Exactly, some on here evidently don't remember the "Old Oak Tree" pub fanzine run by a Latic's supporter from New Springs who was jailed for his part in the infamous battle of the Foxhall pub on Blackpool sea front at a time when an large element of their supporters were well known for trouble with two brothers from Gidlow banned from all football grounds.

Different rooms of the pub were credited with everything good and wonderful about the Latic's until the Toilets were mentioned where was nothing but vile nastiness about our club and rugby league.

But you don’t call for unity and then in the same breath change the seat colours to one sides. It’s like saying to two kids (and some supporters on both sides have the brains of u5’s) arguing over the tv “come on, share and don’t be falling out but unfortunately Timmy, your sister is having what she wants on from now on”.

I just think it’s a really ill advised move and does nothing to encourage the unity he speaks of. It does the complete opposite and that’s sad from where I sit (somewhere in between both sides).

Having read what Neil Pearson has said on The BBC about the on going discussions about the future perhaps IL could be planning to move the team to some glamorous location like Milton Keynes to tap into the new fan base that we are chasing.

And your last comment is exactly right as that is what it should have been but for Wigan Council making the terrible mistake of siding with Whelan instead of supporting our club in its attempt to obtain a site in Wigan to build a Stadium of our own.

A mistake they did not make with the building of the Leigh Sports Village Stadium when they realised that they had made a big mistake in allowing Whelan to have all his own way.

While other local clubs like St Helens, Warrington and Widnes have their own stadiums with the right capacities, we have a white elephant of a stadium with a too large a capacity, previously owned by a man who now cares so much about Wigan now lives in the West Indies on the profit he made from the sale of the stadium.

If the intention of the new owner to make the Stadium into a Latics Football Stadium by having all the seats blue and White, it will only cause more friction between the rival supporters.


The chickens have sure come home to roost where the mistake of the nighties is concerned.!


p.s. Perhaps the time has come for a compete re-development of the Robin Park Arena and leave the Latic's to their precious white elephant!

Wait until people see the branding of the stadium when they rock up on Friday.

Correct, but a far better designed Stadium which like many of the other new stadiums makes the DW Stadium a poor comparison!

I do see yours and others points but it’s one of those rare occasions we disagree. I suppose we’ll see the direction this all leads in the coming months

[*

Conveniently forgetting that DW actually offered to renovate CP and have Latics as our tenants. It was only for your much adored Fab 4 who essentially laughed it him that he got planning permission for the then called JJB Stadium. After much more financial mismanagement from the Fab 4 and a fabled move to Bolton we begged DW to let us in. So instead of blaming Whelan perhaps try and see that your Fab 4 weren’t so Fab after all.

Widnes is a poor choice. The stadium for one isn’t owned by them but Halton Borough Council. They are also in a poor financial state and have been for some time. Warrington and Saints I give you.

I still don’t see how plastic colour no one has batted an eyelid at for 20years matters and you’ll never convince me otherwise.

As for Robin Park I think I’m in the minority in saying I think that’s a bad idea in redeveloping it. If we’re looking at a stadium (which we’re not) we should be looking at either land where the current building is beyond help or brown belt land to develop.

I’m probably in a small minority on here in supporting both clubs and I think it’s that fact which makes me a bit disappointed in this move. I want to see everything done to bring them closer together. I suppose I don’t know the facts in reality and for all I know the new Latics guys could’ve said we’re replacing the seats (which is needed) and do you fancy splitting the costs and going red and blue still or do you want to not pay anything towards it and in that case we’ll choose what we want. I doubt there has been that conversation and Lenagan would probably point to the fact that renovations are covered under the rental terms but they’ve the right to do as they please. I just think it’s a dumb move tbh and things like this aren’t helpful.

Whelan had no intention of developing Central Park. He wanted to buy it cheap and then sell it on for a big profit. That was his modus operandi.

I was at that meeting at The Riverside when he started shouting from the back of the room and was then offered an opportunity to come up on stage and debate the sale.

Needless to say he scurried away with his henchmen in tow!!!

As for the colour of the seats it doesn't bother me in the least. I was told about three years ago that the stadium heeded around 5 - 8 Million pounds spending on it.

All sports clubs have just taken a major financial hit due to crowds not being allowed, then limited capacities, and still not the same number of people coming through the turnstiles now. If memory serves we were operating at a loss before all that happened as well. Spending god knows how many millions on developing a stadium next door to the very good stadium we already have access to just because of a petty squabble with Latics would be mental. Thankfully businessmen make these decisions, not fans.

