Flicking through Ian Morrison's 1986 book "Wigan R.L.F.C. 1895-1986" is like going back through time. In it there is an (almost) complete and (almost) accurate set of records showing Wigan matches since the formation of the Northern Union in 1895 when Wigan decided to go professional (legally). Just like a Wisden's Cricketers Almanack, the book captures moments in time and shows a lot about society. Anyway, you haven't clicked onto this page for a literary history lesson. No, you came to find out about Wigan's high scoring matches!
Challenge Cup games account for 6 of Wigan's top 10 all-time high scores, with 2 league games featuring along with one Lancashire Cup tie and a John Player Special Trophy tie. The reason for this is quite simple, League games are meant to have clubs competing at a similar level and runaway victories are rare, especially when you start reaching the 70-point margin. Secondly, early rounds of the Challenge Cup are often complete mis-matches such as Wigan's 1920 tie at home against Healy Street Adults (who?) or a completely new start-up team such as North Wales Crusaders in 2012. The fulllist can be seen at the bottom of this piece... way down below...
Challenge Cup games account for 6 of Wigan's top 10 all-time high scores, with 2 league games featuring along with one Lancashire Cup tie and a John Player Special Trophy tie. The reason for this is quite simple, League games are meant to have clubs competing at a similar level and runaway victories are rare, especially when you start reaching the 70-point margin. Secondly, early rounds of the Challenge Cup are often complete mis-matches such as Wigan's 1920 tie at home against Healy Street Adults (who?) or a completely new start-up team such as North Wales Crusaders in 2012. The fulllist can be seen at the bottom of this piece... way down below...
In my eyes, League games are more 'worthy' shall we say of recognition as the opposition is of much a closer class. The spark for this particular page came from Wigans 2013 April Fool's win over Hull Kingston Rovers, with a score of 84-6 in an Easter Monday tie. To have such dominance from Wigan and such a self destruction from Hull KR is remarkable and worthy to be kept in the memory for time. Challenge Cup ties, especially the early rounds against lower league opposition in recent times, are merely a case of "how many will we get?". Five Challenge Cup ties in our Top 10 occurred after 2000 which reflects the change the game of rugby league has made. The Super League is a professional league whereas the players who had played for Halton Simms Cross, Limoux, Whitehaven and North Wales are part-timers: men against boys. In the olden days the game was still 'amateur' in a sense, players still had to earn a living during the week whatever division you was in.
In the World of Rugby League, Wigan's 116-0 effort is dwarved by some results. Huddersfield vs Blackpool Gladiators has the all time record at 142-4 back in 1994 whereas Barrow a day later incidentally, recorded a win of 138-0 against Nottingham City in 1994.
A NOTE ON RECORD SCORES OVER TIME
Technically, Wigan's first highest score in the new Northern Union was 9-0 against Broughton Rangers on 7 September 1895. Whatever the result (unless a 0-0 draw like against Tyldesley on 28 Sept) that 9-0 was Wigan's highest score. This was equalled on November 2 when Warrington were hammered 9-0. By 1896 and coming to the end of the season, Wigan's record stood at 25-0 after a home game against Liversedge, (just outside Batley). It would be silly to record all the 'high' scores before this point as it really didn't matter. Records had to start somewhere and for me, this will do. 25-0 doesn't seem too much nowadays and indeed, the Wigan Warriors of today racked up that many points within 6 minutes against Hull KR in 2013! Seven tries were scored and two of them converted that day against Liversedge but remember the scoring was different back then with a try worth 3 points instead of 4. This record score stood, remarkably, until 1901 and that in itself tells you a lot about the quality on show at Prescott Street towards the turn of the century. In fact, Wigan failed to score in 15 League matches during the 1896/97 season.
I have not included pre 1895 scores (yet) as there is a lack of records on scores on my part and anything from 1885-1895 is completely alien to me (and perhaps anyone) at present. So my records and the Club records will start from 1895 thanks on large to Ian Morrisons book. The full list can be seen at the bottom/end of this.
