# 2006–07 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

The 2006–07 Wigan Athletic F.C. season was the club's 29th season in the Football League and their second season in the Premier League.

## Season summary

The club struggled to repeat the successes of its previous season and fell victim to "second season syndrome". They were knocked out of both domestic cups at the first round of entry, and finished 17th in the league after securing Premier League survival on the last day of the season in an away win against Sheffield United, who were relegated instead on goal difference.
A day after the end of the season, manager Paul Jewell resigned after six years in charge of the club. His assistant manager Chris Hutchings was appointed as his replacement. Summer signing Emile Heskey (signed for a record fee of £5.5 million) finished the season as the club's top goalscorer with a total of nine goals, and left-back Leighton Baines won the Supporters' Player of the Year award, and the Players' Player award.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 15 | West Ham United | 38 | 12 | 5 | 21 | 35 | 59 | −24 | 41 | |
| 16 | Fulham | 38 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 38 | 60 | −22 | 39 | |
| 17 | Wigan Athletic | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 37 | 59 | −22 | 38 | |
| 18 | Sheffield United (R) | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 32 | 55 | −23 | 38 | Relegation to Football League Championship |
| 19 | Charlton Athletic (R) | 38 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 34 | 60 | −26 | 34 | Relegation to Football League Championship |

## Results

Wigan Athletic's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Premier League
#### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A |
| Result | L | W | L | D | D | L | L | W | W | W | W | D | L | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | L | D | W | W | D | L | L | D | D | L | L | L | W |
| Position | 15 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 17 |
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 19 August 2006 | Newcastle United | A | 1–2 | 51,569 | McCulloch |
| 26 August 2006 | Reading | H | 1–0 | 14,636 | Heskey |
| 9 September 2006 | Portsmouth | A | 0–1 | 19,508 | |
| 16 September 2006 | Everton | A | 2–2 | 37,117 | Scharner (2) |
| 23 September 2006 | Watford | H | 1–1 | 16,359 | Camara |
| 1 October 2006 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–2 | 17,859 | Heskey |
| 14 October 2006 | Manchester United | H | 1–3 | 20,631 | Baines |
| 21 October 2006 | Manchester City | H | 4–0 | 16,235 | Heskey, Dunne (own goal), Camara, Valencia |
| 28 October 2006 | Fulham | A | 1–0 | 22,882 | Camara |
| 4 November 2006 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–0 | 21,255 | McCulloch |
| 11 November 2006 | Charlton Athletic | H | 3–2 | 16,572 | McCulloch, Camara, Jackson |
| 19 November 2006 | Aston Villa | H | 0–0 | 18,455 | |
| 26 November 2006 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 1–3 | 35,205 | Camara |
| 2 December 2006 | Liverpool | H | 0–4 | 22,089 | |
| 6 December 2006 | West Ham United | A | 2–0 | 33,805 | Cotterill, Spector (own goal) |
| 9 December 2006 | Middlesbrough | A | 1–1 | 23,638 | Camara (pen) |
| 13 December 2006 | Arsenal | H | 0–1 | 15,311 | |
| 16 December 2006 | Sheffield United | H | 0–1 | 16,322 | |
| 23 December 2006 | Chelsea | H | 2–3 | 22,077 | Heskey (2) |
| 26 December 2006 | Manchester United | A | 1–3 | 76,018 | Baines (pen) |
| 1 January 2007 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 0–3 | 14,864 | |
| 13 January 2007 | Chelsea | A | 0–4 | 40,846 | |
| 21 January 2007 | Everton | H | 0–2 | 18,149 | |
| 30 January 2007 | Reading | A | 2–3 | 21,954 | Heskey, Landzaat |
| 3 February 2007 | Portsmouth | H | 1–0 | 15,093 | McCulloch |
| 11 February 2007 | Arsenal | A | 1–2 | 60,049 | Landzaat |
| 21 February 2007 | Watford | A | 1–1 | 18,338 | Folan |
| 25 February 2007 | Newcastle United | H | 1–0 | 21,179 | Taylor |
| 3 March 2007 | Manchester City | A | 1–0 | 39,923 | Folan |
| 17 March 2007 | Fulham | H | 0–0 | 16,001 | |
| 31 March 2007 | Charlton Athletic | A | 0–1 | 26,500 | |
| 7 April 2007 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–3 | 18,610 | Heskey |
| 9 April 2007 | Aston Villa | A | 1–1 | 31,920 | Heskey |
| 15 April 2007 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 3–3 | 16,506 | Heskey, Baines, Kilbane |
| 21 April 2007 | Liverpool | A | 0–2 | 44,003 | |
| 28 April 2007 | West Ham United | H | 0–3 | 24,726 | |
| 5 May 2007 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–1 | 21,204 | |
| 13 May 2007 | Sheffield United | A | 2–1 | 32,604 | Scharner, Unsworth |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 6 January 2007 | Portsmouth | A | 1–2 | 14,336 (477 away) | McCulloch |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 | 19 September 2006 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 0–2 | 3,907 (815 away) | |

