I have just heard a news article on Rock FM and am sure I heard her say that DW has given the stadium to the latics!! ...oh and that he has extended our lease to 50 years (thought that was the deal with IL last year), then he has also asked for a truce between football and rugby fans as some latics fans have said they wont attend anymore because of the naming of a stand after a rugby league legend.....if handing it to the Latics is true what are your thoughts!!

My thoughts are that Rock FM have got it wrong!

well if they have they just repeated it on the 8am news as an "exclusive"

also interview with DW condemning latics fans who are complaining about the new BOSTON Stand!

Me thinks just PR and B**LLOCKS from the demented w@nker!

Well I thought the planning permisson stated that the ground should be shared.

If Latics get any preferential treatment then the original contract needs looking at and the lawyers shot.

One of the stands will be renamed the Boston stand as I understand it and the Latics fans have complained. Slightly childish reaction as they don't really have any legends that spring to mind, but maybe we'll be sat in the Hugo Rodallega stand in years to come!

In terms of the stadium lease being extended by 50 years, it's no change to the current situation as far as I can see so nothing to get excited about.

Does that mean you're renting from the Latics and they are the freeholder?

Worrying if so.

Thats my understanding and deep concern, what happens if/when they go bust!!

The situation has not really changed. Whelan owned the stadium before and he IS the Latics; everyone knows he prefers them to Wigan. The 50-year lease is still good.

To me this is a sop to the Latics fans, who are peeved about the Boston Stand.

Bit late for this isn't it?

Get your guns out I say!

the stadium will be bought by someone else, and you will be their tenant.

the situation has hardly changed, the stadium is there and needs to be used all year round - regardless of who owns it, they would be daft to kick the rugby team out on a permanent basis.

To be honest, now the pitch issue has been put right - it was only ever about cheap grass - the sharing issue will hopefully die away.

Wigan have had to accept their subservient place regarding the occasional fixture clash, which is hardly surprising given the power of the Premiership. If Latics are relegated, that arrangement will be readdressed. But until then, the situation, while not ideal, is easily tolerable.

Anyway, ground-sharing is the way to go. Lots of other clubs are doing it, or will be doing it in the future. Latics fans who think they're going to somehow roll back that reality, are living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

One thing that won't help is Wigan fans staying away as a kind of protest.

Confirmed in the WEP. www.wigantoday.net/wigannews/Whe ... 5372912.jp Quote He said: "I am not a spring chicken any more. I am 73 this year so I have got to look at who is taking over from me. I have got to protect this stadium and I have got to protect Wigan Athletic. "I have also increased Wigan Warriors' lease to 50 years, so I am protecting the rugby league team as well. "From August 1 this ground is going to be called the DW Stadium and I am placing the ownership into the hands of Wigan Athletic. That will take place over the next four to six weeks." Whelan has been alarmed at the negative response from Latics fans at the proposal to name one of the stands after rugby league star Billy Boston. He said: "There are a lot of complaints coming into Wigan Athletic from our supporters because we are calling one of the stands the Boston Stand. "That is wrong. I think it is only fair on the stands is named after a legend like Billy Boston. "Too many people say I will never go and watch Wigan RL or I will never go and watch Wigan Athletic. We are not a big town and we have two fabulous clubs. We should support them both, like I do." '" Having a stand named after a Wigan legend obviously wasn't just a nice gesture from Mr Whelan, it's intended to be just mere compensation. In all honesty I'm not bothered personally. The JJB/DW is a just a lifeless stadium that we rent for one day a week, it isn't home and is just something that comes in handy on matchday.

Confirmed in the WEP. www.wigantoday.net/wigannews/Whe ... 5372912.jp Quote He said: "I am not a spring chicken any more. I am 73 this year so I have got to look at who is taking over from me. I have got to protect this stadium and I have got to protect Wigan Athletic. "I have also increased Wigan Warriors' lease to 50 years, so I am protecting the rugby league team as well. "From August 1 this ground is going to be called the DW Stadium and I am placing the ownership into the hands of Wigan Athletic. That will take place over the next four to six weeks." Whelan has been alarmed at the negative response from Latics fans at the proposal to name one of the stands after rugby league star Billy Boston. He said: "There are a lot of complaints coming into Wigan Athletic from our supporters because we are calling one of the stands the Boston Stand. "That is wrong. I think it is only fair on the stands is named after a legend like Billy Boston. "Too many people say I will never go and watch Wigan RL or I will never go and watch Wigan Athletic. We are not a big town and we have two fabulous clubs. We should support them both, like I do." '" Having a stand named after a Wigan legend obviously wasn't just a nice gesture from Mr Whelan, it's intended to be just mere compensation. In all honesty I'm not bothered personally. The JJB/DW is a just a lifeless stadium that we rent for one day a week, it isn't home and is just something that comes in handy on matchday.

heard it on rock fm too. interview with whelan said the boston stand will be a gift to the warriors fans but the stadium will be handed over to the latics. absolute b0ll0x.

surely this goes against the original planning permission? isnt it also part owned by the council?

