Wigan Athletic hoping to avoid being the victim of a huge FA Cup shock

Wigan Athletic v Hemel Hempstead preview

The 2013 FA Cup Winners start this season’s campaign with a home fixture against National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town.

Authors | Amy W

Stadium | The Brick Community Stadium

Wigan v Wycombe  | EFL Cup

Wigan Athletic are no strangers to the underdog tag in the FA Cup, having worn it with pride throughout their history. Long before joining the Football League in 1978, the Latics built their reputation by toppling league opponents as a non-league side, before famously going all the way to lift the trophy against Manchester City in 2013.

Having claimed so many scalps over the years, Ryan Lowe’s side will now be hoping to avoid being on the wrong end of a cup shock and book their place in the second round of the competition.

Comments from the manager’s press conference

Speaking to the media about the game, Wigan boss Ryan Lowe said: “We are not leaving no stone unturned for Hemel Hempstead Town. We’ve done all the preparations and all the work in the same way as we would prepare for any other team. I am a big believer that we’ve got to do the work to get anything out of it, and we’ve certainly done the work up to now.

“We’ll respect Hemel Hempstead Town, of course, because they’ve done well to get where they’ve got to, but everything will hopefully be on our terms. I’ve been on the good and bad side of the FA Cup as a player, and it’s a competition that I would always take seriously as a player or manager.”

Later in the press conference, he added: “There’s so much history and tradition - it’s the longest cup competition that’s been going on, and hopefully we can have another special day in it on Saturday afternoon."

It's the FA Cup 1st round proper this weekend! 🏆

Let's have a look at how Non League clubs from across the country reached the stage of the competition.https://t.co/k7mLQi7Fgk

— SNA (@Super_Affili4te) October 30, 2025

Wigan's recent form

Last week, they fought back to claim a deserved point away at Mansfield Town. Will Evans had given the hosts a half-time lead, but Ollie Cooper’s first goal for Wigan proved enough to secure a share of the spoils.

Their overall form remains patchy though and they have only won once in their last six matches. That is a run that includes three defeats.

The one positive from this recent inconsistent run was a hard-fought victory over Port Vale, something they achieved despite being a player short for more than half the match. 

A closer look at the opposition

Nicknamed The Tudors, Hemel Hempstead Town reached the stage of this competition about beating Yeovil 2-1 in the 4th qualifying round with goals from captain Kyle Ajayi and Finley Wilkinson.

They are currently 4th in National League South and will be hoping to use the momentum from this cup run to achieve promotion to the National League at the end of the season.