The 2019–20 season was Wigan Athletic's 88th year in existence and their second consecutive season in the Championship. Along with competing in the league, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. The season covered the period from 1 July 2019 to 22 July 2020.
Season summary On 4 June 2020, International Entertainment Corporation (IEC) sold the club to a Hong Kong based consortium, Next Leader Fund (NLF). A few weeks later, on 1 July 2020, Wigan announced the club had gone into administration. The story received national media attention; it was reported that Au Yeung Wai Kay, initially a minor shareholder of NLF, took full ownership of the club on 24 June, but on the same day withdrew all funding for the club, and approached Begbies Traynor about putting the club into administration. Au Yeung released a statement claiming he had the "best intentions" when buying the club, and blamed the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for putting the club into administration. Wigan MP Lisa Nandy criticised the English Football League (EFL) for approving the takeover, and called for a full inquiry.
The EFL handed a 12-point penalty to the club as a result of entering administration. This, however, did not put a halt to their run of good form and on 14 July, Wigan defeated Hull City 8–0, the biggest league win in the club's history. Despite losing just once in their last fifteen games, Wigan were relegated to League One due to the points deduction. Shortly after the season finished, the club appealed unsuccessfully against the points deduction on the grounds of force majeure.
First-team squad No. Name Pos. Nat. Birth date Goalkeepers1David MarshallGK5 March 198523Jamie JonesGK18 February 198929Dániel Gyollai GK 7 April 199740Owen EvansGK28 November 1996 Defenders2 Nathan ByrneRB5 June 1992 3 Antonee RobinsonLB8 August 19976 Danny FoxLB29 May 198612Tom PearceLB12 April 199815Dujon SterlingRB24 October 199916Charlie MulgrewCB6 March 198621Cédric KipréCB9 December 199622Chey DunkleyCB13 February 199235Emeka ObiCB6 June 200137Leon BalogunCB28 June 1988 Midfielders4 Lewis MacleodCM16 June 19945 Sam MorsyCM10 September 19917 Anthony PilkingtonLW6 June 19888 Lee EvansCM24 July 199410Josh WindassAM9 January 199417Michael JacobsLM4 November 199118Gary RobertsAM18 March 198420Joe WilliamsDM8 December 199630Kieran DowellAM10 October 199731Chris MerrieCM2 November 199833Kal NaismithRM18 February 199239Jensen WeirCM31 January 2002 Forwards9Jamal LoweRW21 July 199411Gavin MasseyRW4 October 199214Joe GarnerCF12 April 198819Kieffer MooreCF8 August 199225Alex DobreLW30 August 199824Callum LangCF8 September 199827Jan MlakarCF23 October 199832Charlie JolleyCF13 January 200138Joe GelhardtCF4 May 2002
Transfers Transfers in Date Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 8 July 2019 GK David Marshall Hull City Free transfer 12 July 2019 CM Lewis Macleod Brentford Free transfer 15 July 2019 LB Antonee Robinson Everton Undisclosed 31 July 2019 DM Joe Williams Everton Undisclosed 1 August 2019 RW Jamal Lowe Portsmouth Undisclosed 1 August 2019 GK Dániel Gyollai Stoke City Free transfer 5 August 2019 CF Kieffer Moore Barnsley Undisclosed 8 August 2019 LB Tom Pearce Leeds United Undisclosed 12 August 2019 GK James Aspinall Bolton Wanderers Free transfer 12 August 2019 CB Jack Sanders Leek Town Undisclosed 12 August 2019 LB Patrick Webber Ipswich Town Free transfer 25 June 2020 CB Leon Balogun Brighton & Hove Albion Free transfer
Loans in Date from Position Nationality Name From Date until Ref. 1 August 2019 RB Dujon Sterling Chelsea 30 June 2020 8 August 2019 CF Bright Enobakhare Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 January 2020 9 August 2019 CB Charlie Mulgrew Blackburn Rovers 15 January 2020 3 January 2020 AM Kieran Dowell Everton 23 July 2020 31 January 2020 CB Leon Balogun Brighton & Hove Albion 25 June 2020 31 January 2020 CF Jan Mlakar Brighton & Hove Albion 23 July 2020 31 January 2020 LW Alex Dobre AFC Bournemouth 23 July 2020
