Meet The Ref - Latics Vs Fulham, Mark Clattenburg

The Wigan Athletic Vs Fulham game at the DW Stadium on Sunday will be officiated by Consett`s own, Mark Clattenburg who started refereeing at the age of 15 as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

At 34 he is one of the youngest top flight referees and also one of the best, in my opinion, not afraid to make decisions and not afraid to make his point, he proved this last month when he came out in defence of the under fire Alan Wiley when he was attacked by Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, Clattenburg quickly responded to the taunts on his colleagues fitness levels with: 'You just try to be in the best position to make a decision and, forget about the politics of Alan`s fitness levels, if you look back at his decision-making in that game it was practically faultless'

'So if we are looking from a refereeing point of view, forget the politics, he called most things right. I could be two metres away and still not see it. I could be 20 metres away and see it. So what`s right and what`s wrong?

'All Premier League football is so fast and I think we will accept that. The laws of the game are different. Even the back-pass law has increased the speed of the game. The multi-ball system in different stadiums has increased it.

'Crowds are more compact, so the ball comes back quicker. As a referee you are wanting to draw breath, but you don`t try to take a natural breather.'

Clattenburg has already refereed the Latics twice this season, both away from home, the opening day win at Aston Villa and the 2-1 defeat at Hull



Fans Forum Ticket Competition

Vital Latics have two tickets on offer for the up and coming Wigan Athletic fans forum to be held at the DW Stadium in the DW Fitness Lounge located in the South Stand on Tuesday 17th November 7pm kick-off.

The fans forum will give supporters the opportunity to meet and question manager Roberto Martinez; also there is a hotpot supper included, now that does make the mouth water.

Full details of the event are on the official site and can be viewed by clicking here

The event has always proved very popular in the past so if you want to be the lucky winner of two tickets, supplied by Wigan Athletic, then answer the following question and enter via link provided, closing date 10th November 5 pm.

Who is Roberto`s assistant manager:
a) Graeme Jones
b) Steve Bruce
c) Arsene Wenger

To enter click here










You can listen to the Latics Speyk podcasts now by clicking on the player here:

Latics Speyk Car Stickers Have Arrived

Vital Wigan are pleased to announce that the Latics Speyk car stickers have arrived anyone who wants one follow the instructions in this link

Latics and Proud

Fancy writing an article about the Latics? Why not get in touch, we are always looking for new contributors, after all we are all Latics fans here and want to get the Latics message to the world, so if you have a favourite match or Latics memory get it jotted down, or whatever you want to say put it into an email and send it to us here at Vital Wigan

To get your article published just click here and we will put it onto the site


Vital Latics - Bringing you the Latics Speyk car stickers and the podcasts

It's easy to join us at Vital Latics to register , simply click the link and enjoy getting involved

Use your social login to comment on front page articles. Login using you Facebook, Twitter, Google or LinkedIn accounts and have your say!

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.