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When Wigan Athletic reached the FA Cup semi-final in 2013, Manchester City and Chelsea were among the final four, meaning they were only ever praying to draw one side for their trip to Wembley: Millwall.
Fortunately for Latics fans, Edgar Davids, then-player-manager at Barnet, drew that exact tie out, pitting Wigan and Millwall against each other to earn cult hero status in the town in Greater Manchester.
“Edgar Davids is a folk hero in Wigan, as he did the draw and drew out Wigan vs Millwall,” Martin Tarbuck, the editor of the Mudhutter fanzine, tells FourFourTwo. “Although that wasn’t a nice game for other reasons…”
With City and Chelsea both well on the way to securing Champions League places, the Wigan v Millwall semi was essentially a Europa League qualifier, but the game is largely remembered for off-field action.
“Millwall – the hooligan guys!” Roger Espinoza, a Wigan player at the time, says. He also recalls “a big scuffle in the corner”.
Disgruntled south Londoners fought amongst themselves as the Latics triumphed 2-0 through wily Shaun Maloney and Callum McManaman.
That result earned themselves a place in the final, where they would play Manchester City for the club’s chance at its most prestigious victory. Of course, they duly delivered, with Ben Watson popping up in stoppage time to cause one of the greatest upsets in FA Cup final history.
Goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon watched on from the City bench. The Romanian had expected to start the match after featuring in all of City’s games in the run to the final up until that point.
On Friday, Roberto Mancini told Pantilimon he would play. By Saturday afternoon, Joe Hart was back in.
“For Mancini, there was massive pressure as we were struggling,” Pantilimon explains. “We didn’t win the league and this was the only trophy we could win. Maybe something happened in that moment.
“It was tough for me. I remember being in my room and crying a bit [before the game], because I was frustrated.
“Everyone was expecting me to play and the decision wasn’t made a day before or something – just a few hours. It was strange for everybody.”
Tales of City’s turmoil leaked, which helped Wigan’s morale.
“You absolutely use stuff like that to your advantage,” Espinoza says. “But we also weren’t doing great.”
