First time poster.

I don’t live in Wigan and haven’t done so for many years and yet still travel to watch most home matches despite the difficulties of a long drive but changes like this just don’t work for me. I like Ian Lenagan very much and I like what he has done for the club but having just watched the ‘interview’ regarding the Salford switch I feel compelled to write and share my frustration about his poor decision making in this matter.

IL’s justification for moving the fixture looks to me like some wishy washy politico trying to polish a dog turd when we all know what the real reason is. He blames that old bogey man the RFL and fixture congestion, in fact, anything but the real reason and that is our ground share with Latics.

So what does our contract with Latics say – Many would love to know! As we are carrying the stadium attendance wise has IL insisted that they honour their part of the contract to the full? I’m totally indifferent to the destiny of Latics and their 5000 fans and couldn’t care a toss about what the state of the pitch would be post Wigan V Salford on Friday. As far as I’m concerned that is none of our worry and why should it when we don’t own the ground and we are mere tenants asking for what we are entitled to by law unless it states we can be bullied by Latics...... This situation is like Groundhog Day so it is about time that IL grew a pair and played hard ball with Latics by insisting that the contract is honoured in full where possible or take legal action where necessary and tell Whelan and that chippy bankrupting grandson of his that we will not be pushed around.

Like many others I am now questioning whether I should buy a season ticket and may try match by match next year which will probably mean fewer home attendances. I don’t see any good reason why we need to 'get close to Latics' (his words) so come on Mr Lenagan put the needs of Wigan RL and its army of loyal fans first and make Latics have it for once!

In my book not telling the whole truth makes you a liar. That was the impression I was left with after speaking to people at the Brisbane match. IL is losing the trust of the fans.



IL obviously couldn't care less what state the pitch is in when we play on it a few hours after them men on Easter Monday. He needs to start prioritising the rugby over the tics.

The RFL didn't ignore Wigan's request. They looked at it and said "no" due to the four day turnaround moving it to Thursday or Sunday would entail. Wigan knew this months ago. They then suggested we moved the game to various venues some of which were available and some not. As IL explained they couldn't switch the alternate fixture because that is in June when the pitch is up (again) and if you tried to switch it with another team that is a non-starter as that has the knock on effect to their fixtures. Postponement doesn't work either as he also explained.

As to not scheduling it on Friday in the first place we do have to have a game this week and play someone. Friday is our designated home game day so suggesting they should automatically have not scheduled it originally for Friday looking at Latics fixtures is a bit rich. We play Friday. Latics are not playing that day and there is no four day turnaround for a Friday game. Wigan RL asked for this to be moved when in my view there is no need to move it. When the answer was "no" anyway, we should have just stuck with Friday. If we can play hours after they on Easter Monday, they can cope with playing a day after us.

They did ignore the request, as I've already said but which you seem to have not read, is that Wigan flagged up this Friday as a problem BEFORE the fixtures were even decided. They could have had us playing away at anyone this weekend because they hadn't decided anything. The RFL made the decision for us to play Salford this weekend on a Friday despite the fact:

1. Wigan flagged it up as a problem.
2. If the game had to be moved to another day then Salford would be playing with a four day turnaround. They could have chosen plenty of other teams for Wigan to play at home this Thursday or Sunday if they had to have us playing at home - which they didn't.

Wigan have played plenty of home games not a on Friday so it's hardly a precedent for it to be played Thursday or Sunday. But again they didn't have to play at home this weekend, so it wouldn't have been a problem.

I have lost the the will to live on this subject and being a bit lazy but can someone explain why we couldn't play Friday night and Latics play on Saturday? We are now playing on the same day now on Easter Monday so I just cannot get my head around this one.
Thanks in advance

In a nutshell it's because latics wanted the pitch in tip top condition for when they play their game on Saturday as its a promotion rival they are playing. If leneghan had have said this instead of coming up with his usual drivel then we would have confirmation for what we already know anyway. This is the same reason why sharp and leneghan have published articles stating that both clubs have a good relationship together, when the truth is latics call the shots and leneghan sits there like the Churchill dog.

Its about time we admitted what we (and most of SL) already know. We play second fiddle to a foozeball team.....

This may have been somewhat acceptable when they where a PL side (god knows why but this entire country seems to revolve around the pansy-a$$ sport) but they are now a few divisions lower so its about time we had a more level playing field when it comes to fixtures at the stadium we SHARE

Because the ball is in contact with the pitch most of the time in football and hardly ever in rugby. Us playing after a football game isn't going to impact, but would the other way round. It's why we play 6 games in about 30 hours on the same pitch at Magic Weekend.

I also wish this problem would go away. But it won't.

I understand that people feel they might influence things by putting pressure on Wigan to resolve this problem. And it may work that way to a degree; because of the privacy in which these negotiations are conducted, we don't know how many concessions Wigan might now have managed to wring from the football club whenever this situation has arisen in the past. I certainly remember a Wigan v Saints Saturday afternoon Cup match which Wigan won the right to host despite strong rumours that they were going to be told to play it elsewhere.

But those calling for a new stadium are totally wasting their breath and digging themselves into an ever-deeper pit of despondency. Unless some billionaire buys the club, that is not going to happen. And why would a billioinaire want to buy into British RL in its current impoverished state?

I see no point in getting furious about something that will probably not change in our lifetime.

Cruncher is spot on with this one. Doesn't make me any happier about it, but there it is.

Surprised that no one has flagged up Hull City (top of Championship) played the night after the Hull FC v Cas game BUT they hadn't had their pitch relaid in the past month.

Probably because the KC and Hudds for that matter weren't built on swampland.

This is the other problem. Thanks to Whelan, we live in a bloody swamp.

....and as both games were on Sky, they had no option but to play then

A very good response.

It might also be worth remembering that Wigan Athletic own the ground, Dave Whelan having passed ownership to them in 2009. We are just tenants.

Other RL clubs share with football clubs but don't have our problem. Huddersfield Giants Galpharm Stadium is 60% owned by Ken Davy and 40% by the council and Hull's KC stadium is owned by Hull City council. So our tenancy agreement is unique. It is only right that Wigan Athletic decide who plays and when they play on their own ground.

Jumping up and down like a spoilt kid moaning about what Ian Lenegan is able to organise on behalf of the club is a bit pathetic. I doubt anyone else could do a better job in the same circumstance.

The stadium is owned by a company called Wigan Athletic Holdings. This is a different company to Wigan Athletic Football Club. If Whelan (who owns both companies) was to sell the Latics, he would still own the ground.