Wigan Casino

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The Wigan Casino is the colloquial name for the nightclub the Casino Club, that operated in Wigan between Friday, August 27 1965 (with Shirley Bassey topping the bill)^{[citation needed]} and 1981, associated with the Northern Soul movement in the UK.^[1] The club's enduring dedication to Northern Soul "all nighters" made it an icon among fans of the genre, continuing the efforts that other clubs such as the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, the Chateau Impney (Droitwich), the Catacombs (Wolverhampton) and the Golden Torch (Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent) had started. It remains one of the most famous clubs in Northern England.^[2] In 1978, allegedly the American music magazine Billboard voted Wigan Casino "The Best Disco in the World", ahead of New York City's Studio 54,^[3] although there is no tangible evidence of this award ever being publicised.

This England, a TV documentary about the Wigan Casino, was filmed in 1977. Russ Winstanley and Dave Nowell wrote a history of the club, Soul Survivors, The Wigan Casino Story, which was published in 1996. A stage play by Mick Martin about the Wigan Casino years, Once upon a time in Wigan, debuted in February 2003 at the Contact Theatre in Manchester and has since toured nationally.