Wigan Warriors release short film celebrating their 150th anniversary

[josie andrews]

Wigan Warriors have released a seven-minute film to celebrate their 150th anniversary ahead of this week’s Challenge Cup final.

The poignant piece, named ‘Wigan Peerless,’ includes clips from throughout the club’s incredible history, and highlights the key figures over the years who have helped to make it what it is today, with rugby league legend Martin Offiah providing the narration.

Poet Tony Walsh was asked to write the words to accompany the video, which he produced through talking to fans of the club.

He said: “I wanted to write something that everyone from the people who serve in the canteen or the person on the gate of the car park would feel like they are playing a part in the next chapter of Wigan’s success story.

From watching the sport in the 80s and the 90s I was very well aware of the legacy of the club.

“When I looked into it more deeply, spending time with Kris (Radlinski) and the chairman and having a couple of hours with a group of fans, I came away with 30 or 40 sheets of flipchart paper, covered in words of what the club meant to people.

You can be leaving the room and someone will say something, and that could be the hook for the poem. Someone said something about Wigan Pier, and the opportunity to say something about them being ‘peerless’ came to mind. Which feels like an iconic phrase.

“When that came together, then I had hit my stride. The poem was a joy to write, I moved myself a few times. The imagery and the visuals really did it justice.

It’s safe to say there were more than a few tears when I brought it back and shared it with the fans. It’s a massive responsibility, and it’s not just about the past, it’s about the present and the future as well.

“I’m very proud to play a part in the club’s story at this important time. I’m asked to write a lot about sport, so you sit down with a good awareness of the spirit and the passion. Write a lot about place, community and spirit. I get what a sports team means to a small town.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the reaction now.”

Offiah says he was honoured to be asked to read the poem and says he wanted to get everything right in order to inspire future generations who may see the video.

“I haven’t got a Wigan accent, but having spent time here, I wanted to do justice to the project and the terminology,” he explained.

“I wanted to make people feel, and I suppose that’s also what I tried to do as a player.

“I thought this is something that is going to inform, inspire and connect with future generations. I like to think the things I did on the field will stand the test of time, so I knew this was very important and I didn’t take it lightly.


“Wigan has a long rich history, they’ve done things that are unparalleled. Everyone is thoroughly celebrated.

“I read the poem in bits at first, and just got into it, feeling it. I just remember being in this studio doing it in different ways.

“There are quite a few parallels between performing and playing rugby. When I got up in the morning, I felt like I was going to play a game. I was really pumped and in some ways I had to control my emotions.

“It was very emotional and I hope that came out. A bit like a game, you could feel the pace of the poem pick up.


“I was quite moved seeing the video for the first time. It made me think of Maurice (Lindsay), it made me think of Shaun Edwards. It reminded me how I felt waking up in 1994 after going through a tough time. It just reminded me of everything.”

The film’s producer Phil Pickard says he was very keen to incorporate every aspect of Wigan’s 150 year history.

He also believes Offiah brought something special to the piece with his delivery.

“Reading a poem is very difficult and there was nervousness around asking a sportsman to do it because he isn’t trained in this, but he responded instinctively and wholeheartedly, which made it easy from my point of view,” he said.


“One thing we were keen to do when we were putting the pictures to this wonderful poem was remembering the whole 150 years.

“It would’ve been easy to make it about the last 30 years when we’ve got bundles of television footage to tell the story. We’ve not got much from before that, so we tried to introduce stills to make that connection with the people then.

“We wanted to remember that link between the town and the club, which have been through thick and thin together. Pulling together in the same direction is what Wigan does well.”

Wigan’s executive director Kris Radlinski hopes the film can be something for the entire town to enjoy.


He stated: “It’s obviously a celebration of 150 years, and we had to do that, but it comes from a great place of humility from us all. This is not a self indulgent piece, it is almost a gift to the town and a tip of the hat to our history.

“We are incredibly humbled and honoured to be part of this project.”

https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... y-3705912I

[josie andrews]

Wigan Warriors: Matty Peet shares his thoughts on the film celebrating the club's 150th anniversary

Wigan Warriors head coach Matty Peet believes the seven-minute film celebrating the club’s 150th anniversary encapsulates the characteristics of the town.

The poignant piece, named ‘Wigan: Peerless,’ includes clips of the club’s incredible history, and highlights the key figures who have helped to make it what it is over the years, with rugby league legend Martin Offiah reading a poem written by Tony Walsh.

Peet says he was filled with pride watching the video for the first time.

He said: “I don’t really know how to summarise how I feel watching that. I suppose part of me is looking at it as a fan, and another side is just privileged to be the current head coach. I’m so proud for our players to see this and understand the responsibility that we carry.

We were well aware of Tony’s (Walsh) work. When something like poetry becomes linked with sport, people get access to it who wouldn’t normally.

