Former Lincoln City goalkeeper Matt Gilks has returned to Wigan Athletic as the club’s new goalkeeping coach.
The 44-year-old joins the League One side from Accrington Stanley, having previously held coaching positions at Bolton Wanderers and Barnsley. His appointment follows the sudden death of Kevin Miller, who passed away aged 57 last month after joining Wigan during the summer.
Gilks returns to a club he represented as a player in 2017, with manager Gary Caldwell acknowledging the difficult circumstances surrounding his arrival.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Caldwell said:
“It’s a really difficult situation for this to happen and have to replace someone, and the way it’s happened, but Gillo is someone I’ve known for a while and through Scotland camps.”
For City supporters, Gilks will always be associated with the final months of our 2018/19 League Two title-winning campaign. He arrived from Scunthorpe United in January 2019 and made 12 league appearances as we secured promotion to the third tier as champions.
His most memorable contribution arguably came in the 2-0 victory at MK Dons, a defining afternoon in that promotion race. With City protecting a one-goal lead, Gilks produced a superb save before Bruno Andrade added our second at the other end, turning a potentially nervy finish into a huge away win.
It was a short spell at Sincil Bank, but one that left him with a place in a successful Imps side. He departed for Fleetwood Town in August 2019 before joining Bolton a year later, combining playing duties with coaching their goalkeepers.
Gilks brought considerable experience to Lincoln, having established himself at Rochdale before moving to Norwich City in 2007. His time at Carrow Road failed to yield a first-team appearance, but a subsequent move to Blackpool provided the platform for the most prominent period of his playing career.
He helped the Seasiders win promotion to the Premier League in 2010 and went on to feature in the top flight, later adding spells with Burnley, Rangers, Wigan and Scunthorpe to his CV. He also earned three senior caps for Scotland during a career spanning more than two decades.
His playing days ended in January 2022 when he retired to concentrate on coaching at Bolton, having helped Wanderers win promotion from League Two the previous season. After leaving Bolton in January 2025, he worked at Barnsley before joining Accrington that summer.
Now he takes that experience back to Wigan, almost a decade after his first spell with the Latics. For those of us who watched that afternoon in Milton Keynes, his contribution in a City shirt remains fondly remembered.
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