Wigan Athletic academy product Callum Lang has issued an emotional goodbye after agreeing to leave the club after more than a decade to join Portsmouth FC.
The much-loved club servant and vice-captain who has been with Wigan since the age of 14 was revealed as a Pompey player on Monday, 29 January after joining the title contenders on a two-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
Having worked his way through the youth ranks and into the first-team and seen all the clubs’ highs and lows — from seeing them lift the FA Cup against Manchester City as a boy to surviving the administration years and everything in between — being a Latics is virtually all he’s known.
You could say the same for most local fans who grew up in the same generation as him too, with countless supporters jumping online to thank him for his years of service. Unsurprisingly, Lang’s farewell was just heartfelt if not more.
All the best Callum, you’re a top player and even better human. Thank you for always taking the time to have a photo with Thomas, he absolutely adores you. Best of luck for the future 💙 pic.twitter.com/iFy4xFagFK
Callum Lang says goodbye to Wigan and the fans wish him nothing but the best of luck.
Insisting that he has “loved every minute” of playing for the Greater Manchester club, he described pulling on the blue and white shirt every week and calling the DW Stadium his home for more than 10 years as “an honour”, insisting that he “always left everything out on the pitch” whenever he played.
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The now 25-year-old club veteran signed off by saying, “Wigan Athletic, thank you for looking after me. Once a Tic, always a Tic”.
Despite asking to leave the club after having been dropped to the bench on a number of occasions as other senior figures in the team stepped into leadership roles, compounded by a calf injury earlier in the season, there seems to be very little ill feeling in response to his decision to depart.
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You only have to listen to what the supporters are saying about him now his transfer has gone through to know that he still has a lot of goodwill around the club and its fan base.
🗣️ "He's given everything and unfortunately it's not quite worked out"
Wigan fan Charlie speaking on Callum Lang requesting to leave the DW by the end of the month
Making 143 appearances for Wigan and playing a key role in the 2021/22 League One title-winning season, where he registered an impressive career-best of 18 goals, he made more than his contribution to the club during his long run in the team.
However, it was also his conduct and behaviour outside of the club that won him even more fans around Wigan, with many commenting “amazing footballer and an absolute gentleman” and congratulating Portsmouth on signing “a great player and an even better person”.
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With nearby rivals and fellow title contenders Bolton in second behind Portsmouth, one fan simply signed off by sharing a picture of the table and adding, “You’ve got a job to do”.
Featured Images — Wigan Athletic/Laura Meakin/Portsmouth (via X)
Sport
Wayne Rooney joins the cast of Gary Neville’s The Overlap
Danny Jones
Wayne Rooney has secured a new job just a few months on from departing as Birmingham City head coach, with the Manchester United and England legend being named as the latest member of The Overlap team.
Set to join the cast of the popular Stick to Football online series alongside the likes of former teammates Gary Neville and Roy Keane, as well as the rest of the recurring panel.
Rooney is also set to feature on various other shows across The Overlap channel, including the likes of their regular fan debates and other interviews with athletes and well-known figures.
They announced the signing in true transfer window fashion as well.
As transfer expert Fabrizio Romano quips in the video, Rooney “has signed an agreement with The Overlap” and is expected to make his debut very soon
‘Wazza’ has appeared as a pundit on Sky Sports in recent weeks and has even been spotted playing some FIFA with comedy YouTuber AngryGinge as part of his pro clubs series, but hasn’t been in a steady role since being sacked as the Birmingham manager at the start of the year.
Having already appeared as a guest in one of the most popular episodes of Stick to Football and clearly sharing a strong chemistry with his old friends – as well as the likes of fellow Scouser Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright – it looks to be a natural fit for the sport-based channel.
The 38-year-old revealed some pretty interesting details about his playing and managerial career last time around, not to mention some of the other offers he’s had since…
Rooney reiterated during his own interview that his primary focus is still on coaching and finding his next managerial role, but for the time being, he’ll be bringing the insight of another ex-pro to the popular YouTube channel.
Speaking on his latest move, the former striker said, “I’m excited to announce that I will be joining my good mate Gary Neville and the team at The Overlap to appear on the channel across some of their brilliant shows on YouTube and the podcast. I can’t wait to get started”.
With an episode from at least one of their series going out most weeks, you can expect to see the footballing legend back on the channel soon.
Featured Images — The Overlap/Wayne Rooney (via Instagram)
Sport
Manchester City star Erling Haaland is now a playable character in Clash of Clans mobile game
Danny Jones
In yet more proof that footballers just live in an entirely different world from us, Manchester City star Erling Haaland has popped up in the popular mobile game, Clash of Clans – and it’s not just a little cameoeither.
Haaland‘s no stranger to the odd brand deal, so when we saw him cutting a promo for Clash of Clans we weren’t too surprised, but it’s safe to say we weren’t expecting to see footballers pop up in video games besides FIFA (sorry, EA FC) at any point this year.
The big number nine is not just a famous face to help push the already hugely popular mobile strategy and city-building game, they don’t need it; it turns out the lethal goalscorer is now going to be an actual playable character in the latest Clash of Clans update.
He even turned his hand to a bit of acting in the trailer:
As you can see, the 23-year-old stars in the new advert which sees troops appear in his home whilst he’s playing the game before being sucked into the game world.
Starring as the Barbarian King, he’s the first real person to ever feature in the game and will be available through a month-long football-themed seasonal event in-game.
When we stop and think about it, the Norwegian striker is pretty much a perfect fit given his Scandinavian heritage and the obvious Viking theme surrounding the franchise – not to mention the fact that he’s apparently been playing the game since he was 10.
He’s also been dropping a hint or two of late, in case you didn’t pick up on them.
Speaking on the collaboration, Haaland said: “I’ve been a huge fan of the game for a long time and know everything about it, so to appear as an in-game character is really cool”.
As for Finnish developer-publishers Supercell, CoC’s general manager Stuart McGaw said in an official announcement: “When we heard Erling Haaland was a fan of our game and that he wanted to partner with us, it was really a dream scenario.”
Haaland will be available to recruit in the game until 31 May, plus, if players raid his village and take down the Barbarian King himself, they can win additional rewards and a place on the leaderboards.
Danny Jones -
29th January 2024 