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AUS | John Filan |
| 2 | DF | SWE | Andreas Granqvist (on loan from Helsingborg) |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Matt Jackson |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Fitz Hall |
| 6 | DF | NED | Arjan de Zeeuw (captain) |
| 7 | FW | SEN | Henri Camara |
| 8 | MF | IRL | Kevin Kilbane |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Emile Heskey |
| 10 | MF | SCO | Lee McCulloch |
| 11 | MF | SWE | Andreas Johansson |
| 12 | GK | ENG | Mike Pollitt |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Chris Kirkland |
| 14 | MF | NED | Denny Landzaat |
| 15 | FW | NGA | Julius Aghahowa |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | MF | ECU | Antonio Valencia (on loan from Villarreal) |
| 17 | DF | BRB | Emmerson Boyce |
| 18 | DF | AUT | Paul Scharner |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Ryan Taylor |
| 20 | FW | IRL | Caleb Folan |
| 21 | FW | POL | Tomasz Cywka |
| 22 | MF | WAL | David Cotterill |
| 24 | MF | AUS | Josip Skoko |
| 25 | DF | ENG | David Unsworth |
| 26 | DF | ENG | Leighton Baines |
| 28 | GK | ENG | Carlo Nash (on loan from Preston North End) |
| 31 | MF | ENG | Lewis Montrose |
| 32 | MF | ENG | David Owens |
| 36 | DF | ENG | Joey Waterhouse |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | FRA | Pascal Chimbonda (to Tottenham Hotspur) |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Stephen McMillan (retired) |
| 8 | MF | IRL | Graham Kavanagh (to Sunderland) |
| 15 | DF | ENG | David Wright (to Ipswich Town) |
| 20 | MF | SCO | Gary Teale (to Derby County) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | FW | IRL | David Connolly (to Sunderland) |
| 23 | DF | SCO | Andy Webster (on loan to Rangers) |
| 25 | MF | BUL | Svetoslav Todorov (on loan from Portsmouth) |
| 27 | MF | NOR | Kristofer Hæstad (on loan from Start) |

## Transfers
### In

| Player | From | Fee | Date |
| Fitz Hall | Crystal Palace | £3,000,000 | 26 June 2006 |
| Tomasz Cywka | Gwarek Zabrze | Undisclosed | 5 July 2006 |
| Emile Heskey | Birmingham City | £5,500,000 | 8 July 2006 |
| Denny Landzaat | AZ Alkmaar | £2,500,000 | 18 July 2006 |
| Emmerson Boyce | Crystal Palace | £1,000,000 | 1 August 2006 |
| Kevin Kilbane | Everton | £2,000,000 | 31 August 2006 |
| David Cotterill | Bristol City | £2,000,000 | 31 August 2006 |
| Andy Webster | Hearts | Free | 4 September 2006 |
| Chris Kirkland | Liverpool | Undisclosed | 27 October 2006 |
| David Unsworth | Sheffield United | Free | 7 January 2007 |
| Caleb Folan | Chesterfield | £500,000 | 26 January 2007 |
| Julius Aghahowa | Shakhtar Donetsk | Undisclosed | 30 January 2007 |