What I like personally is that it celebrates the highs but also acknowledges the lows. What makes any organisation special is the people and the perseverance. I think when the club is at its best it represents the town.

As northern towns go, we feel like we’ve got a lot of the characteristics of being gritty, being proud, but also being humble. I think the video encapsulates that well.


“This is a great time for a rallying call for Wigan supporters just to get behind us and come together, especially on the back of the football team’s success. We should be really proud.”

https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... ry-3705918

[josie andrews]

Wigan’s 150th year film

Wigan Warriors are delighted to launch its 150th year film – a 7-minute video celebrating this year’s anniversary.

The video is based on a poem written by English poet, performer and writer, Tony Walsh, who delivered his poem “This Is The Place” to the crowds that gathered in Albert Square, Manchester in May 2017 for the public vigil following the bomb attack at Manchester Arena.

The poem has been written specially for the 150th year anniversary and is narrated by Wigan Warriors Hall of Famer, Martin Offiah.

Watch the full film below.

Warriors Executive Director, Kris Radlinski, said: “It’s obviously a celebration of 150 years and we had to do that but it comes from a great place of humility from us all. This is not a self indulgent piece, it’s almost a gift to the town and a tip of the hat to our history, we’re incredibly humbled and honoured to be part of this project.”

Poet Tony Walsh started working with the Club in August last year. A group of 20 Wigan fans were invited to what he calls a ‘panning for gold’ session where he gauged ideas and words of what Wigan Warriors was all about.

He then went away and within three weeks wrote the poem. Walsh then delivered it to Wigan Chairman, Ian Lenagan, before revealing it to the same group of fans.

On the poem, Walsh said: “From watching the sport in the 80s and 90s I was very well aware of the legacy of the Club but when I looked into it more deeply, I did my research, spent some time with Kris, the Chairman and a couple of hours with a group of fans and came away with thirty or forty pages of flipchart paper covered in words of what the Club meant to people.

“When I brought it back and shared it with those fans, it’s fair to say there was more than a few tears and there was a standing ovation in the room. It’s a massive responsibility and it’s not just about the past, it’s about the present and the future as well, I’m very proud to have played a part in the Club’s story at this important time.”

Once the poem had been written, work got underway in creating the film. Phil Pickard, Producer at media company Short Stories, worked with the Club to pull together an extensive reel of archive footage and fan video clips to create the film. Filming then took place with Wigan Hall of Famer, Martin Offiah, who is the Narrator of Walsh’s poem.

Offiah said: “I haven’t got a Wigan accent, but having spent time with the likes of Shaun Edwards over the years and being around Wigan, I really wanted to do justice to the terminology and to make people feel – that’s what I tried to do as a player, to make people feel emotions and that’s what I was trying to do when I performed the piece.

“I thought to myself – this is something that is going to inform, inspire, connect future generations even when I’m gone. I like to think that the things that I did on the field will stand the test of time, so I knew that this was very important. It’s a concise bit of history in a poem, with the visuals that some children in five, ten or even fifty-years time will look at and connect with it. It was a very important role and I didn’t take it lightly.”

Producer Phil Pickard added: “We tried to remember the whole 150 years when showing this poem, always remembering that link between the town and the Club which have been through thick and thin together. The driving theme between putting the pictures to the poem was the people, the history, the Community, the Club and hopefully that has all come through.”

Below are some screenshots from the film.

https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2022/05/ ... year-film/

[josie andrews]

Well! That brought a tear or two, not of sadness but of pride for our club.

There is only one, we were & still are “Simply the Best”!

[endoman]

for those of us that no longer live in Wigan and aren't surrounded by Rugby League, that film was excellent. So many memories and not a dry eye. So looking forward to Saturday, and showing my RU loving friends from Surrey the right path....

[Blackpool_Pie]

I was very much caught off guard when they showed Rads visiting Terry Newton's grave

[Firestarter]

Really good vid this

[widdenoldboy]

Awesome.

Well done to all involved, Offiah delivered the poem superbly, great music, great memories - one word "Pride".

Youtube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TavFT-mGZ0

[morley pie eater]

Difficult to say this without appearing negative - and I'm a happy clapper!

I honestly loved the stuff the film showed. However, as a celebration of 150 years I thought it was focused on the 80s and 90s and neglected previous generations. Yes, I know you can't fit everybody in, but where were Jim Sullivan, Brian McTigue, Ken Gee and all the others - we need to keep their names and memories alive, surely?

Sorry for the negativity, but that's how I felt watching it.

My own memories are of Frank Parr, Bill Francis, George Fairbairn, Trevor Lake, Kevin and Kieron O'Loughlin, Cliff and Dave Hill, Ray Ashby, Laurie Gilfedder and many more.

[No straw damn us]

Ken Gee is on there scoring a try at Wembley.