Dave Felgate
Dave Felgate is now a member of the City Elite Development Squad’s coaching team where he is based at Carrington, working with fledgling stoppers Ian Lawlor, Angus Gunn.
One of the most respected in his field in the game, Felgate can call upon a wealth of experience having made 612 Football League appearances playing all over the country for more than 20 clubs.
Felgate played three times for Wigan in the 1995/96 season under John Deehan, another connection on this list.
Daniel Redmond
Latics Academy graduate Daniel Redmond is son of former Blues defender Steve Redmond, captain of the FA Youth Cup-winning side of 1986.
Steve went on to make 283 first-team appearances for City over seven seasons and also enjoyed stints at Oldham, Bury, Burscough and Leigh RMI.
Daniel made his debut for Wigan in the FA Cup tie against Hull in January 2011 and is currently embarking on a season-long loan spell at Hamilton Academicals.
Kevin Langley
Rangy midfielder Kevin Langley came through the youth ranks at Wigan and went on to make a club record 317 league appearances for Wigan Athletic.
His stock rose sufficiently enough for Everton boss Howard Kendall to pay £120,000 for his services in 1986.
He only spent a season at Goodison Park before joining City in 1987 but he failed to establish himself as a first-team regular and joined Birmingham the following year.
John Deehan
Former City player coach John Deehan enjoyed a long 15-year playing career, most notably at Aston Villa and Norwich City but to more junior followers of the beautiful game, his name is most readily associated with Wigan Athletic.
Deehan spent three-years at Springfield Park where he oversaw 157 matches, winning 43.9% of them and leading the Latics to the Division Three title in 1996.
Afterwards, he spent time at Northampton Town, Grimsby Town and Aston Villa. Deehan is now Director of Football at Plymouth Argyle.
Antoine Sibierski
French forward Antoine Sibierski was club captain of Ligue 1 outfit RC Lens before he agreed to join Kevin Keegan’s City in August 2003.
Antoine may have struggled to nail down a regular starting berth due to the signing of Andrew Cole but he weighed in with some important goals during his three-year stay at the club.
A season at Newcastle followed before he joined Wigan Athletic on a free transfer where he went on to make 33 appearances until his retirement in 2008.
Roy Tunks
City Academy goalkeeping coach Roy Tunks enjoyed an illustrious playing career, making more than 850 appearances for Rotherham United, Preston North End and Wigan Athletic over 32 years.
Roy is now charged with the development of City’s promising next generation of goalkeepers, a roster which includes Angus Gunn, Billy O’Brien and Ian Lawlor.
During his time at Wigan’s then-home Springfield Park, Tunks made nearly 250 appearances, helping them to the Freight Rover Trophy in 1985 (now the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy).
Ged Brannan
Midfield battler Ged Brannan made his debut for City against Grimsby Town in March 1997 and went onto appear 45 times for the Blues over a two-season stay at Maine Road.
The Prescot-born player found it tough going at City and subsequently left to join Motherwell in the SPL for £375,000.
After two-years north of the border, Brannan joined Wigan but was unable to cement regular inclusion in the starting XI and tumbled down the leagues, spending time at Morcambe, Accrington Stanley and Vauxhall Motors before his retirement in 2009.
John Benson
Arbroath-born former City manager John Benson signed professional terms as a player at City as a Stockport Schoolboy back in 1958 and the half-back went on to play 52 games for the Blues in six years.
After spells at Torquay, Bournemouth and Norwich City, Benson became Assistant Manager to John Bond at Maine Road and eventually took the reins himself from February to May 1983.
It wasn’t until 1999 that Benson became manager at Wigan where he oversaw their transition to the JJB Stadium and embarked on a 26-game unbeaten streak which led them to a Division Two play-off final at Wembley.
Unfortunately Wigan went on to lose after extra-time and it proved to be his final game in the hot-seat, though he stayed at the club in an upstairs capacity.
Sam Barkas
South Shields-born Sam Barkas was an attack-minded left-back who captained City to the league title in 1937 and the Division Two championship a decade later, after a period with the RAF during the war.
When he first emerged on the scene, Barkas helped City to challenge the Arsenal domination of English football alongside such greats as Eric Brook, Alec Herd, Fred Tilson, Ernie Toseland and Frank Swift.
Sam’s association with City would resume with a scouting role ten years after his retirement but he also managed Wigan Athletic briefly in the late fifties.
Michael Brown
No nonsense midfielder Michael Brown made his first-team debut at City in August 1995 and went on to turn out feature on nearly 100 occasions for the Blues.
Now a Leeds United stalwart, who faced off against City in this season’s FA Cup fifth round, Brown did enjoy a successful period in the centre of the Wigan Athletic midfield alongside Lee Cattermole and Wilson Palacios in the mid-late noughties.
Brown left the Latics in August 2009, joining Portsmouth for a nominal fee after being told he wasn’t in the plans of new boss Roberto Martinez.
