Although I'd been to Wilderspool before and had seen Wire at Wigan, my first real memory of Wire was the 59 - 60 Lancashire Cup Final Wire v Saints at Central Park.

I was in the "hen pen" and remember Saints switching Tommy Voll to the left wing to mark Brian Bevan. Bevan scored in the corner from a kick through just beating Vollenhoven to the ball and Wire won 5 - 4, which made a young Wigan Rogue very happy indeed.

John Bevans debut in 1973

My 1st Wire memory was against Leigh at Hilton Park in the 70's. I knew nothing about RL & can only describe the match as legalised thuggery. We were stood by the players tunnel & every Wire player coming off had cuts to the mouth & face, black eyes, bloody noses & loads of general bumps & bruises to the face.

I couldn't believe what I saw.

A freezing cold night, that I'm almost sure was Bonfire night...playing Halifax at wilderspool, we lost and I just remember John Schuster knocking over conversion after conversion. Don't know what year.

And that's why you signed Murphy as coach.

My first game was 1984(ish) against Bradford Northern. Stood in the Fletcher Street end with the old man and couldn't see a thing as I was too small to see over people in front of me being 11 and about 4'6". I do remember two players, Phil Ford and Rick Thackeray on the wings. Honestly couldn't say who else played, but thinking I was as fast as lightening it was those two flyers that caught my attention. I'm sure we won the game as there seemed to be lots of tries for the Wire down in front of the Fletch, but could well be mistaken. Didn't go again until 1987 when I was a bit taller and could see what was going on, and also knew a lot more about the game as we played it at high school (we never even had a rugby ball to play with at primary) and Wire had won the Premiership the year before and got into a couple of finals that year.

I have vivid memories of THAT night game in 1978 v Australia. I was 12 and had been to a few games over the previous couple of years but still remember the atmosphere of that night. Reading what Mike Nicholas said about that game still gives me goose bumps today.

First game at Wilderspool late 60's v Cas and we got beat told my dad I preferred Castleford and got a clip round my ear for my trouble ha ha well deserved

First game for me was a CC home tie against Bradford. Not sure of year, 86 I think. My vivid memory is of John Woods and Terry Holmes absolutely ripping us to shreds, which did not quite compute with my teenaged expectations. When Wire signed Woods a season (or two) later, I was delighted, and he didn't disappoint. A genius.

I'm not sure if I was taken to any other matches before Brian Bevan's last match in April 62, at the age of 5, but I know I was taken to that match. I don't remember anything of the match.
I do I remember me and my mates in the 60's being virtually on our own on the spion kop (railway end) chasing after the balls after goal kicks. Not sure who we would have been playing though.

I'd been a testimonial match before (Denis Curlings IIRC) but my first real Match Was Warrington Bradford Northern 1979, as angry and brutal a match as you were likely to see two sent off two stretchered off ...

I couldnt tell you what the standard of rugby was like it was legal fighting.......

and I was hooked........Wires won 10-8 which helped.....


it makes me weep a bit when People Say Ben Westwood is a thug...circa 1979 he'd have been a softie........

My first game was the 78 touring kangaroo game, I'd have been nine. My brother took me and I couldn't believe the atmosphere. The importance of the match and the result passed me by slightly, and years later I deeply regret I don't remember more of it (though a diet of Newcastle Brown won't have helped).

I also remember a cup game down at Wilderspool v Hull KR when they were in their pomp, about 79, which we won 9-5 I think, very much against predictions.

The most vivid memory I have of the matches around that period was looking into the shop window on Fletcher St. after the match at the books, scarves, flat caps and pendants all adorned with the famous rugby ball-lightning bolt logo.

Bobby Fulton coming home

I wish, or sir lessie!

My first game was 1967 or 1968 against Swinton at home, a night match. I was six or seven. All I can remember was being on Th Fletch and asking some bloke where I could buy a programme and he gave me his.

Started properly in 1970, Whiehaven at home.

My dad used to take me in the 50's I went in the sixpenny end (Fletcher St I think), if you went early you could see an A team game before the main event. Apart from Bev don't remember much about the players. Stopped for a while as it wasn't cool to watch RL in the early sixties, more interested in chasing girls at the Carlton Club and the Co-Op Hall on a Sunday. Started going again in the mid sixties loved Parry Gordon and Willie Aspinall. Moved down south but still bought a season ticket. Only in Blackpool now but don't get to many games.

My first match was 18th October 1993 a 15 - 7 win against Halifax, before then I'd been going to Warrington Town (even remember going a FA Vase Final at Maine Road).

The floodlights failed for around 20 minutes and it was cold, however I still thought it was better than the football and bought a season ticket for £10 the next day.

My first trip to the Wire was around 1978-79, they used to hand out free ticket 'coupons' to local schools, to pad the numbers out.

Earliest memories of Warrington was flicking through the Sky channels and seeing them playing before flicking back over (only took a slight interest because I live in Warrington).

First real interest was when I got taken to Wilderspool to watch Warrington v St Helens, Super League 7, 10 May 2002. A season where we scored the least number of points, conceded the most points, and had the worst points difference of all the 12 clubs.

Think we only won 4 or 5 more games that season, losing twice to Widnes (one by 1 point), losing 72-2 to St Helens, an epic 23-22 win over Leeds and the the biggest game of that season was a win over Castleford that saved us from relegation.

My mate was gutted because she thought I would give up due to how crap we were that season, but I actually went to all the rest of the games, and despite our terrible season, I was hooked.

Following season I got a season ticket and have never looked back since.

wading out of the over flowing toilets in the fletcher st end in the early fifties then standing outside the *bar* waiting for my dad to come out and buy me a tea and meat pie!

As a young boy waiting at the back of the stand at every home game asking B Bevan to sign my programme(which he did every time) then going in the boy's pen and watch him score many wonderful tries.

I remember that 2-2 drawn game and Melling's disallowed try. The somewhat bias Kop end were convinced - but the referee was having none of it. Like Parry, Jack Melling played for Lancashire but never made the GB team - not helped by the fact that Warrington weren't a fashionable club in the 1960s. Sadly he retired just before the glory years in the early 1970s.

My first game would have been around 1963 and I have vague recollections of seeing Jackie Edwards play. Billy Heyes, a skillful loose forward and Bill Payne, a hard as nails Prop were amongst my favorites.

Silver. You've really got me thinking now. Didn't Jackie Melling sign for Wigan in 1970 (or'69), in the deal that brought Welsh forward Colin Standing to Warrington? I think Standing played half a game and then went back to Wales, never to be seen again.
Melling was a remendous right centre who suffered a lot with shoulder and knee injuries. I believe that he's still involved with wigan St Pats, Rogues may be able to help us with this one.

Semi final v Wigan in '74 when we went on to win at Wembley against Fev

Running fights between Wire and Wigan fans in the end near us.
We were sat above the melee.

Walking down Bridge Foot and my dad telling me I would see the great Brian Bevan today. I had an image of a well tanned man, big thighs, angular jaw standing 6' 2''. When I got to the ground there he was on the wing. He was pretty much bald, looked as though he had escaped from Dachau, and was wearing more bandages than an Egyptian mummy.

Also the smell of beer from the wooden floorboards in the old wooden stand. Not to mention the urine as you got close to the toilets. As a small boy I loved to hear the crowd stamping on the wooden boards to approve another Wire try, that was the most electrifying sound I had ever heard.

Oh, and I was allowed to swear (at appropriate moments only when Wire screwed up) and my dad pretended he hadn't heard me.