Have you mod types been on an law course or something?

Not many big companies called Field of Dreams though...

Surely there must be a bed shop in Chorley called that, or something.

Yeah, tb taught us all last week in his basement.

As much as our rivalry goes and I know its deep to say the least between saints and Wigan,but looking at pictures like that I find very sad.Those old grounds were part of our heritage

And now it's a car park. Doesn't make me sad at all, things move on.

oh yes things move on we need more modern stadia,but I was just being nostalgic when Isaw that pic

I think that picture should hang in the boardroom of all clubs as a warning of what happens when clubs management lives beyond its means for a short period of success. Wigan's "glorious" history was tossed on the 80s bonfire for the sake of 8 challenge cup wins. They not only threw away their home, but also mortgaged their future, and now find themselves as tennants of a footy club who treats them as second rate neighbours. Was the success really worth it?

TO be fair to Wigan it actually was.

They landed on their feet. But not all clubs do and some go to the wall and are never seen again.

Renting is no indicment of a club, alot of successful sporting clubs rent. I beleive alot of Stadia in Auz and the USA rent their stadia.

Ownership is not a requirement of success, I'm sure NExt and M&S rent most of their buildings, they are not overly concerned about owning them to make themselves more successful.

The difference here though is that M&S and Next only have to pay rent on loaning a building and all the commercial transactions other than that are kept.

With renting a stadium its different. How much would Wigan be better off if they kept all the money from conferencing and other events at the DW rather than it going to Mr Whelans pockets and Whelco. Other than what they generate on a match day the stadium can't be utilised to generate any extra income outside of games.

Even if Wigan at the time had moved away from Central Park to a new stadium a 50-50 shared ownership with the Football club would have been better than just being the tenants.

Big difference between renting and long term leasing. Also I don't think Next shares its stores with another competitor brand.

Wigoon still won the league last year so how does that figure in the argument about owning your own stadium? Not owning it is not a barrier to winning.

I see the difference lying in the future. Club like Saints, Hull, Leeds, Warrington, Hudds, can use their facilities to genrate considerable amounts of income. Wigoon have very little option available to expand their revenues, other than increasing attendances or shop sales. The off field revenues of a well run club could dwarf whatever the club can generate through the turnstiles at a couple of dozen home game throughout the season.

It can make it more difficult yes but that doesn't mean impossible.