I have not included pre 1895 scores (yet) as there is a lack of records on scores on my part and anything from 1885-1895 is completely alien to me (and perhaps anyone) at present. So my records and the Club records will start from 1895 thanks on large to Ian Morrisons book. The full list can be seen at the bottom/end of this.
Times changed in the 1901/02 season as Wigan recorded their next High Score. The record initially fell on 2 November 1901 when Wigan travelled to Altrincham and beat the home side 28-2. Now, you may be thinking Altrincham? Wigan had been left behind from a new Northern Rugby League due to a poor 1900/01 finish so had to play in a Lancashire Senior League for a season, which gave the Grand old rugby league names such as Birkenhead, Lancaster and Millom their moment of fame playing Wigan (and St Helens). Back to it, the return fixture against Altrincham at Springfield Park (for it was there) on 14 December saw a 38-0 win for the Wiganers which at the time remained a record for another 5 years of rugby. The 1905/06 season saw the record increase twice more. Wigan had by now been graced with the services of a Mr. James Leytham, Mr. Johnny Thomas and Mr. Bert Jenkins in the back row. These three players were part of Wigan first Legendary back line which dominated the game in the Edwardian period and made Wigan a Great side. Millom! For it was Millom who, two days before Christmas, capitulated at Central Park losing 46-0 (team picture above). This record stood for another couple of months when April 14th saw Wakefield Trinity turn up at Central Park in the hope of a good game. The Trinity hurried back to Yorkshire on the steam train reeling from a 51-0 loss, a loss which gave Wigan their highest ever victory at the time. Bert Jenkins scored 5 whilst James Leytham chipped in with 4 tries |
| Jenkins scored 5 against Wakefield Trinity |
The record over the next 2 seasons would be nudged up slightly. Barrow travelled to Central Park at the start of the 1906/07 season (3 games after Wigan's previous record, summer inbetween) and were completely unprepared for what awaited them. Jimmy Leytham and Bert Jenkins both grabbed hat tricks in a 54-0 rout which saw the Cumberland team humiliated and completely unprepared for the new season. The record nudged up a little more against Widnes on 12 January 1907 in a 55-8 win. Again, Leytham and Jenkins scored hat-tricks along with Frank Watkins. Although Wigan were at the dizzy heights of 55 points, the opening day win against Barrow remained Wigan's biggest margin (+54 points).
1907/08 was uneventful for the Wigan Record keepers, despite a 52-10 win over Bradford Northern when Bert Jenkins scored 6 tries, a player record. The following season, 1908/09 saw Wigan kick on with Greatness building. Wigan travelled to South Wales armed with one of the greatest back lines the club has ever seen. Jimmy Leytham and Bert Jenkins were now joined with the now Legendary Lance Todd and Joe Miller. Aberdare were not ready. Joe Miller scored 4, Leytham 3, Jenkins 2 and Lance Todd managed his try in a 56-0 rout of the Valleymen - Wigan's new record score in a season which saw the Famous Four score 90 League tries between them on the way to a 4 Cup haul. Those were the days! Think Offiah, Connolly, Tuigamala and Robinson and you'd be close.
A 10 year wait for a high score in the Challenge Cup was over in 1909 when Keighley lost 47-0 at Central Park but it won't be too long before a Challenge Cup tie would claim the top spot for, perhaps, eternity... Scenes like never before at Central Park in 1910 now. Another Welsh outfit from Merthyr Tydfyl travelled to Central Park in the hope of a good game - for one side though it was. The game on 5 February saw Wigan smash their High Score record as they defeated the Welshmen 67-0. Wigan scored 17 tries and converted 8 of them in a score which would have been 84-0 in todays money. James Leytham scored 6 tries as Wigan (or Johnny Thomas) had an off day with the boot, he was so bad that Leytham had to take over kicking duties before Lance Todd had a crack or else Wigan's score would have been much higher.
