The 1997 Wigan Warriors season was the 102nd season in the club's rugby league history and the second season in the Super League. Coached by Eric Hughes, the Warriors competed in Super League II and finished in 4th place, but went on to win the Premiership Final at Old Trafford against St. Helens. The club also competed in the 1997 Challenge Cup, and were knocked out in the fourth round by St Helens.
Background The inaugural Super League season in 1996 was a disappointing year for Wigan. Although they finished the year with a victory in the 1996 Premiership final, the club ended the league season as runners-up to rivals St Helens, the first time since 1989 that they had failed to win the league, and their nine-year unbeaten run in the Challenge Cup had come to an end. From the start of the 1997 season, the club became known as Wigan Warriors.
The club was struggling with financial problems, and was reportedly over £3 million in debt. Dave Whelan, owner of the town's football club Wigan Athletic, had offered to buy the rugby club's ground, Central Park, which would be redeveloped into an all-seater stadium and shared by both clubs. In January 1997, Wigan Warriors' shareholders voted in favour of accepting the offer, but two months later the board instead decided to sell the ground to Tesco, who had offered considerably more money than Whelan, and the club intended to share the newly built Reebok Stadium with Bolton Wanderers until it could build its own new stadium. The decision led to the departure of director John Martin, who had backed Whelan's proposal. The shareholders, unhappy that the club was being moved out of town, demanded the resignation of two of the club's board members, Jack Robinson and Tom Rathbone. Following months of continuous protests by shareholders and supporters, Robinson and Rathbone resigned in August, with Arthur Thomas taking over as chairman. Thomas resigned in October, and the club was taken over by Mike Nolan, a local businessman and former rugby league player with Rochdale Hornets and St Helens. The plan to move in with Bolton Wanderers was dropped, and the club announced they would share a proposed new stadium at Robin Park with Wigan Athletic as of the start of the 2000 season.
Prior to the start of the league season, The Independent wrote that Wigan's squad was "thin on genuine quality", and predicted that the team would finish third.
Match results Challenge Cup Wigan were drawn against St Helens in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup. Wigan lost 12–26 against their local rivals, with the result eventually leading to the departure of coach Graeme West a week later. +RoundDateOpponentVenueScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceFourth8 February 1997St HelensAway12–26RadlinskiFarrell (4)12,262
World Club Championship Wigan were in Pool A for the 1997 World Club Championship.
Group stage +GameDateOpponentVenueScoreTriesGoalsAttendance19 June 1997Canterbury BulldogsAway22–18Robinson (2), Haughton, A. JohnsonFarrell (2), Paul10,680216 June 1997Brisbane BroncosAway0–3414,833322 June 1997Canberra RaidersAway22–56Radlinski (2), Connolly, HallFarrell (3)9,098 420 July 1997Brisbane BroncosHome4–30Farrell (2)13,476528 July 1997Canterbury BulldogsHome31–24Connolly, Cowie, Farrell, Radlinski, RobinsonFarrell (5, 1dg) 10,28063 August 1997Canberra RaidersHome10–50HaughtonFarrell (3)12,504
Knockout stage +RoundDateOpponentVenueScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceQuarter-final3 October 1997Hunter MarinersHome18–22Ellison (2), RadlinskiFarrell (3)9,553
Table
Squad Source:
Players marked * left the club during the season. NoPlayerAppsTriesGoalsDGsPoints 1 33 15 0 0 60 2 31 20 0 0 80 3 * 1 0 0 0 0 4 28 15 0 0 60 5 0 0 0 0 0 6 27 7 4 0 36 7 * 1 0 0 0 0 8 27 2 0 0 8 9 33 2 0 0 8 10 28 1 0 0 4 11 31 15 0 0 60 13 33 9 146 4 332 14 18 4 0 0 16 15 31 16 0 0 64 16 12 10 0 0 40 17 31 0 0 0 0 18 8 0 0 0 0 20 14 2 0 1 9 21 16 3 0 0 12 22 10 2 0 0 8 23 0 0 0 0 0 24 * 4 0 0 0 0 25 28 3 0 0 12 26 8 0 0 0 0 27 18 2 1 0 10 28 5 1 0 0 4 29 25 0 0 0 0 30 23 16 0 0 64 31 3 1 0 0 4 32 2 0 0 0 0 33 1 0 0 0 0 34 9 1 0 0 4
Transfers
In PlayerPosFromFeeDate Tony Smith Scrum half Castleford Tigers £150,000 March 1997 Lee Hansen Prop forward Widnes Vikings Exchange April 1997 Paul Koloi Centre Canterbury Cardinals May 1997 Denis Betts Second-row Auckland Warriors May 1997 Tony Mestrov Prop forward London Broncos November 1997 Mark Bell Winger St. George Dragons November 1997 Robbie McCormack Hooker Hunter Mariners November 1997 Danny Moore Centre Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles December 1997
Out PlayerPosToFeeDate Kelvin Skerrett Prop forward Halifax Free January 1997 Va'aiga Tuigamala Centre Newcastle Falcons (RU) £500,000 February 1997 Shaun Edwards Scrum half London Broncos Undisclosed March 1997 Sean Long Scrum half Widnes Vikings Exchange April 1997 Matthew Knowles Widnes Vikings Exchange April 1997
References
External links Wigan Warriors Rugby League Fan Site Super League II 1997 Wigan Warriors - Rugby League Project