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DW Stadium
(Wigan Athletic)
Address: Loire Drive,
Robin Park,
Wigan,
Greater Manchester,
England,
WN5 0UZ
Capacity: 25,138 (All-Seater)
A very simple design with four large single-tiered stands, and a very practical one at that.
Designed by Alfred McAlpine, the DW Stadium is home to Wigan Athletic Football Club and Wigan Warriors R.L.F.C. Athletic had previously spent 67 years at Springfield Park, whilst Warriors made the move here from Central Park where they had been for 97 years.
Construction of the stadium took place during 1999, being complete on the 6th August. Its first competitive game took place the following day and saw Wigan Athletic beat Scunthorpe United 3-0 in the Football League Second Division (now League One).
Wigan Warriors would make the move to the stadium a month after it opened, with their first game here being a play-off defeat to Castleford Tigers on the 19th September.
From 1999 until 2009, the stadium was known for sponsorship reasons as the JJB Stadium. In March of 2009, Wigan Athletic's then-owner Dave Whelan would acquire a chain of fitness clubs from JJB Sports , setting up a new venture called DWSportsfitness and changing the name of the Latics' home to the DW Stadium. That name remains in use today.
Location and Getting There
The DW Stadium is located in Robin Park, around one mile west of Wigan Town Centre. The stadium is part of a complex that includes an athletics stadium directly to the southeast, the Robin Retail Park directly to the south, and the Robin Park Arena directly to the southwest. The River Douglas and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal flow by a short distance away to the north.
Coming to the DW Stadium by car is certainly possible, but is likely to cost for parking. There are a number of good-sized car parks around the stadium's vicinity. They require payments over the phone and through personal experience, that can be very frustrating and a long-winded process. My personal recommendation if you want to use parking is to head north along Scot Lane, turn right onto Stadium Way, and head south to the large car parks near the Ninja Warrior UK Adventure building. It normally costs £10 to park here. You may be able to do some digging and find free street parking elsewhere in Wigan, but you are likely to be a good distance away from the DW Stadium.
Wigan's two central train stations are Wigan Wallgate and Wigan North Western. Wallgate is served by a northern rail service that covers many parts of Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Lancashire. Wigan North Western is served by Avanti West Coast, northern rail and Transpennine Express. Both stations are located very close to each other in central Wigan and around one mile east of the DW Stadium. Walking from here takes around 25 minutes on a route that heads along the Wallgate main road, right at the roundabout and along a footpath which takes you alongside the River Douglas and onto Loire Drive that leads up to the stadium.
Outside the Stadium
Loire Drive runs alongside the DW Stadium's West Stand. The Main Stand, it is known as the Springfield Stand after Wigan Athletic's former ground Springfield Park.
Its exterior consists of a brickwork base, with its upper parts made from rows of silver panels and glass windows and a white roof at the top. The centre of the exterior protrudes outwards, consisting mostly of brickwork with a glass façade in the very middle. The Main Reception is housed here, with the Players & Officials Entrance to the left and the Directors, Corporate Hospitality and Conference & Banqueting Entrance to the right.
Heading right of the stand's centre brings you to the entrance for Rigalettos, an Italian cuisine restaurant. Turnstile Block D is down towards the southern end of the Springfield Stand.
Heading left of the stand's centre brings you to the Club Shop for both Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors. Turnstile Block A is up towards the northern end of the Springfield Stand.
Outside of the Springfield Stand is a statue of Dave Whelan. Born in Bradford on the 24th November 1936, Whelan played as a left-back for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra, featuring in the 1960 FA Cup Final for Rovers during their 3-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Whelan is best known for growing JJB Sports into one of the UK's biggest sports retailers. He would later acquire 50 of JJB's fitness clubs, turning them into a new brand, DW Sports Fitness.
Dave Whelan bought Wigan Athletic in 1995, who where playing in Division Three (modern day League Two). His promise of taking the Latics to the top flight was realised within 10 years, and he funded the £30 million needed for the construction of the DW Stadium that is in place today.
The statue outside the Springfield Stand depicts Whelan holding the FA Cup after Wigan's famous 1-0 Wembley win over Manchester City in the 2013 Final.
Continuing round in a clockwise direction from the Springfield Stand brings you to the North Stand.
Its exterior has a similar design to its adjacent neighbour, using a brickwork base with its upper parts made from rows of silver panels and glass windows and a white roof at the top. The centre of the exterior protrudes outwards, consisting of brickwork at either end with a glass façade in the very middle.
Turnstile Block P can be found at the western end of the North Stand's exterior, and Turnstile Block N can be found at the eastern end of the exterior.
There is a row of car parking spaces immediately outside the North Stand's exterior.
The East Stand is known as the Boston Stand after Billy Boston.
Born in Cardiff on the 6th August 1934, Boston scored a club-record 478 tries for Wigan Warriors in 488 appearances between 1953 and 1968. He is regarded as one of the sport's greatest ever players.
The Boston Stand continues the exterior design seen around the rest of the DW Stadium. It uses a brickwork base with its upper parts made from rows of silver panels and glass windows and a white roof at the top. The centre of the exterior protrudes outwards, consisting of brickwork towers at either end with a glass façade in the very middle. At the top of one of these brick towers is the Wigan Warriors Crest and at the top of the other is the Wigan Athletic Crest. Turnstile Block L is to the north of the stand's central façade, whilst Turnstile Block J is to the south. A metal fence on the other side of the Boston Stand's access road has a row of car parking spaces in front of it. The River Douglas passes by on the other side.