### Out

| Player | To | Fee | Date |
| Jason Roberts | Blackburn Rovers | £3,000,000 | 4 July 2006 |
| Damien Francis | Watford | £1,500,000 | 14 July 2006 |
| Pascal Chimbonda | Tottenham Hotspur | Undisclosed | 31 August 2006 |
| Graham Kavanagh | Sunderland | £500,000 | 31 August 2006 |
| David Connolly | Sunderland | £1,400,000 | 31 August 2006 |
| David Wright | Ipswich Town | Undisclosed | 11 January 2007 |
| Gary Teale | Derby County | £600,000 | 11 January 2007 |
| Matt Jackson | Watford | Free | End of season |

### Released

| Player | Date |
| Steve McMillan | 4 March 2007 |
| Arjan de Zeeuw | End of season |
| David Unsworth | End of season |

### Loans in

| Player | From | Start Date | End Date |
| Chris Kirkland | Liverpool | 12 July 2006 | 27 October 2006 |
| Antonio Valencia | Villarreal | 11 August 2006 | End of season |
| Svetoslav Todorov | Portsmouth | 31 August 2006 | 31 December 2006 |
| Kristofer Hæstad | Start | 1 January 2007 | 31 March 2007 |
| Andreas Granqvist | Helsingborg | 1 January 2007 | End of season |
| Carlo Nash | Preston North End | 19 February 2007 | 18 March 2007 |

### Loans out

| Player | To | Start Date | End Date |
| John Filan | Doncaster Rovers | 6 October 2006 | 5 November 2006 |
| Tomasz Cywka | Oldham Athletic | 1 November 2006 | 20 December 2006 |
| Mike Pollitt | Ipswich Town | 15 November 2006 | 23 November 2006 |
| Andy Webster | Rangers | 5 January 2007 | End of season |
| Mike Pollitt | Burnley | 11 January 2007 | 10 February 2007 |

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

    Up to end of season
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | AUS | John Filan | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | ENG | Mike Pollitt | 7 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Chris Kirkland | 26 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | SWE | Andreas Granqvist | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Matt Jackson | 23 | 1 | 17+4 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Fitz Hall | 26 | 0 | 22+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | NED | Arjan De Zeeuw | 23 | 0 | 21+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | BRB | Emmerson Boyce | 35 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Ryan Taylor | 16 | 1 | 12+4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | ENG | David Unsworth | 10 | 1 | 6+4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | ENG | Leighton Baines | 37 | 3 | 35 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 8 | MF | IRL | Kevin Kilbane | 33 | 1 | 26+5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | SCO | Lee McCulloch | 30 | 6 | 25+4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | SWE | Andreas Johansson | 14 | 0 | 4+8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | NED | Denny Landzaat | 35 | 2 | 29+4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | ECU | Antonio Valencia | 22 | 1 | 17+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | AUT | Paul Scharner | 26 | 3 | 22+3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | POL | Tomasz Cywka | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | WAL | David Cotterill | 17 | 1 | 5+11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | AUS | Josip Skoko | 28 | 0 | 24+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | ENG | Lewis Montrose | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | SEN | Henri Camara | 23 | 6 | 18+5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Emile Heskey | 37 | 8 | 33+2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | NGA | Julius Aghahowa | 6 | 0 | 3+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | IRL | Caleb Folan | 13 | 2 | 8+5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | FRA | Pascal Chimbonda | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | IRL | Graham Kavanagh | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ENG | David Wright | 13 | 0 | 6+6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | SCO | Gary Teale | 15 | 0 | 7+6 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | IRL | David Connolly | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | SCO | Andy Webster | 4 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | BUL | Svetoslav Todorov | 5 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | NOR | Kristofer Hæstad | 4 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |