Meet The Ref - Latics v Barnsley

Latics are back at the Brick on Saturday, fellow bottom four club, Barnsley are in town for a League One fixture, the referee for the game is scheduled to be Berkshire official, Steve Parkinson.

Steve Parkinson started refereeing in the Bracknell Sunday League as a 16 year old and worked his way up through the ranks of the local leagues, the Welsh Leagues and onto the National League by 2023, making his debut in the EFL in January 2024 with the Crewe v Salford game at Gresty Rd.

Previous Games

Last season Parkinson took charge of 26 EFL games, including our 6:1 defeat away at Peterborough which saw the end of Ryan Lowe’s tenure as Latics boss.

That game was Steve Parkinson’s third time in charge of a Latics match last season, he also took charge of the home League One encounter with Peterborough United in August 2025, we won that comfortably enough with Chris Saydee and Jason Kerr on the score sheet in a 2:0 win, Ryan Trevitt picking up a yellow card.

Exeter away in November was the other of Parky’s Latics’ games, that ended all square, one apiece with Callum Wright on the scoresheet, Matt Smith ended up in the notebook and we had a Chris Saydee goal very dubiously disallowed for handball.

This will be the first time that Steve Parkinson has taken charge of a Barnsley game.

Steve Parkinson’s Latics Game

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
07 Feb 2026	League One	Peterborough 6:1 Latics	3Y
08 Nov 2025	League One	Exeter City 1:1 Latics	1Y
16 Aug 2025	League One	Latics 2:0 Peterborough	1Y

 

Steve Parkinson Card Watch 2026/27

Games – 15

Yellows – 41

Reds – 3

Penalties – 4

Wigan Athletic v Barnsley

Referee – Steve Parkinson

Assistants – Danny Guest & Will Cavanagh

4^th Official – George Eaton

Grab a listen to the latest podcast featuring a preview of the Barnsley game.

Meet The Ref - Crewe v Latics

Latics face Crewe at the Mornflake Stadium, aka Gresty Road, on Tuesday in the Jersey Mike’s Butty Shop Cup, the referee for the game is scheduled to be Wiltshire born whistle blower, Declan Brown.

 

Brown, who hails from Salisbury, progressed through the Wiltshire FA where he started his refereeing pathway, onto Manchester FA where he studied whilst at university, graduating in 2019.

Declan Brown has been on the National List since October 2025 and taken charge of ten League Two games, three in the EFL Trophy and just the one game in both League One and the EFL Cup.

 This season has also seen Declan Brown back officiating in the National League, taking charge of 4 games in that competition. This will be the first time that Brown’s refereed either Crewe or the Latics, Brown has served as 4th official on two occasions, away at Blackpool, September 2023 and at home to Barnsley on New Years Day, 2026.

 Declan Brown Card Watch 2026/27

Games – 11

Yellows – 46

Reds – 1

Penalty – 4

 Crewe Alexandra v Wigan Athletic

Referee – Declan Brown

Assistants – Andy Ellis & Zharir Mustafa

4^th Official – Anthony Moore

Grab a listen to the latest podcast featuring a preview of the Crewe game

Wigan Athletic Vs Non-League - FA Cup Record

The Latics travel down to Meadow Park on Saturday to face National League runaway leaders, Boreham Wood FC, the second season running and the fourth time in six years that we have been drawn to face non-league opposition in the FA Cup. 

 

Not a regular occurrence though. Since becoming a Football League Club in 1978, Wigan Athletic have only drawn non-league opposition on 20 occasions in the world's most prestigious football cup competition.

The Latics have progressed from 16 of those ties onto the next round, including Macclesfield away in 2013 when we went on to win the Cup on that splendid day in May. 

On seven occasions a replay has been needed to settle the outcome, we have won six of those, the only defeat coming away at Telford in 1982 following a goalless draw at Springfield Park .

We have been knocked out of the FA Cup four times by non-league opposition, two of those defeats coming at home, Canvey Island and Chorley and the two away defeats, at the previously mentioned, Telford United, and old foes, Altrincham.

The four defeats, were all by the odd goal, three finishing a goal to nil, Telford, Altrincham and Canvey Island, whilst Chorley beat us 2:3 in an extraordinary game.

On the plus side we have put 4 past three sides, Spennymoor United and Barrow without reply and Runcorn in a game that ended 4:2 in our favour.

Highest home attendance 11,298 v Northwich Vic 1979, the lowest, 1,804 v Leek Town in a 1993 replay.

The average home attendance across thirteen games played at ‘home’ is 4,149, that includes Cambridge City which was an away tie that was switched to the JJB, but not Chorley, which took place during stadium lockdowns in 2020/21 season.

Highest away attendance 6,613 v York City in December 2023, the lowest 2,844 v Runcorn in November 1995.

The average attendance across the nine games played ‘away’ is 4,224.

The Latics face a tough tie at Boreham Wood on Saturday, but hopefully we can keep up our good record of an 80% success rate of progression when facing non-league sides.

Grab a listen to the latest podcast with a preview of the Latics FA Cup tie at Boreham Wood, click on the embedded player at the bottom of this article.

Wigan Athletic FA Cup record against non-league opposition since 1978/79 season, result and attendances. 

Year	Round	Opponent		Replay	Home/Away Att
1979	2	Northwich Vic	2:2 (a)	1:0 (h)	11,298                5,249
1982	1	Telford Utd	0:0 (h)	1:0 (a)	4,805                   5,085
1983	2	Whitby Town	1:0 (h)		4,599
1984	2	Northwich Vic	2:1 (h)		5,099
1985	2	Runcorn	1:1 (a)	4:0 (h)	3,390
1987	1	Altrincham	0:2 (a)		4,004
1993	1	Leek Town	2:2 (a)	3:0 (h)	1,804
1994	1	Spennymoor Utd	4:0 (h)		2,183
1994	2	Altrincham	1:0 (a)		3,020
1995	1	Runcorn	1:1 (a)	4:2 (h)	3,224                   2,844
1995	2	Barrow	0:4 (a)		3,500
1999	1	Cambridge City*	0:2 (a)		4,024 @JJB
2000	1	Dorchester Town	3:1 (h)		3,883
2001	1	Canvey Island	0:1 (h)		3,671
2002	1	Hereford Utd	0:1 (a)		4,005
2017	2	AFC Fylde	1:1 (a)	3:2 (h)	3,124
2020	1	Chorley	2:3 (h)		0 - Covid
2021	1	Solihull Moors	0:0 (h)	1:2 (a)	2,843                   3,703
2023	2	York City	0:1 (a)		6,613
2025	1	Hemel Hempstead Town	1:1 (h)	5:3 pens	4,020