I have just heard a news article on Rock FM and am sure I heard her say that DW has given the stadium to the latics!! ...oh and that he has extended our lease to 50 years (thought that was the deal with IL last year), then he has also asked for a truce between football and rugby fans as some latics fans have said they wont attend anymore because of the naming of a stand after a rugby league legend.....if handing it to the Latics is true what are your thoughts!!

My thoughts are that Rock FM have got it wrong!

well if they have they just repeated it on the 8am news as an "exclusive"

also interview with DW condemning latics fans who are complaining about the new BOSTON Stand!

Me thinks just PR and B**LLOCKS from the demented w@nker!

Well I thought the planning permisson stated that the ground should be shared.

If Latics get any preferential treatment then the original contract needs looking at and the lawyers shot.

One of the stands will be renamed the Boston stand as I understand it and the Latics fans have complained. Slightly childish reaction as they don't really have any legends that spring to mind, but maybe we'll be sat in the Hugo Rodallega stand in years to come!

In terms of the stadium lease being extended by 50 years, it's no change to the current situation as far as I can see so nothing to get excited about.

Does that mean you're renting from the Latics and they are the freeholder?

Worrying if so.

Thats my understanding and deep concern, what happens if/when they go bust!!

The situation has not really changed. Whelan owned the stadium before and he IS the Latics; everyone knows he prefers them to Wigan. The 50-year lease is still good.

To me this is a sop to the Latics fans, who are peeved about the Boston Stand.

Bit late for this isn't it?

Get your guns out I say!

the stadium will be bought by someone else, and you will be their tenant.

the situation has hardly changed, the stadium is there and needs to be used all year round - regardless of who owns it, they would be daft to kick the rugby team out on a permanent basis.

To be honest, now the pitch issue has been put right - it was only ever about cheap grass - the sharing issue will hopefully die away.

Wigan have had to accept their subservient place regarding the occasional fixture clash, which is hardly surprising given the power of the Premiership. If Latics are relegated, that arrangement will be readdressed. But until then, the situation, while not ideal, is easily tolerable.

Anyway, ground-sharing is the way to go. Lots of other clubs are doing it, or will be doing it in the future. Latics fans who think they're going to somehow roll back that reality, are living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

One thing that won't help is Wigan fans staying away as a kind of protest.

Confirmed in the WEP.


Having a stand named after a Wigan legend obviously wasn't just a nice gesture from Mr Whelan, it's intended to be just mere compensation. In all honesty I'm not bothered personally. The JJB/DW is a just a lifeless stadium that we rent for one day a week, it isn't home and is just something that comes in handy on matchday.

heard it on rock fm too. interview with whelan said the boston stand will be a gift to the warriors fans but the stadium will be handed over to the latics. absolute b0ll0x.

surely this goes against the original planning permission? isnt it also part owned by the council?

So you rent from a football team, not ideal.

At least when it was DW he had a slight interest in what was best for Wigan RL. Now every single decision outside of the terms of the lease regarding the stadium will be made by the football club in their best interests.

I personally would be very worried about this, what if Wigan Athletic get relegated and find themselves in financial difficulties? It's easy to say someone else would buy the stadium, and yes I'm sure they would, but would they be housebuilders?

I find this all pretty sad