The home of Wigan FC + RFC (DW Stadium (Wigan Athletic FC))

Member Name: Beanie8844

Product:	DW Stadium (Wigan Athletic FC)
Date:	28/09/08 (261 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: modern, good views of pitch

Disadvantages: quite small, poor atmosphere

The JJB Stadium is the home ground of Wigan Athletic Football Club who currently play their football in the English Premier League under the management of former Manchester United player Steve Bruce. The stadium is relatively new, opening in 1999 after the club moved from their old Springfield Park ground. It's a small to medium sized stadium at 25,023 capacity and the views of the pitch are fantastic with no restricted view seating.

It does look like a modern stadium, although he design is quite basic and it does look like it was built fairly cheaply, for example there are very few corporate areas and executive boxes and all stands are single tiered. All four stands are of the same design, except that the stands behind both goals have their supporting metalwork (painted white) below roof level and the two stands facing the touchline have there's above roof level, almost like small Wembley arches and this adds to the look of the stadium. One thing that I don't like about the stadium and I have visited here on several occasions is the fact that the seating stops about 4/5's of the way up the stands and then there is a large gap between the seating and the roof, it looks very weird, although this could have been done to allow for an increase in the capacity in the future.

Visiting supporters are housed in the North Stand (behind the goal) and there is room for about 5000 in this end. The view of the pitch is good, although you do feel a bit far away from the action, especially when the ball is down the other end of the pitch. The experience for away fans is quite good, but the stadium does seem to lack a bit of character and presence that you get at other football grounds across the country, maybe it's because it's a fairly new stadium, but it's definitely lacking something. Of course they have to share the stadium with the rugby league team and this could also contribute, not only does this mean they can't have the club emblem on the seating, but the pitch suffers too. I think also that the club relies heavily on sponsorship, after all the stadium is named after the JJB sports chain and the kit sponsor Adidas has their name splashed all over one of the stands.

One good thing about the stadium is that it is easy to get to both by car and train. There are plenty of places to park to with many of the surrounding roads non-permit holders and the huge retail outlet car parks offering many spaces.

Overall, I do like the JJB stadium, but every time I go there I think it's definitely lacking something. It could be that if they increased the capacity and got more supporters through the turnstiles this would help because the atmosphere can be a dull one at times.

Thanks for reading.

Summary: not one of the best premier league grounds