At first Wigan looked to be just another temporary resting place – its founding DJ Russ Winstanley had little more than a local reputation and the venue itself had seen better days – but after closing the doors on its final weekly all-nighter some eight years later, the Casino had established itself as ‘the heart of soul’, the most famous of ‘Northern’ venues. The Highland Rooms of the Blackpool Mecca had developed a passionate following under DJs such as Ian Levine and Tony Jebb, but as the Mecca existed in normal club hours, the scene was still in search of a favoured all-nighter venue. Following in the all-night traditions of Manchester’s Twisted Wheel club of the late ’60s, Northern Soul had been bereft of a spiritual home since the closure of the Golden Torch in Stoke six months earlier. There were clubs for purists, for innovators, for collectors, but if what you really wanted was a club for dancers, then Wigan Casino was the place to go.Īt 2am in the early hours of Sunday, September 23, 1973, the doors of the Wigan Casino opened to the Northern Soul all-nighter crowd for the first time. There were clubs more progressive in their evolution of new styles of ‘Northern Soul’. There were clubs that were far cooler than Wigan Casino.

FOR DANCERS ONLY: THE STORY OF WIGAN CASINOįIRST PUBLISHED: Mojo Collections, Spring 2002