Gary Caldwell stood before his Wigan Athletic squad in a darkened classroom at Christopher Park, his Scottish accent cutting through the projector's hum. 'This is the only rule I'm going to have for yous all season: team first,' he declared, pointing to a slide. 'That is the one thing that we cannot ever go against. The team is the most important aspect of everything we do.'
Meticulous planning for the season ahead
Three rows of professional athletes listened intently, absorbing not just the day's plan but the vision for the 10 months ahead. Some would see it through to May 2027, others might leave before the League One campaign kicks off on 14 August, and new faces would arrive. Pre-season is a time of hard work before the football carousel begins spinning.
The meeting was brief, just long enough for Caldwell to zip through tactical points. Head of performance analysis Lauren Jones played clips from their 'best practice bank'—small but growing since Caldwell, Jones, and first-team coach David Perkins joined from Exeter only in February. Physio Michael McBride and goalkeeping coach Kevin Miller followed this summer. Caldwell values 'the lads seeing players in Wigan shirts doing what we're asking of them,' rather than generic clips.
Rigorous fitness testing and individualised training
Perkins outlined the day: a 1.5km time trial, drills, out-of-possession shape work, and an afternoon weights session. The squad then dispersed for self-led pre-activation, using bands, benches, and foam rollers in the modest but functional in-house gym. A printed sign listed rules: £50 fines for phones, sliders, or sulking.
Strength and conditioning lead Matthew Barrow explained the time trial: 15 pitch lengths with 14 turns. 'Your choice lads – boots or trainers, but I recommend boots so you don't lose time on the turn,' he said. Caldwell laughed, 'I'm glad I'm not doing it. It's a maximal test and anything like that involves people pushing themselves.'
This wasn't the squad's first test. Their first day back included body and strength tests to provide benchmarks. 'If they get injured, we know where we need to get them back to,' Caldwell said. Days of players reporting back overweight are gone; only a small number were slightly above optimum in body composition testing. 'That will all have been gone with the first week or so,' he added.
Running for running's sake is a thing of the past. Barrow and sports scientist Jack Craigie use run data to calculate each player's maximum aerobic speed. 'From that, we individualise all the running they'll do,' Craigie said. 'For example, if we have a volume session planned, rather than giving a generic number of lengths, we set individual distances based on their results. That way they all get the same stimulus.'
Building character and teamwork
By 11am, players jogged through a warm-up lap. Some had arrived three hours earlier, enjoying breakfast in the canteen that serves as a social hub. With no tour plans, Caldwell finds alternative ways to avoid monotony, including 6am meets with 3.5km runs to a partner gym for Hyrox-style workouts. Players work in trios, and staff observe attitude and demeanour as much as fitness.
'We're taking the group out of their comfort zone to see how they react under a bit of pressure,' Caldwell said. 'We can look at the energy someone brings at 6am when others are tired. That will help us know who is going to pick the group up when we're a little fatigued.'
These sessions reinforce his 'team first' ethos. 'When you're off you still have a role to play,' he said. 'Are you helping your pal get in and out of the straps on the rower more quickly? We want to see how they react in that situation. Come November, when it is cold and we're struggling in a game, we can remind them of these sessions.'
Drills and data in action
The late-morning run felt tame by comparison, though after several pitch lengths, that notion was dispelled. No one lost £100 to the club kitty. Footballs soon emerged, and the group split for drills. Energy was high, with Max Power—rejoining Wigan for a third spell—setting the tone. In one exercise, he encouraged a junior teammate to pass, and when a defender blocked the space, Power found another opportunity and praised the successful outcome. 'The better the player, the less stick they give people, I find,' a staff member said. 'They want everyone to improve.'
Staff manage intensity to build towards a peak. Caldwell avoids directly asking players to hold back, but with a drone monitoring everything and GPS data available in real time, sessions can be adjusted—sometimes as simple as moving cones a few yards. For one drill, tape on the grass created a dozen boxes where three banks of four worked to create and find gaps. 'Football is sometimes about the chaos,' Caldwell said, grinning. 'If we give them more space, they will use it.'
Looking ahead to the season
Building towards a peak is also Wigan's aim. Supporters yearn for a return to the Premier League success that ended in 2013—the year they won the FA Cup with Caldwell in the squad. Since then, four Championship relegations and three League One promotions have followed, including the third-tier title in Caldwell's first full season as manager in 2015-16. His immediate challenge last season was avoiding relegation from League One, and patience is needed for the next step.
After lunch, the day ended in the gym with a short, sharp upper body session: pull-ups in one corner, perfectly formed jackknives in another. 'Once the season begins, training loads are consistent around games,' Barrow said. 'But with the time in here now we can really chase that hypertrophy.'
Pre-season, once a punishment for summer indulgence, is now a meticulous, data-driven foundation-building exercise. The payoff will be known only next May.