The South Stand has otherwise been known as the Leam Richardson Stand since November 2021. It is named after the current Wigan Athletic manager who initiated life-saving CPR onto striker Charlie Wyke. Wyke had collapsed during a training session after suffering a cardiac arrest.
The Leam Richardson Stand mirrors the design of the North Stand opposite, using a brickwork base with its upper parts made from rows of silver panels and glass windows and a white roof at the top. The centre of the exterior protrudes outwards, consisting of brickwork at either end with a glass façade in the very middle.
Turnstile Block G can be found at the eastern end of the Leam Richardson Stand's exterior, and Turnstile Block F can be found at the western end of the exterior.
The Robin Park Arena athletics stadium is out beyond the Leam Richardson Stand.
Inside the Stadium
The Springfield Stand consists of a single tier of seating. The seating blocks collectively form a blue rectangle which has a red border around it that is thicker at the bottom than at the top. The stand has two flat platforms in place for disabled supporters to use, and one can be found towards either end of the interior. There are premium, executive seats up at the back of the stand's central blocks. Some of these seats are fenced off from other basic seats nearby. Up behind these premium seats is a row of executive boxes, and the DW Stadium's matchday camera is based above here. The stadium's tunnel is based right down at the front of the Springfield Stand, with the dugouts built into the seating area and the changing rooms located inside.
Your view from anywhere inside the Springfield Stand is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the cantilever roof above.
Windshields at either end of the stand provide protection to the rows further back. There are just small walls in place further forward to provide protection from the sides.
The North Stand is near-identical in height to the adjacent Springfield Stand, also consisting of a single tier of seating. The seating blocks collectively form a red rectangle which has a blue border around it. You can also find the letters DW spelt out in white seating in this stand, with a border of black seating around each letter. These two letters are slightly left of the stand's centre due to the odd number of seating blocks. The North Stand in turn has two flat platforms in place for disabled supporters to use, and one can be found towards either end of the interior.
Your view of the pitch from anywhere inside the North Stand is perfectly clear, even with the steel girders suspended beneath the roof.
Large walls at either end of the stand provide protection to all but the very front rows of the North Stand.
The Boston Stand consists of a single tier of seating. The seating blocks collectively form a blue rectangle which has a red border around it. You can also find the letters WIGAN spelt out in white seating. These letters are based right of centre due to the even number of seating blocks. The Boston Stand in turn has two flat platforms for disabled supporters to use, and one can be found towards either end of the interior. Up behind the back row on this side of the DW Stadium is an electronic scoreboard and match clock.
Your view from anywhere inside the Boston Stand is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the cantilever roof above.
Windshields at either end of the stand provide protection to the rows further back. There are just small walls in place further forward to provide protection from the sides.
The Leam Richardson Stand is a carbon-copy of the North Stand opposite, consisting of a single tier of seating. The seating blocks collectively form a red rectangle which has a blue border around it. You can also find the letters DW spelt out in white seating in this stand, with a border of black seating around each letter. These two letters are slightly left of the stand's centre due to the odd number of seating blocks. The Leam Richardson Stand in turn has two flat platforms in place for disabled supporters to use, and one can be found towards either end of the interior.
Your view of the pitch from anywhere inside the Leam Richardson Stand is perfectly clear, even with the steel girders suspended beneath the roof.
Large walls at either end of the stand provide protection to all but the very front rows of the Leam Richardson Stand.
Away Fans
Away fans are housed behind the goal in the North Stand.
This is a large, single-tiered stand which provides clear views of the action taking place on the pitch in front of you and has large walls at either end that provide sideways protection for all but the very front rows. The North Stand additionally has two flat platforms in place for disabled supporters, and this allows them to feel immersed in with the rest of the away following.
Wigan at times will section off parts of the North Stand to keep smaller away crowds congregated in a particular area. There is a great benefit though to having away supporters separated from the rest of the DW Stadium and inside their own, good quality stand behind the northern goal.
Matchday Pubs
Pubs available to supporters on a matchday include:
-The Anvil (Dorning Street, WN1 1HE) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near Wigan Wallgate Station)
-The Moon Under Water (5, 7a Market Place, WN1 1PE) (A JD Wetherspoon Pub, Popular with Away Supporters) (Located near Wigan Wallgate Station)
-The Red Robin (1 Robin Park Road, WN5 0UJ) (Away Supporters Welcome) (Located near the DW Stadium)
-The Swan & Railway (80 Wallgate, WN1 1BA) (Away Supporters Welcome) (Located near Wigan Wallgate Station)
Overview
One for the fans of simplicity, the DW Stadium's four large stands provide clear views and a great level of protection for those coming to either football or rugby league matches.
There is a valid argument that the DW Stadium can be seen as very generic. It is the colour scheme and exterior decorations which give the stadium its uniqueness as opposed to its shape. That shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing though.
The home of Wigan Athletic has seen games at multiple levels of the football pyramid during its life so far, and is very well-suited to accommodating both the largest and smallest of crowds. It does its job very, very well.
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