be on. I remember approaching Central Park at the kop end turnstiles and there wasn't a soul around. As I approached the ground the gates were open and so I walked onto the kop wondering what was going on. There was nobody on the ground! It was a weird experience. I must have been the only person in Wigan who hadn't heard that the game had been cancelled. Although the pitch was ok, the game had been cancelled because of safety on the terraces. Was I the only one who hadn't heard that it had been postponed?

The memorable games for me were:
1967 when we beat the Aussies. What an atmosphere.
1967 v Warrington in the Challenge cup 1st rd replay. It was played mid week in the afternoon before the lights were installed. The ground was packed and Ashton ran riot. To this day I don't know how 30,000 people managed to get off work/school. This was my first season watching Wigan and I was hooked for life.
1967 v Bradford Northern when the new lights failed.
1987 v Manly. THE best night ever at CP and one of the most exciting games of rugby I have ever seen, even though there were no tries scored.
1991 v Widnes to win the league. 30,000 with thousands locked out. Cracking atmosphere.
Last game at CP v Saints. A very emotional day. All those memories of the times my late dad had taken me to games as a boy (hen pen etc) came flooding back. Had to fight back the tears as I left the ground for the final time.
I do go to Tesco but can't help imagining where abouts on the ground I would be as I walk round.

My favourite memory of CP is described in Jason Robinson's book. He talks about the time in 1984, I think, after the Challenge cup final when Jason and Neil Cowie didn't get picked. In frustration Neil head butted the wall in the changing rooms. His head went through the studded wall and he got his ears stuck. I wish someone had taken a photograph.

playing in a schoolboys cup final in the late 60's and winning !!

Looking forward to playing my first ever game at Central park, getting on the pitch and all i could smell was . (It turned out to be the poor drainage from the pitch)

That's my resounding memory as we got hammered every time we went there.