The answer is for all three parties to sit around the table and agree a reasonable and fair deal for the use of the stadium.

Absolutely, but all the parties have to buy into it. I have zero doubt in my mind that IL is well ahead of us in this regard. The question is, does the latest Latics guy want to get around the table?

Based off what we've heard and read recently, the guy doesn't seem that interested.

As a side note, does the club still open a bar at Robin Park prior to games? The amount of people you see streaming out of the south stand bar before kick-off is something the club should be looking to target. Personally, I don't get to the ground early but if I had to choose where to have a pre match pint I'd pick RP (if it's open that is).

Serious question. How close are we to this happening? Is it going to happen at all?

Some of the comments on this thread, probably my own included, are illogical, but I think we're all just sick and weary of the endless sagas surrounding the DW stadium. At a time when we should be discussing Wigan and how we might progress at a time of underachievement, yet again equally big issues are stemming from a completely different club in a completely different sport which for many of us holds no interest whatsoever.

I so wish the powers-that-be could get this thing sorted to everyone's satisfaction. Realistically, how hard can it be?

The clubs don't have to share training facilities, they don't play on the same days, most of the time they don't even play at the same time of year. And they're not even rivals apart from in the imagination of certain idiots. There should be no problem making this mutually beneficial arrangement work. Yet every time a new football boss arrives, Wigan seem to go through this period of uncertainty, not knowing whether he'll be helpful or hostile.

I know that we're stuck there for the time being. There's no way to just leave and play somewhere else. And building our own stadium is not even permitted at present, even if we could afford it. But the ongoing situation with the DW is getting really frustrating.

At a time when people in Wigan including no doubt the Council, are trying to get the supporters of both clubs to be closer together as a result of playing in a joint stadium, along comes a multi millionaire new owner of the Latic's to scuttle what may have already been acheived.

I had no real time for Whelan, but at least he named the East Stand after Wigan's most famous Rugby League player, incorporated the main colours of both clubs in the seating, give a long tem least and to my knowledge never increased the rental for use of the Stadium.

Perhaps. this new owner who is not even a resident of our country needs to be educated on what the name of Boston and a joint Stadium means to the people and the town of Wigan.

Just downright plain ignorance by him as far as I am concerned!

The council seem to have relinquished their 15% share so I’m wondering what they can actually do to enforce both clubs to remain to the stadium.

To whom have they sold their 14.9% (£4.9 million) share?

Apparently they relinquished it to support get the Bahrani deal over the line!
Another joke in itself....essentially gave up on about £5m quid of tax payer investment to gift it to a rich overseas consortium who now has complete control. Puts us into the same boat as latics where the ground is only secure for as long as the Bahrani's keep interested (which is probably a max of 3-5 years before we go through this whole cycle again!).

This is exactly the issue though!
As i said elsewhere, the only intel (sic) they get in respect of the town is from latics fans...the majority of whom have a chip on their shoulder and perpetuate untruths and hyperbole to make us out to be the enemy.
The bahrani's seem to be lapping this up without questioning....perhaps because it reinforces their beliefs about what rugby is (undoubtedly viewing us as a union club and not recognising the distinction).

So what we see is them being intentionally antagonistic, which only raises their stock with the numpty latics fanbase, which drives more and more problems. Unfortunately I think its a case of strapping ourselves in and rolling with the punches for the next couple of years until the Bahranis lose interest in the same way as the Chinese lot.

Ultimately, the only way of breaking this nonsense cycle that ties us to the 'boom and bust' of wigan latics is making a successful play for the ground next time they enter administration. Its just a shame the admins wouldn't release the ground for more than the Bahranis actually paid for the whole lot! (£3.5 mil was lenegans offer but he sensibly didn't want the football club as he would have needed to commit to 6mil of future losses).
If Lenaghan had been successful both clubs would be in a much better position IMO. Latics would have a fair and reasonably long lease at the stadium, there would have been no acrimony and only a desire to work together as partners, and Latics would have been more likely to find a community / UK owner who could help them become stable as a sustainable L1 club.

