Football Season Review

Wigan are coming from a very successful season that saw them returned to the Championship as League One champions and also enjoy a memorable FA Cup run. Paul Cook, who took over last summer after leaving his job at Portsmouth to become the Latics' manager, adapted to his new role effortlessly and had Wigan inside the automatic promotion places during almost the entire course of the season. Apart from always looking far too good to the third tier, the Latics also enjoyed a superb FA Cup run, which saw them eliminate West Ham, Bournemouth and, famously, Manchester City, on their ways towards the quarter final, where they were beaten by Wigan. Cook's men did slow down a bit in January, but it was only a minor blip and their cup run never looked like it could derail their promotion push. With Shrewsbury slowing down in the later stages of the season, it became obvious that Wigan would win promotion with more than a month of the season left to play, but they did not secure the league title until the very last day, as Blackburn kept breathing down their necks until the very end. It is difficult to draw any negatives from the season that the Latics have had, but there is plenty of work to do over the summer. Next season will see Cook get his first taste of managerial experience in the second tier and he will have the task of prevent Wigan from becoming a yo-yo club, given that they also won League One in 2016, only to be relegated straight back.

Player of the Season: Nathan Byrne