The record was to stand for another 2 years when Coventry, that grand old rugby league name, travelled to Central Park in the hope of something. In a 70-0 loss, Coventry did find something: a new Record Score for Wigan. Sadly, Jimmy Leytham had died in Morecambe Bay and the Wigan backline was almost unrecognisable. Lance Todd and Joe Miller were still going though. Johnny Thomas kicked 10 goals as Wigan scored 16 tries with four players claiming a hat trick, one of them scored 4 times. It was a rout and as you may know, Coventry isn't a rugby league name but in the day still good enough to hold their own in the top league. Wigan were becoming more lethal as the game of Rugby League developed. Gone were the days when a score of 23 was considered to be rare.
Again, it wasn't long before Wigan notched another Record score, this time at the hands of Runcorn on 30 January 1915. The score was 73-5 and Wigan equalled their tries in a match tally of 17, whilst Johnny Thomas recorded 11 goals with the boot. Lessons learned from the Merthyr game then. But despite those nose-bleeding heights of 73 points, the record margin remained with the 70-0 win over Coventry, until all the way to 1925. As the Great War closed in around Europe, rugby seemed to be put on hold with players being called up for service and Emergency War League's being set up and the like. Wigan didn't have their best starting XIII until after the War. The 1919/20 season saw a full calendar completed since 1914/15. Bert Jenkins was still going and chipped in with 23 league tries but there was still time for another record to be dusted off. The Challenge Cup on 2 February 1920 gave Wigan a perfect opportunity to better their high score of 47-0 against Keighley in 1909. Another famous Giant of rugby league visited Central Park in the form of Healy Street Adults. The Adults lost 64-3 whilst conceding 15 tries. All eyes were on the Challenge Cup yet again for one of the iconic and historic moments of Wigan Warriors Rugby League was about to take place on Valentines Day 1925.
The first Great Wigan team had been now left behind in 1920. Like Kris Radlinski in 2006, the last survivor to the Glory Days of the 1980s and 1990s, Bert Jenkins finally gave way and left the door open for a new Wigan Era. The record score of 1915 was never under threat from 1919-1925 after the War. The closest was a 64-0 drubbing of Halifax at Central Park in 1923 but that's about it. Two things were different however: Wigan now had the services of Johnny Ring, and somebody named Jim Sullivan from Wales. Sullivan joined Wigan in 1921 whereas Ring joined a year later. The Wigan team which included stars like Danny Hurcombe and Jack Price didn't really threaten the 73-5 record for quite a few years. Sullivan was breaking records left right and centre with his kicking and Johnny Ring was scoring for fun almost immediately. Wigan were simmering.
And just like Krakatoa in 1883, Wigan shattered the scoring Record on Valentines Day 1925 as Records were smashed into volcanic pumice and the aftershock rippled across the world, records that are still talked about to this day. The unfortunates who happened to travel to Central Park on 14 February 1925 were Cumbrian amateur club Flimby & Fothergill who competed in the Cumberland League for this Challenge Cup tie. Put simply, Wigan recorded their biggest score of 116-0. Jim Sullivan kicked 22 goals - a club record to this day; scored 44 individual points - a club record to this day; Johnny Ring scored 7 tries - a then club record; 24 tries scored for Wigan also a record. It is remarkable to think that from 24 tries, Sullivan kicked 22 goals and personally, anyone who thinks that Sullivan is just a name then I am sorry, you are wrong. Sullivan is the greatest Wigan player without equal, with Billy Boston coming in 2nd of course and then maybe David Vaealiki. Back to 1925 and if we convert the score into today's currency (4 points for a try), the record may have been 140-0!