So the new Latics owner is changing the colour of the seats from red (which we don't play in) to white (which we do).

Sounds like a closet Wigan RL fan to me.

warringtons ground was paid for them by Tesco as part of the planning permission, I imagine a fair chunk of Saints was also with its proximity to it, its what councils did to get grounds and social clubs built, Tesco stopped doing this about 5 years ago (I think it was about then)

Just been to a presentation from the chief executive and the launch of the new fan engagement programme at the stadium. I urge Mr Lenagan to get his fingers out of his ears and do something to rival what’s being put in place.

I'd actually argue that he's already been there, done that and got burnt/bored of it.

Tbh, I can somewhat understand why IL doesn't do it anymore too. Some of our fans are, at best hard work, and at worst - absolute knuckle dragging morons. Look at the comments on FB, or Twitter and then imagine dealing with that day in, day out for 10 years. Imagine organising a fans forum (like he used to) and having your time wasted by questions about breakfast cereals.

Take the Millwall games as another example. Most reasonable fans will say that it didn't work out, but will be able to grasp the reasons for trying what he did. Some other fans however can't grasp simple ideas.

Fair play to the new latics mon. It's his new shinny toy and he's doing all this stuff. I do wonder where it will all be in 10years time tho.

Don’t disagree with a lot of what you said at all. Was just painful to see what is going to be a huge and sustained campaign to capture new and old fans and then I compare that to the lack of energy and drive coming from my other other club. I just want a bit of willing, anything other than the silence we have currently. I should add, it was Radlinski’s equivalent Mal Brannigan who leads on all the club infrastructure who was presenting the vision and plans.

good I hope they get back to the Prem, great for the town

Feels like the energy Lenagan and his staff had when he first took over but it’s gone by the looks of things and who can blame him in many ways.

More than happy with the energy being put in to Latics. I think the seats idea is a bad one but from the sprucing up of the stadium, through to signing players of a far better standard than I expected, the start from the new owners has been really positive. I just hope they don’t plan longer term to keep putting things in place that will push the rugby clubs nose out because it’s not good for anyone.

Always a shelf life for ownership as well as players/coaches and it feels we’ve hit that now. I suppose the key to good leadership/ownership is knowing when it’s time to go and for that you need strong people around you and not just the dictatorship that ownership can often bring. It’s been a steady managed decline at the rugby, whether it’s the awfully stale match package for try music or the general malaise around the recruitment. We all want the same thing in the end.

Didn’t know that. Either way, it’s a good deal for both.

To be honest I don’t much care about the colour of the seats but I can understand the perception that removing the red could be construed as a symbolic first step of removing the rugby.

I suspect there will be a few more complaints once fans see the front of the stadium tomorrow.

Saw it on the news earlier, It didn't look good

Correct, and if people like 100% Warrior could not care less about the Stadium becoming a total Football Stadium, I can assure them that are plenty people in Wigan who do care and see the move as a kick in the teeth not only to the Warriors but to the Rugby town of Wigan.

Not to mention, the supporters of other Rugby League clubs laughing their heads off with what has happen to Wigan Warriors.

The problem today is that there are too many who do not care about anything!

That evidently was not the meeting when Whelan did stand on the platform and stated that if a joint Stadium was ever built, it would never be owned by either his beloved Latic's or the Warriors and would be owned by a independent stadium company.

That's how two faced, Whelan was with the help of his cronies like Ernie Benbow and John Martin (Resigned from the Warriors board of directors on the promise of a extra £25,000 by Whelan on top of the £250.000 compensation for the loss of the Riverside Club in the Tesco Sale)

If Whelan had anything about himself when he sold the Latic's, he would have donated the Stadium to the the town and people of Wigan and be run by the Council with sponsorship rights of the Stadium to pay for the care and maintenance of the Stadium.

And from I understand, it is not just about the colour of the seats, but the removal of everything that has anything to do with the Warriors and the game of Rugby League, including the club logo on the front of the Stadium and any pictures of past players in the foyer and corridors, etc.

The sickening part is that like the Latic's playing squad, it is being done by people who do not even live in Wigan and a owner who lives in another country.

Apart from their supporters, what true Warriors supporter can feel sorry for them now?