Transfers out Date Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 1 July 2019 CM Darron Gibson Salford City Released 1 July 2019 GK Dan Lavercombe AFC Fylde Released 1 July 2019 CM Shaun MacDonald Rotherham United Released 1 July 2019 RW Callum McManaman Luton Town Released 1 July 2019 CB Jonas Olsson Free agent Released 1 July 2019 GK Jordan Perrin Sittingbourne Released 1 July 2019 SS Nick Powell Stoke City Free transfer 1 July 2019 CF James Vaughan Bradford City Released 1 July 2019 LW Jamie Walker Heart of Midlothian Free transfer 1 July 2019 CB Denzel Williams Free agent Released 8 August 2019 CM Leonardo Lopes Hull City Undisclosed 19 August 2019 RB Víctor Maffeo Girona Free transfer 11 November 2019 CF James Berry Hull City Undisclosed 20 January 2020 CM Luke Burgess Salford City Free transfer 27 January 2020 CF Devante Cole Doncaster Rovers Undisclosed 30 January 2020 LB Ryan Galvin Sheffield Wednesday Free transfer
Loans out Date from Position Nationality Name To Date until Ref. 2 July 2019 CF Devante Cole Motherwell 4 January 2020 25 July 2019 GK Owen Evans Macclesfield Town 9 January 2020 31 August 2019 GK James Aspinall City of Liverpool F.C. 1 January 2020 2 September 2019 SS Callum Lang Shrewsbury Town 30 June 2020 5 September 2019 CF Joe Piggott Stockport County 5 October 2019 12 October 2019 RW Divin Baningime Curzon Ashton 9 November 2019 1 November 2019 DM Will McGuffie Stafford Rangers 1 December 2019 14 November 2019 CF Charlie Jolley Curzon Ashton 14 January 2020 14 November 2019 LB Ryan Galvin Stafford Rangers 14 December 2019 19 December 2019 CB Jack Sanders Blyth Spartans 19 January 2020 20 December 2019 RB Tylor Golden Nantwich Town 20 January 2020 9 January 2020 GK Owen Evans Cheltenham Town 30 June 2020 23 January 2020 LW Ollie Crankshaw Dundee 30 June 2020 31 January 2020 AM Josh Windass Sheffield Wednesday 23 July 2020 11 February 2020 GK Bobby Jones Farsley Celtic 18 February 2020 14 February 2020 CB Jack Sanders Southport 30 June 2020 20 February 2020 CB Adam Long Notts County 31 March 2020 22 February 2020 GK Bobby Jones Warrington Town 21 March 2020
Pre-season Wigan confirmed their pre-season schedule in June 2019.
Competitions
Overall record
Championship
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches On Thursday, 20 June 2019, the EFL Championship fixtures were revealed.
FA Cup
The third round draw was made live on BBC Two from Etihad Stadium, Micah Richards and Tony Adams conducted the draw.
EFL Cup
The first round draw was made on 20 June.
Statistics Appearances & Goals
!colspan=14|Players out on loan:
!colspan=14|Players who have left the club:
Goals record
Rank No. Nat. Po. Name Championship FA Cup League Cup Total119CFKieffer Moore 100010222DFChey Dunkley 60069 RWJamal Lowe 6006430AMKieran Dowell 5005510AMJosh Windass 400465 CMSam Morsy 30037 LWAnthony Pilkington 300317LMMichael Jacobs 300333LMKal Naismith 3003108 CMLee Evans 200214CFJoe Garner 200221DFCédric Kipré 2002132 RBNathan Byrne 10013 LBAntonee Robinson 100120 MFJoe Williams 100138CFJoe Gelhardt 1001 –Own goals 4004Total 570057
Disciplinary record
Rank No. Nat. Po. Name Championship FA Cup League Cup Total 120DMJoe Williams 1310000000131025 CMSam Morsy 12001000001300321 CBCédric Kipré 81000000081042 RBNathan Byrne 90000000090053 LBAntonee Robinson 80000000080022CBChey Dunkley 420000000420714CFJoe Garner 50100000050184 CMLewis Macleod 4000000004008 CMLee Evans 400000000400 1011LWGavin Massey 30000000030016CBCharlie Mulgrew 20000010030033LMKal Naismith 300000000300136 CBDanny Fox 1010000001017 LWAnthony Pilkington 20000000020038CFJoe Gelhardt 2000000002001610AMJosh Windass 10000000010011LWGavin Massey 10000000010015RBDujon Sterling 10000000010017LMMichael Jacobs 10000000010019CFKieffer Moore 100000000100Total 68421001007042
References