Records tumbled and broken for all time then. The only record that could realistically be broken now was the League score of 73-5 recorded back in 1915. It is remarkable to think that it took another 71 years for that record to be broken. In 1996 and at the start of a new era of Rugby League in summer, Wigan defeated Paris St. Germain 76-8 in what was Wigan's biggest league victory. It's funny that this paltry score of 76 wasn't bettered earlier in League football when Wigan featured players such as Johnny Ring, Billy Boston, Ellery Hanley, Martin Offiah and Frano Botica previous to this - this with there now being 4 points for a try instead of 3! Saying that, Wigan do get an entry into their Top 10 high score list in 1988 when they defeated Runcorn Highfield (formerly Wigan Highfield give or take many many many relocations) 92-2 on 13 November 1988 in a JPS Trophy match. Upto that point, Wigan had only been above 73 points once, in 1925, a score of 80 for people with a memory was unheard of. On that day, Wigan scored 18 tries but could only convert 11 of them. They were scoring at about just the rate of the Flimby game but accurate kicking and a 'poor' start hampered any record bid. A 78-0 effort against Swinton in the Lancashire Cup in 1992 makes it into the Top 10 at #9, a match remembered for Wigan's try scoring record to be equalled. Shaun Edwards scored 10 tries in this fixture, equalling that of Martin Offiah a few months earlier. This feat has never been bettered. Back to the League briefly and 1996. Wigan on the last day of the 1996 season bettered their short-standing league record by 2 points when Workington Town lost 78-4 on 24 August. After waiting over 70 years for a League record to be broken, Central Park supporters only had to wait 3 months after the Paris St Germain result to see history changed again.
Six of the Wigan Top 10 list has been added since the turn of the Millenium in 2000. In at #8 on the list is an 80-20 win over Limoux in the Challenge Cup in Southern France on 14 March 2004. The Fifth Round tie saw Wigan have 11 different try scorers and it could have been much higher if Limoux were less spirited, they themselves scoring 20 points in a game in which for only the 3rd time had seen 100 points scored involving Wigan. In at #7 on the Top 10 list is an 82-3 win over part timers Halton Simms Cross, played on 9 February 2003. The Challenge Cup tie saw Andrew Farrell kick 11 goals in a game that was effectively a pre-season friendly.
#6 on the list is the most recent. On April Fools Day 2013, Wigan broke the club record for a league match when they defeated Hull Kingston Rovers 84-6 away. What is remarkable about this effort was that it happened 3 days after a punishing Good Friday clash with St Helens and with half of the Wigan pack on the sidelines through injury. Wigan scored 15 tries and Pat Richards scored a league equalling 12 goals - he missed the first 2!! The game was one sided from the off as Hull Kingston Rovers simply fell to pieces. Those there, especially in the second half saw literally Wigan score a try, collect from the restart and score again. Up to now, this game is the best League result ever in the history of this club and a match report can be found elsewhere on this site [give me time to create it, link to appear here]. Not a bad effort considering a depleted squad and the intensity of super League in 2013.
Equal sixth on the list was a game against Bradford Bulls on Easter Monday 2014. It must have felt like deja vu for the Wiganers when yet again, after a dominating win over rivals St. Helens on Good Friday (14-33), Wigan ran riot. The Bradford Bulls were sitting bottom of the Super League after much off-field problems had unsettled the Yorkshire Club. It didn't matter though. The score of 84-6 equalled that set a year earlier against Hull K.R. 12 different scorers crossed the try line for Wigan, setting a new Super League record in the process, ironically beating Bradford's record of 11 set in 2000 (against Salford). 15 Tries were scored with 12 conversions being successful. It could have been way more however as Wigan's try scoring seemed to finish on 61 minutes, and only 1 more try coming after that towards the end of the match. Mercy indeed! This was to be Wigan's highest League home victory, overtaking the effort over Workington Town back in 1996 (74-6)
We have two games now that claim equal third spot on the Top 10 list. Firstly, Wigan's effort against Whitehaven in the 2000 Challenge Cup. A score of 98-4 on 13 February 2000 was the closest Wigan had ever been to 100 points since roughly 75 years earlier. Wigan scored 17 tries whilst Andrew Farrell kicked 15 goals... if only he had been a bit more accurate! A crowd of 6,500 witnessed the feat and will be forever remembered, even however one-sided it may have been. 98-4! Twelve years later, in 2012, the same result was shown yet again at the DW Stadium, Wigan as the North Wales Scorpions came to Wigan in the Challenge Cup. North Wales were not really a team, more a group of men left from the embers of Crusaders RL, a Super League team with limited success that folded a year earlier. It was always going to be a cricket score but Wigan had an opportunity to reach 100 points yet again, only for Josh Charnley to miss a decisive kick at goal at the end of the match. Wigan scored 18 tries that day, with Charnley kicking 13 goals (could have been 108-4). Of note, Sam Tomkins scored 6 tries whilst forward Liam Farrell scored a hat trick in front of only 4,100 fans.
