Football Ground Guide: Fans Reviews, JJB Stadium, Wigan Athletic FC

JJB Stadium Wigan Athletic
Championship League v Leeds United
Saturday, February 19th 2005, 3pm
Matthew Abbott

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

I knew that this was a fairly new ground and had seen impressive images of it on the Internet and the Television. However, it's never really the ground that attracts me to the game as I'd quite happily watch Leeds United play in a Park! The tie had the potential of being great, with Wigan pushing for Promotion and Leeds recently pushing for the Play-Offs. I was looking forward to this ground as I knew that the facilities would be modern and the stadium itself was quite attractive.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

The fairly short journey across the Pennines was fine - although we did hit some terrible traffic once we were on the outskirts of Wigan itself and it seemed like every light was on red, despite the fact that it was only around 1pm (2 hours before kick-off). We were dropped-off at the "Seven Stars" Pub and there was a 5-10 minute walk through the Retail Park to the Stadium. Parking would be fairly good as there was a large Retail complex, as well as the Wigan Pier nearby. Finding the ground presented no problems whatsoever.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

Unfortunately, when we arrived at the grounds a few of my friends had been turned-down at the "Red Robin" Pub, mentioned on the guide, as it had become too full! This was probably because of our very large away following, around 5,600 on the day I understand. Instead we entered the ground at had a few drinks at the Bar. This was very good - there was plenty of room and the service was quick, although the queues were significantly larger once the Supporters Coaches had arrived!

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

The ground did look quite impressive, although due to it being modern it was disappointingly reminiscent of a few other grounds that I had visited, namingly Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium and Huddersfield Town's Galpharm Stadium. The away End was large and impressive, although being Leeds fans we refused to sit on the Red seats and made do with the highest row of Blue ones - much to the apparent confusion of the Stewards. The leg room looked fine although I must admit I didn't actually sit down all day! The only down-side was that the Scoreboard was at a very acute angle and therefore unable to read.

5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets etc..

This was the worst part of the day - the atmosphere provided by the home fans. I am not biased as I have no bad feelings aimed towards Wigan - although the fact that today's attendance of 17,000 was 5,000 more than their previous best despite the fact that they had been up at the top of the table all Season said a lot. The home fans made very little noise and the holes in the ground almost made me feel embarrassed! The away fans were fairly good although a number of failed attempts at the Mexican wave was rather disappointing - although we were deservedly 3-0 down at the time.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

We left fairly soon after the final whistle and headed back through the Retail Park where we decided to eat in Burger King and avoid the worse of the traffic. As always, traffic looked pretty slow although it wasn't any worse than expected. The Stadium was in a decent position which provided efficient methods of coming and going.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

The place was nice, the home fans seemed fairly friendly and the Stadium was everything that you could expect from a Championship side. The main disappointment - apart from my teams lacklustre performance, of course, was the home fans. Pathetic attendance, pathetic atmosphere - there's no doubt that this is a Rugby town. A decent day-out, marred by a 3-0 loss.

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