Brick Community Stadium

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The JJB Stadium is a sports stadium located within the Robin Park Complex in Newtown, Wigan, Greater Manchester. It is the home ground of both Wigan Athletic F.C. and Wigan Warriors rugby league club. The stadium is named after its principal sponsor, the sporting goods retailer JJB Sports (whose chairman, David Whelan, owns both clubs). It is often commonly called the JJB.

History

The stadium is an all seater arena with a seating capacity of 24,826, and it was built by Alfred McAlpine and completed in August 1999. The stadium's inauguration was marked with a friendly between Wigan Athletic and neighbours Manchester United, who were then reigning European Champions, with Sir Alex Ferguson officially opening the stadium. The first competitive football match there took place on August 7 1999, with Wigan Athletic facing Scunthorpe United in a Division 2 match. Simon Haworth scored twice, including the first competitive goal at the new stadium, as Athletic triumphed 3-0. Wigan Athletic had spent the previous 102 years playing at Springfield Park. Wigan Warriors played their first game at the stadium on September 19 1999 against Castleford Tigers.

On March 7 2005 Greater Manchester police announced that they would stop policing Wigan Athletic matches at the stadium from April 2. This move would almost certainly have resulted in the stadium's safety certificate being revoked, effectively forcing the team to play behind closed doors. The move was part of an ongoing dispute between the police force and David Whelan surrounding £300,000 in unpaid policing costs. The police's decision would not have affected Wigan Warriors, whose games are stewarded instead of policed. The situation was temporarily resolved on March 8 with both sides reaching an agreement that would allow Athletic to play at the ground until the end of the season. Four months later, Wigan, facing the prospect of playing their home games in the FA Premier League in an empty stadium, grudgingly paid the money they owed to the police. However, the club are now appealing against the payments in court.

Details

Address

Robin Park
Loire Drive
Wigan
WN5 0UZ

Phone numbers (Football)

Main Telephone: 01942-774-000
Main Fax: 01942-770-477
Ticket Office: 0870-1122-552

Records (Football and Rugby)

Record Attendance (Football): 25,023 v Liverpool F.C., February 11, 2006 (FA Premier League)

Record Attendance (Football): 25,017 v Manchester City F.C., December 26, 2005 (FA Premier League)

Record Attendance (Football): 25,004 v Arsenal F.C., November 19, 2005 (FA Premier League)

Record Attendance (Rugby): 25,004, Great Britain vs. Australia, November 13 2004

Record Attendance (Rugby): 25,004, vs. St Helens RFC , March 25 2005

Average attendances

Wigan Warriors (Rugby League):

Wigan Athletic (Football):

Trivia

  • Both Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors lost their first official games at the JJB Stadium. Wigan Athletic lost 2-0 to Manchester United in a friendly match while Wigan Warriors lost in a Super League Playoff match against Castleford Tigers.
  • Wigan Athletics's first match at the JJB Stadium was actually a friendly against Morecambe FC but this was before the stadium was officially opened.
  • JJB Stadium is a no smoking stadium.
  • In 2001 Wigan Warriors never lost a competitive match at the JJB Stadium.

External links

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53°32′51.32″N 2°39′15.17″W / 53.5475889°N 2.6542139°W / 53.5475889; -2.6542139

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