Second on the Top 10 list has an entry from 2008, again in the Challenge Cup and yet again against Whitehaven at home. On 12 May, Wigan won by 106-8, the second time they have achieved 100+ points and debutant Sam Tomkins stole the show with 5 debut tries of his own. Wigan scored 18 tries with Pat Richards kicking 17 goals of his own, along with a try. What may be sad is that Richards could have scored more tries and could have possibly touched upon Jim Sullivan's tally of 44 points but alas, the famous Welshman is still in the record books. Richards scored 38 points that day just 6 shy of the record. Just over 3000 were there to witness 100+ score and I was there to witness it!
Some may think that big runaway scores are meaningless and tell us nothing. In fact, my opinion is that it shows a level of desire to achieve, a willingness to do better and shows constant concentration when in attack and the desire to get the ball back when on defence as quickly as possible. Not always have a Wigan team gone out to rack up the scores. In Challenge Cup ties maybe when it is obvious from the off that it is a question of 'how many will we score?'. For the record League score against Hull Kingston Rovers in 2013, people were questioning Wigan's injury list and 3 days turn around. Hull KR aren't exactly a poor side and the result in the end was an anomaly which, thankfully for Wigan, will remain in the history books for all time. When these big scores do come around remember it. If you're lucky enough to be at the game cherish the moment, look at the scoreboard and stare at it. You can say to your family in years to come that you were there, just like many have done when Wigan won 116-0.
Of course, records will fall quite quickly in the earlier years as the game develops. The long wait until 1996 was worth it for the League record. A further wait until 2013 on reflection is even greater. As it stands, records are there to be broken, and who will beat 116-0 in Wigan colours and write their names down in the History books? Have they even been born yet?
CLUB RECORD SCORES THROUGH TIME SINCE 1895
(One entry per season UPTO 1901/02 or we'd be here all day)
Record scores based on highest score and biggest margin(*) at the time or Away game. Record Score in chronological order per competition.
LEAGUE
31.03.1896 vs. Liversedge 25-0 (h)
14.12.1901 vs. Altrincham 38-0 (h)
23.12.1905 vs. Millom 46-0 (h)
14.04.1906 vs. Wakefield T 51-0 (h)
01.09.1906 vs. Barrow 54-0* (h)
12.01.1907 vs. Widnes 55-8 (h)
05.09.1908 vs. Aberdare 56-0 (a)
05.02.1910 vs. Merthyr T 67-0 (h)
20.11.1912 vs. Coventry 70-0* (h)
30.01.1915 vs. Runcorn 73-5 (h)
05.05.1996 vs. Paris S.G. 76-8 (h)
24.08.1996 vs. Workington T 78-4* (h)
01.04.2013 vs. Hull K.R. 84-6* (a)
21.04.2014 vs. Bradford Bulls 84-6*(h)
CHALLENGE CUP
18.03.1899 vs. Groves Utd. 28-3 (H)
13.03.1909 vs. Keighley 47-0 (h)
21.2.1920 vs. Healy St. Adults 64-3 (h)
14.02.1925 vs. Flimby & Fothergill 116-0 (h)
HIGH SCORES IN RANK ORDER
(Includes all matches, League, Challenge Cup*, Other Cup**)
1. 116-0 vs. Flimby & Fothergill 14.02.1925*
2. 106-8 vs. Whitehaven 12.05.2008*
=3. 98-4 vs. N.Wales Crusaders 12.04.2012*
=3. 98-4 vs. Whitehaven 13.02.2000*
5. 92-2 vs. Runcorn Highfield 13.11.1988** JPTrophy
6. 84-6 vs. Hull K.R. 01.04.2013
=6. 84-6 vs. Bradford Bulls 21.04.2014
8. 82-3 vs. Halton Simms Cross 09.02.2003*
9. 80-20 vs. Limoux 14.03.2004*
10. 78-0 vs. Swinton 29.09.1992** LCup
11. 78-4 vs. Workington T 24.08.1996
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