If we had a new stadium would it have standing areas, reasonably priced food and drink and have free parking? Would fans consider an artificial pitch? Could the pitch be surrounded with cameras like hawkeye at the tennis courts for a multitude of camera angles and real time angle comparisons like they use in the aussie bunker? Sadly it's a no to all of the above....

Excellent post. Didn't Dave Whelan want to buy and renovate Central Park at one point, Jack Robinson said no, the club nose dived and Whelan stepped in and moved us in with the latics? This is a summary of course.

The current predicament goes back to the Jack Robinson Era. IL bought out this situation from Dave Whelan, and which at least give us a home, all be it playing second fiddle at times. DW tried to keep us at central park, he wanted to out money in and move the football in. Jack Robinson said no and nearly ruined us. Had Whelan not come in who knows what would have become of the club.

There's a lot of land on the Central Park site that could be developed into a stadium. I think Saints cost around £25 million so not as expensive as some are saying to do the build though I can't see the sale of Orrell funding it. The issue will always be raising funds and the planning permission.

If the Latics really are heading South with all the financial grief that implies, wouldn't it be cheaper/more realistic to re-negotiate the stadium share to make us the dominant partner (would mean we'd have to put more into the pot), and spend proper money on a good drainage system at the DW?

No.

Latics have a rich owner who is perfectly happy to pump a few quid of his own money into his club.

We have a rich owner.

We can't afford it, simple as that.

Leeds can't even afford to renovate Headingley at much lower costs and they make double our turnover and profit.

Correct. We just need to get on with what we've got and make the best of it.

Fairy nuff.

Well the Wigan end was chokka on Friday. Reading this thread beforehand I was expecting just a few to turn up. I suspect that your indignation isn't shared by the proper fans. Did you get over to Widnes by the way or do you just like having a moan?

If that's meant to imply that IL doesn't put his own money into the club, then you are sadly misinformed.

Correct
And to imply dave whelan would be a better owner than IL is laughable,

IL put half a mil of his own cash in a few years ago.

I do carry the opinion that he does kind of seem conflicted with his position with the EFL and I maintain that the initial press release was absolutely awful PR.

Even Donald trump would make a better owner than tight arris whelan.

Maybe something we can agree on at last!

We both want what is best for the club we just have different routes for getting there.
IL is the best thing that has happened to this club probably since we signed Billy B
I don't always agree what he does and says but then again I'm just a crotchety owd fart.
He is obviously tied to what appears to be a one sided contract but on the postponement he made a bit of of a rickets of it.
I think we will agree that we appear this season so far at least, to have gone back to playing some proper rugby.
Looking forward to giving the Leythers a good ponning

Frankly, anyone who, after the last few years, thinks that IL is not a good chairman for Wigan needs their head examining.

Whatever the circumstances surrounding the stadium and our deal to play there - and let's remember that this was a deal put in place before IL took over, when the odds were very decisively in favour of the stadium-owner - the guy has delivered success after success. There barely seems to be a year now when we aren't in with a really good chance of winning silverware.

Let's just compare that to the era when Whelan and Mo were in charge. It was a desert. We got nowhere near winning anything, crowds were declining, we drifted steadily closer towards relegation (which would have been totally unthinkable even under the previous struggling administration) - there were rumours that journos were ringing the club during work hours and no-one even answered the phone. I think it's safe to say that, for all the promises made, we weren't much of a priority.

Now, under IL ... even if he does have other interests, we are back to being one of the British game's leading clubs. That is not just a coincidence. It can't have happened by accident.

I admit that the stadium situation is awkward and embarrassing, and it never seems to go away. Even though Latics are currently tanking, it seems obvious they are always going to have the upper hand. But ultimately, I'm not sure that's the end of the world - every so often when this kind of thing happens, it allows fans at the likes of Saints, Leeds and Latics to ignore their own problems by jeering at us for a day or two, but it's not stopped us winning trophies. This last weekend alone we beat a bunch of opponents who, if their public statements were to be believed, were really outraged by the trick we'd played on them and so had every reason to take our scalp.

I personally would love it if we could somehow find a way to guarantee that when we have a home fixture we will always be able to play it at home. But there are only two certainties about this: a) it isn't going to involve us buying or building a new stadium; and b) if anyone can sort that out, it's more likely to be someone like IL, who has already shown that he can and will do great things for the club, than someone who quite simply has other priorities.

^^^
Good post and I think you deserve the final word on this. Let's move on to the actual rugby.

Cannot allow that to pass after IL's organising of the Oscars ceremony last night.

LP

So if it isn't a problem at other clubs how come Huddersfield have just had to bring this weeks home match forward to Thursday because the football club don't want the pitch spoiled for their game on Saturday and they have also demanded another game to be rearranged for the same reason. All this could and should have been avoided with more thought give to the fixture arranging.

It's more than giving more thought to fixture arranging. The biggest issue with this game is the football club pulled rank about 28 hours before we were due to kick off. With enough notice moving things about, although not ideal is workable.

Err this is a weird one but one of your lot just went onto our board and called me out by name for NOT posting on your forum???

So I guess Ill say I don't think this switching fixtures thing was very proffesional, and you will probably be fined or maybe docked points, depending on whether the rfl sees it as a serious enough offence.

Positives for you is that you play us in a couple of weeks, so you will get those points back in no time.

Wigan offering someone up here (not us) who complained to the club re the Widnes debacle free hospitality and accommodation for the return match in July .

Pays to complain . Wonder how far they will take it ?

Regards , EW

Why haven't you complained? You might feel uncomfortable doing it (I know I do) but I've read that you missed your train that you'd already paid for which can't have been just loose change.

I don't think the club are happy about this whole sh*t fest and would compensate you if you contacted them.

I have complained to the club a few times in the past about changed fixtures . I have just resigned myself to the fact that its the perils on a long distance supporter and prefer to keep the blood pressure in check these days by staying calm Ha Ha Ha . Nearly didn't work last week though .

Answer to your question on Friday Brian (Rogues) is yes i have calmed down lol.

Regards . EW

I know who I would bill. And it wouldn't be Wigan Warriors.