Roberto Martínez

Wigan appointed Roberto Martínez, then manager of Swansea, as manager prior to the 2009–10 Premier League.He previously played for Wigan from 1995–2001. On 15 August 2009, Wigan won their opening game of the 2009–10 season, beating Aston Villa away, 2–0, which included a spectacular strike from Hugo Rodallega. The good form did not continue though, losing the next three games to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United and Everton before defeating West Ham United at the DW Stadium on 12 September 1–0 to claim three points. The winning run was short-lived, however, with a trip to Arsenal on 19 September ending in a 4–0 defeat. On 26 September Wigan claimed their first 3 points against a "Big 4" team after beating Chelsea 3–1, with goals from Titus Bramble, Hugo Rodallega and Paul Scharner.

On Sunday 22 November 2009, Tottenham Hotspur beat Wigan 9 – 1 at White Hart Lane, with 8 Tottenham goals coming in the second half.This was the first time a Premier League club had conceded 9 goals since Manchester United beat Ipswich 9–0 at Old Trafford in 1995.The defeat was a club record for Wigan in the 31-year existence as a league club. The Wigan players subsequently stated they would refund the visiting fans ticket costs. After the defeat, Wigan bounced back with a 1–0 win against Sunderland.on Tuesday 2 February 2010 Wigan were knocked out of the FA Cup by League 2 side Notts County at the DW Stadium after getting a 2–2 draw at Meadow Lane, and found themselves struggling in the league. However, a late surge that included a 1–0 win over Liverpool and a 3–2 win over Arsenal – the latter of which saw Wigan recover from two goals down with ten minutes remaining to win in injury time – saw the team once more survive relegation. Most notably, having never defeated any of the traditional 'big four' in the league until their win over Chelsea (and with only one win over any of them in cup competitions), Wigan ended the season having defeated three of them at home. They finished the season with an 8–0 defeat at Chelsea, who clinched the title with the victory.

At the beginning of the 2010–11 season Wigan lost 4–0 to newly promoted Blackpool at the DW stadium, and a 6–0 thrashing at the DW stadium by Chelsea followed. The next game Wigan beat Tottenham 1–0 at White Hart Lane. Wigan fell to the bottom of the league by the end of February, following a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United