Back in May, Wigan Athletic heroes past and present came together once again at the Brick Community Stadium for the ninth Joseph’s Goal Latics Legends charity match.
The annual event has become a very special fixture in the Joseph’s Goal calendar, bringing together former Latics favourites, current players, supporters and friends of the charity to raise funds and awareness for Non-Ketotic Hyperglycinemia (NKH).
This year’s match marked the ninth edition of the event across 11 years, with the Legends games now having raised more than £100,000 for Joseph’s Goal and the research we support into this ultra-rare condition.
Among those returning to the pitch were Wigan Athletic icons Emmerson Boyce, Arjan de Zeeuw and Nathan Ellington, alongside current Latics players Sam Tickle and James Carragher.
Current Wigan Athletic manager Gary Caldwell and assistant manager David Perkins were also involved, while Callum Lang, Mike Pollitt, Phil Daley and Gwion Edwards took charge of the Latics XI for the evening.
After falling behind early in the game, the Latics XI staged quite a comeback, eventually beating the Stuart Barlow Vets XI 7–1.
Eleven years of football, friendship and fundraising
The result, though, has never really been the most important part of this fixture.
Over the years, the Joseph’s Goal Legends game has brought generations of Wigan Athletic players and supporters back together while raising vital funds to support research into NKH.
For Emmerson Boyce, who has supported Joseph and the charity over many years, this year’s match also had an extra personal significance as his son Jayden joined him on the pitch.
Following the game, Emmerson said it was “always an honour to support Joseph” and help raise awareness and support for NKH research.
It is that continued support, year after year, that has helped turn the Legends Match into something much bigger than a single night of football.
People give their time to organise the match, former and current players turn out to support it, volunteers work behind the scenes and supporters come through the gates knowing that every year they are helping us continue the work Joseph’s Goal began in 2012.
More than £100,000 raised
Across its nine editions, the Joseph’s Goal Latics Legends game has now raised more than six figures for the charity.
Those funds form part of the wider fundraising work that enables Joseph’s Goal to support research into NKH, an ultra-rare and life-limiting genetic metabolic condition.
Founded in 2012, Joseph’s Goal is the leading global fundraiser and the UK’s longest-established charity dedicated to Non-Ketotic Hyperglycinemia, raising vital funds to drive life-changing research into this ultra-rare condition.
Joseph’s Goal was created following Joseph Kendrick’s diagnosis with NKH and, more than a decade later, the support shown by the Wigan community and the wider football family continues to play an enormous part in what the charity has been able to achieve.
Thank you
A huge thank you goes to everyone who helped make the 2026 Legends Match possible.
Thank you to Wigan Sports Group for the use of the stadium, to everyone who organised and volunteered at the event, to every player and member of the coaching teams who gave their time, and to every supporter who came along.
We are also incredibly grateful to the people who have continued to support this event throughout its 11-year history.
Nine games. More than £100,000 raised. And a football community that continues to stand alongside Joseph and his family in the fight against NKH.
We couldn’t do it without you.
[Photo credit: Gordon Johnson]