So you rent from a football team, not ideal.

At least when it was DW he had a slight interest in what was best for Wigan RL. Now every single decision outside of the terms of the lease regarding the stadium will be made by the football club in their best interests.

I personally would be very worried about this, what if Wigan Athletic get relegated and find themselves in financial difficulties? It's easy to say someone else would buy the stadium, and yes I'm sure they would, but would they be housebuilders?

I find this all pretty sad

They'll sell the ground to the rugby club for £3.60

Jobs a good 'un!

people said i was mad to build a castle on a swamp

In all seriousness when Whelan pops his clogs and they have to stand on their own 2 feet they'll be needing every penny they can get and that can only be a good thing for Wigan RLFC.

They'll be desperate to keep the money coming in from Wigan RL and if anything will possibly give them more of a say in the ground then what we have now.

Now if Latics got another big money owner................................

It was on Rock Radio as well.

The story went something like this - Whelan wants to 'unite' the town by saying that, as Wiganer, we should ALL support both Latics and Wigan RL.

In the next breath they say that he stadium is being GIVEN to the Latics FOR FREE, and that Wigan RL have a 50 year lease to play there (I thought our lease was 99 years, but hey...)

However in a 'peace move' to Wigan RL, he's naming one of the stands after Billy Boston. But not without opposition - oh no. He's had 'loads' of emails and letters saying that the stand should not be named after ANY rugby players. So, evidently, he's doing us rugby fans a favour.

If it's true, it stinks. Personally, I don't really care who owns the stadium. Whether we own it or not, we should feel privileged to be able to play our home games in a state of the art, clean, modern facility.

But it's clear where Whelan's loyalty lies. His talk of wanting to unite the town is tosh - his actions have spoken far louder than his words, here.

The top and bottom of it is this; Latics get everything that matters, whilst we get nothing except meaningless token gestures. Personally, if I was Billy Boston, I would tell Whelan to shove his token gesture up his backside.

I imagine both Latics and Wigan RL have contributed similar amounts to the upkeep of the stadium since it was built, in which case it's a bit of a kick in the b*lls that Latics now get the whole shaboodle for free while Wigan have to pay them rent to play there.

Why are people surprised or concerned?

Wigan Athletic already virtually owned it. Whelan WAS Wigan Athletic.

We were second-class customers before. The situation is no different.

In fact, in some ways it's better. As someone has already said, if Latics start to struggle financially or get relegated, they'll need us more than ever.

I would agree though, that yet again he's been caught spinning a yarn. When IL took over, didn't Whelan make some kind of public statement to the effect that he'd be giving the stadium to 'the people of Wigan'?

However, to be fair I must admit to having been told that the terms of Wigan's lease at the JJB are very favourable to us.

It is a bit, I agree. That said if Wigan are paying a fixed sum in rent (I don't know this, I'm just presuming) then it's actually not too bad, as Latics will have to meet all their own costs in running the stadium. Being fair to Latics, even though they won't have to pay to buy the stadium, it will be far frmo a free ride for them.

I'm genuinally not bothered. The only thing that I'll admit hurts slightly is my pride, knowing that the towns Football club owns the facility that Wigan Rugby play at each week. But in reality, I've known that for years and this weeks news is just confirming it.

For me the JJB stadium is simply like the Telstra in Sydney. A big stadium that can be used to hold spectators and generate business, that's it. It isn't our spiritual home, there is no passion for the place and it's not a stadium that we can be proud of. It's just a nice structure with seats and very good facilities that the club can use on matchday.

This is where I think Wigan would beneift from having a Leagues club/museum type place. A building with Wigan RL and Wigan supporters in mind. The club is big enough to afford, finance and attract people to such a place...More importantly, we deserve our own dedicated place space just for Wigan Rugby League.

Brilliant idea.