If only eh!
A real sliding doors moment which would have been much better in the long run for both clubs, and would have done a lot to cut the nonsense and acrimony

Agreed....only done to realise £22m out of the sale of latics he would have otherwise been lucky to get a million quid for. Shrewd man but screwed over wigan royally (latics included). As much as latics see the ground being owned by the same bahrani consortium as a good thing, it is really not. Our prime sporting venue in the town is owned and operated upon the whim of its overseas owners. As soon as they get bored, latics and the stadium will be plunged into chaos again whilst we have no option but to go along for the ride.

Stadium should have gone to the council with small interests to each club, exactly how the huddersfield situation works - which also elimiates the whole nonsense arguments about the stadium. If we could get to a position where Wigan athletic is owned by a local or UK group and the stadium shared, it would be much better for the whole town.

The whole nonsensical thing about the bahraini offer was the admins insistence upon it. They had nearly a million quid in the supporters funds, plus leneghan fronting 3.5m for the stadium. Surely the better and more sustainable option would have been for latics to become a community club run by a consortium of intelligent fans (needle in haystack i know), and the stadium owned locally. The problem was the EFL 5/6m guarantees, but you would have had a mill to start from the supporters and surely they could have cut cloth accordingly to diminish those projected losses?

There are plenty Latics fans with sense (just as there are rugby fans) so the little petty jibes only put you on a par with the minority who are entrenched. I’m glad to see the conversation has at least turned back to what I said a few pages ago that all roads lead back to Whelan anyway. The chief executive running Latics at the moment and the UK-based team are fully aware of the rugby and its history believe it or not. Using the easy trope of the Bahrainis being fed only lies by Latics fans simply isn’t true, not least because I’ve spoken to Mal Brannigan (chief executive) a good few times so at least I can guarantee one voice (and some family members) have explained the good (and bad) of how the relationship has been in the stadium for the last 22 years. Can only go at the moment on face value about what is being done behind the scenes and the plans they’ve laid out but as I’ve said previously, I hope it is all amicable in the end.

Being realistic mate, I think there are some, and i know personally of a few decent level mined Wigan latics fans. That said, there are huge swathes of their fanbase (much more than there are not IMO) who are pretty unintelligent and carry a ridiculous chip on their shoulder. It was demonstrated perfectly in the position they adopted against the administrators, and the ongoing feud with Wigan RL which there is no real substance or grounds for.

You only need to look at social media sites such as the twitter and facebook accounts of Wigan today and Wigan Athletic etc to see it.
Thousands of unnecessary and ridiculous anti rugby statements spoken as fact which are never replicated or voiced by Rugby fans against the football. Idiots claiming that rugby fans reveled in their administration and wanted the club dead, when a quick look on forums like this demonstrate that rugby fans overwhelmingly wanted the best for them, despite many of us not carrying much interest. Most strikingly, look at the comments from large parts of the fan base across social media channels and fans forums when their savior was confirmed....there were as many ''right now kick the rugby out'' comments as there were of jubilation and relief! Many are as obsessed about us as they are with the success of their own team.

There are definitely those on both sides who are petty and childish mate, I am not denying that Wigan RL saldy have them, but the difference is they are in the minority within our fan base and are often called out and challenged, yet much the opposite in the blue half of the town.

IMO the roads do actually lead back to Lindsay in the 80s, yet the ridiculousness of that is that ONE crass comment from over 30 years ago causes so many latics fans such issue! Who really cares, it has had no impact upon where either of the clubs are today and is completely irrelevant.

You are right that whelan has done much more damage to both of the clubs in more recent times, including stoking the fires though. Yet you can't say that in the blue half of the town, he is still a demi-god! As for the other comments - I wasnt aware they had a UK based team effectively running the club. If that's the case it reduces some of my concerns that there may still be some voice of reason within the Latics camp. But the actions of blue seats, removing the name of a wigan (NOT rugby or football) legend off the stand, and screwing the rugby club for every bit of rent possible seem to be provocative actions IMO which are led by the new owner (Talal?) and encouraged by a significant number of their fans

Good luck finding a financial institution that will lend money to an insolvent company to build an asset that is worthless on the open market