Latics Vs Sunderland - Meet The Ref

Well its Wednesday and I always like to think of Wednesday as being the start of the run in to the weekend, a sort of turning point in the week, so with that in mind lets cast last Sunday into the memory banks for storage or deleting as you wish and look ahead to the big game on Saturday

Sunderland are coming to the DW Stadium with ex Latics boss Steve Bruce in charge, this promises to be a feisty affair so who have we got to control any antics, keep the peace and keep the football flowing, Martin Atkinson that`s who.

Bradford born Atkinson started refereeing at the age of 16 and by 34 he had made his Premier League debut when on the 20th April 2005 he took charge of the Manchester City Vs Birmingham City game.

Atkinson is now a regular top flight ref and so far this season he has taken charge of 10 Premier League games including the Chelsea Manchester United game at the start of November.

In a recent interview with refworld.com (yes I know) Atkinson cites the Liverpool Vs Arsenal Carling Cup tie as the best game he`s been involved in, the score finished 3-6 in Arsenals favour and it was a nine (ouch) goal thriller, cant seem to get away from that number this week!

Below is an excerpt from the interview:


How did you get introduced into refereeing?

Started refereeing at the age of 16 due to the local team not having a Referee to officiate games. I therefore took the FA Referees instruction course in order to make myself available. I was encouraged by a local Referee who assisted me at the start of my career.


What has been the highlight of your career so far?

There have been numerous highlights in my career to date including promotion onto the National List of Referees, promotion onto the Select Group of Referees. The highlights of my career was the appointment to the FIFA international list and refereeing The 2006 FA Community Shield at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.


What is the best game you have officiated and why?

Best game involved in was the Liverpool v Arsenal re-arranged Carling Cup tie a couple of years back. I had to postpone the first game due to fog, then the re-arranged game produced nine goals in a 3-6 win for Arsenal. This was an end-to-end game of cup football and a pleasure to be involved in as a Referee.


Have a good game Martin on Saturday we don`t want to give them Mackems any excuses when we shake off the disappointment of a certain Sunday, backlash time



T-Shirt Competition

Vital Wigan are running a competition for three lucky members to receive a Latics WN1 T-Shirt signed by the boss himself Roberto Martinez.

So how do you get to win a T-Shirt signed by the gaffer? Simply answer the following question.

Where is the new Latics WN1 situated?

A - The Galleries
B - The Grand Arcade
C - The Royal Arcade

Send your answer to: wigan@vitalfootball.co.uk, be sure to mark your email T-Shirt comp, include your name and a postal address and T-Shirt size required (these will be passed onto Wigan Athletic who will distribute the prize) and Vital username.

Closing date is Friday 4th December 5pm



The Latics Hit 2000 Points Milestone

Wigan Athletic achieved their 2000th point as a league club in the 1-1 draw with Fulham

You must have some fantastic memories of games that we have achieved points in over the years, and you must have a favourite that sticks out, either from the mists of time like that first win against Rochdale or something more recent like breaking our hoodoo against Chelsea, why not jot them down and send them in and Vital Latics will publish them under the heading 2000 Memories.


Send your favourite match memories to 2000 Memories@vital











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Latics and Proud

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


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