The DW Stadium certainly isn't a bad stadium for a League One side, home to Wigan Athletic FC and Wigan Warriors. It opened in 1999 with a capacity of just over 25,000. DW Sports were a brand owned by former owner Dave Whelan, I like how even though the company is now defunct, they've kept the name of the stadium which honours one of their most successful owners, who has a statue outside the stadium lifting the FA Cup trophy in 2013. I've visited this stadium a couple of times now, having a tour around the stadium, and also visiting for an FA Cup match between Wigan and Manchester City (Don't remind me of a result). The stadium can be easily accessed on foot from the city centre, it is also located right near the Robin Retail Park, where there are multiple shops and places to eat, which is handy in case you get to the ground early or want a quick bite to eat before/after a game. I did find most of the stewards friendly and happy to help, I do think security at the stadium could be better due to the pitch invasion after the game I attended with fans able to throw things at the away supporters, which definitely should have been policed better. I once again have to agree with Fox E, this isn't one of my favourite stadiums but it's great for a team like Wigan, who hopefully will be seeing better days ahead as they should at least be playing at the Championship level. 3* - Decent stadium, not so great atmosphere. read more

DW stands for Don't Worry (your away team will win), Damn Windy (brr), Desirable Women (north western girls usually are), and D*ck Waving (because the men in these parts like to windmill). First-Hand Experience: More info about my personal experience at this stadium - I've been to the DW about 6 times, but only twice to see a game. Once was Rugby (which I hated, and the crowd really loved) and one was Wigan vs Fulham, and the crowd barely showed up (half full maybe). Because they're unable to fill the stadium even when playing top notch opponents, I have to give them a 3. It's a lovely state of the art facility, but it's open in the corners, so it doesn't have the kind of atmosphere it needs. I was most recently here in 2014 after my concert in Bolton and before I played Warrington. I thought it looked in good nick, but still at some point needs to fill in those corners. I've been to most UK & US stadiums, due to lifelong obsessions with travel, sport & especially footy (soccer to Americans). Born & raised in England, I followed Oxford United (hometown team) to stadia all over the country at away games, and later Liverpool (fave team) around. Every stadium review - like all my reviews - are from first-hand personal experience, usually from several visits. In 2011, I was on music tour in the UK, and visited most stadiums for fun in my spare time. As recently as Fall 2014, when I was "stuck" in UK for 3 months, I went to hundreds yet again while travelling. I have pictures of me at most, which I'll post later. Also, when back in UK I'll take more pix, and add more stadia! *** return to regular review *** It's not one of my favourite stadiums even though I've been there many times. It's excellent for a team like Wigan, which can't really be expected to have an amazing ground, but it's got open corners and is almost always empty, so despite its modernness and nice surroundings, it still leaves a lot to be desired. If they can fill in the corners it'll be much better. It used to be the JJB, it holds 25k, it opened in 1999 and cost 30 mil to build. For a town like Wigan to have a stadium like this though, they should be very proud. read more

I was lucky enough to win hospitality tickets off of Twitter this week to attend the Wigan v Wakefield Super League game. We won't go into the game because this review is about the experience of hospitality (but for the record we won - but it was an ugly win no thanks to the ref!) On arrival we were shown upstairs to our executive box. Once in our drinks order was taken and brought through to us really quickly. Shortly after we were served our starter which was a portobello mushroom stuffed with cheese and bacon on brioche with a balsamic dressed rocket and sun dried tomato salad. This was lush (despite my hatred of mushrooms!) After that, two of the players popped in to see us for a chat pre game. This was followed by our main (gammon with mustard mash and veg) and dessert (lemon tart), both of which were superb. We were then able to watch the game from our VIP seats but also had the option of watching from our box. My only complaint was it felt like food was a bit rushed before the match and they forgot to collect our "guess the gate" cards so we weren't included in the competition. All in all a fab night I'd recommend to anyone though! read more

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Writing as a rugby league fan I'm looking at this stadium for rugby potential. The good Friday match this year (2015) was at Wigan Warriors stadium against as usual the champions ;) St. Helens The seats are standard stadium seats and the concrete facade is again standard ! But the bar is ridiculously slow, instead of them being served straight away and handed over with people employed just to pull pints they are all made to order so making it slower I could understand if there was a full bar but it's just bitter or larger TWO beers not 9 or 10. So very bad bar service - price is usual but when you que up at 27 mins into the game and when you get back to your seat the second half has started it says something ! Also it's a trek away from Wigan centre so get a taxi there and walk back with the rest of the champions fans ;) read more

Lovely little, modern stadium with a capacity of around 25,000. This gives it a nice atmosphere compared to the 50,000+ Premiership clubs. Around the group are lots of facilities and amenities, so even if one member of the family goes to the game, theres restaurants, bars and a Wacky Warehouse right next door! The football is also affordable compared to many teams generally £15 - £20 a ticket for Premiership! read more

DW Stadium - Stadiums & Arenas Near Me - Wigan, ABE

As a born and bred St. Helens man (albeit now in exile in North Wales) this stadium wouldn't be the first I'd head for but last season I managed to wangle a couple of free tickets to see the football team take on Bournemouth. The stadium is easy enough to find being located out of town next to a fairly large retail park. I parked on the car park at the stadium which was large and almost deserted on arrival and where you bizarrely have to pay a fiver to a couple of blokes sat in a pick up truck for your ticket. The stadium is modern and the first I've been to that has automated turnstiles so rather than being allowed in by an old bloke in a bobble hat you have to feed your ticket into a barcode reader to get in. The facilities (bar, catering, toilet) all looked acceptable enough although I didn't buy a drink or pie. Unfortunately on the day the team didn't manage to live up to the surroundings and were well beaten by Bournemouth. This maybe wasn't a huge surprise given that Bournemouth ended the season in a promotion place while Wigan ended up being relegated. When the match ended there was a fairly big of queue of traffic to escape, probably more from the retail park than the football, but again this wasn't too problematic. read more

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haha stadium?? atmosphere?? are you sure?! Surrounding areas aren't too bad, within walking distance of the ground you have a decent amount of parking space for away fans, an asda (great for pre match food/drink), retail park type shopping place and a pub or two. Inside the ground, well what can i say our team had an entire stand filled with fans yet looking around you kind of had to wonder where all the wigan fans were! Food/drinks in the kiosks are fairly priced and toilets clean. Tickets to get in are very cheap but you can see why! Nevertheless, Wigan is one of the away games I try not to miss, it's usually a great day out, win or lose. read more

Love some of the deluded comments below. The stadium is decent, far better than alot ive been too. FA CUP WINNERS.

A great stadium and a rapidly improving football team. The stadium is in walking distance of car parks and is easily assessable by public transport. The atmosphere is great but could do with a few more supporters on match days. read more

An average football team. Not really anything spectacular, but it's a low budget Premiership football team. Season tickets are on the dear side for what you get. read more