I was talking to a couple the other days whos son was about to sign his first proper contract. Theyed toured the clubs, Wigan, Saints led the way in how they were treat - FC was one of the worse, and this family where all FC fans. They all had more positive things to say about Netherton than anyone at FC who got a loads of kids down but apparantly didnt even know who they where or what position they played and the coaches just stood there on their phones - very unprofessional was how they described FC - Cas where miles better too

i think he's just pointing out that sometimes people percieve wigan as a small town and wonder how they knock out all the young players, and he's saying wigan has more population to draw on than some people think. nothing more than that

Correct.

Hull and East Riding have a combined population in excess of 800,000...

… nearer 600k, over an area of 930 square miles, wigan borough is 77 square miles.

add another 50 sq miles on. Hull is half the size of Wigan.

As many of us say, stats count for little.