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There has constantly been messages posted on this site as to who owns the JJB and who's "tenants" and who's messing the pitch up and who's the prime team in Wigan etc etc etc etc

However, I recently heard a rumour that Mr Whelan was getting sick of our frankly disgusting attendance’s - lets face it they are - and was trying to oust us out up to Orrell. After seeing the shocking number of people that turned up for Betts' testimonial (just 2000 Wigan fans for a legend who has given 11 years loyal service!!) and witnessing the mass "Wigan walk" 5 minutes before the end it made me sick! Is it any wonder us Wigan fans have a bad name outside of Wigan. Anyway I personally think that if the Orrall ground is upgraded over the next couple of seasons it would make a fantastic home as it would create a similar atmosphere to the great central Park as it would almost certainly be filled week in week out as opposed to the embarrassing sight and sound of a half empty JJB stadium. It is also my opinion that when the ground is half empty and the atmosphere is non-existent, the players cannot be 110% fired up for the game as it must feel like a training ground environment - christ I can even hear the PLAYERS voices echoing around the ground at times!!

I would be interested to hear other people's opinions on this subject.


PS my thoughts go out to the families of Billy-Joe and Craig Johnson, such a tragic waste and a loss to rugby league as a whole

Actually, its the football attendences that have been worrying the wigan club for a while - less than 6,000 fans for a club that is running away with their division. Pretty poor.

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I agree but at least their attendances have slightly grown over recent seasons whereas ours have dropped to embarassing lows, eg 6500 vs Hull last year is an example that springs to mind. The fact of the matter is that our average attendance - which is only dragged UP by the big games vs Saints, Bradford etc (and even those are down on recent seasons) - of around 10,000 means that the JJB is always only half full. As a result it looks, feels and sounds bad - just look at Hulls recent challenge cup game where they sold out the stadium with 15,000 (granted it was their first game) to see how impressive full stadium looks.

It just seems to me that we always use the Latics' attendances as an excuse (and ps i hate the blue half of Wigan). If teams like Warrington can get average attendances of 6000-7000 with just 3 sides in a small ground then its about time we took a good look at ourselves and turned up to games to be counted.

Forever Cherry and White

Why should Whelan want to throw out the club that gets the biggest attendances? Yes, on occasions we are down to 6000-7000 (that Hull attendance the lowest for several years I think) but that's much lower than the average, probably around 10,000, and there's no way the Latics can match that. It would be economic suicide to get rid of your most popular product.

According to one former leading refereee who's now the referee's controller, the design of the stadium means that on the pitch they hear the noise from all around. Mr Cummings claimed it was the noisiest Superleague ground even if the crowd figures aren't as high as at other grounds.

I agree attendance figures are not as good as they could be, but there's lots of competition in terms of things to spend money on (which there isn't so much at Warrington), and many people are still unhappy with ticket prices and even the move to the JJB even though that's now ancient history. I wouldn't take any notice of crowd figures for friendlies, I for one can't get to a 7.30 midweek game because of work, and am much happier to save my money for the proper season. When was the last friendly game which got a decent crowd?

I agree with fraggle, when have you ever seen an attendance over 5,000 for a testamonial? or friendly for that matter? The gates are falling for Wiganrl, however i blame this on the non-existant PR at Wigan, if it was a proper buisness they'd be bankrupt by now! Morris needs to get someone in this posistion and soon, look all around (Bradford, saints warrington EVEN LONDON!) they all have some sort of pr who are drawing in the fans and whipping up interest. As for moving to orrells ground NO CHANCE whelan wants to sell that for houses why do you think he moved ORRELL into the JJB? now thats an empty ground (ORRELL v RUGBY less than 1,000) and you reckon hes gonna kick us out? and look at Latics, our lowest gate is bigger than their highest. the way wiganrl is being run is a worring thing god help us if somthing is not done soon. us supporters will end up starting our own team just so we can have a say? what does everyone think? A NEW WIGAN RL?

I agree wanny, someone needs to get a grip of the club and start to turn it around. It's obvious that we're not going to shell out for any decent big name signings to bolster the current squad, so surely the 'off-field staff' can be upgraded.
Linking with Rock FM means that us in the North of the county now get a better view and more info on the club, but the rest of the nation is suffering!
From a travelling fan's point of view, I was happy to come to Central Park for every home game, but the thought of travelling to the JJB morgue and struggling to get out of the ground for an hour afterwards, means I do think twice now.

Maybe if the prices were a little bit cheaper for things like tesimonials we would get bigger crowds. For me, me mum n dad to go to that match it woulda cost over £30 n its £30 we din't have to spend on a friendly match. Also I think you should stop complainin about crowds not being as big, at least we have a proper fanbase that kno the songs the players and come cause we're loyal n tru fans n we always will be. The players never complain about the atmosphere either, they've said loads of times that we were great, if they dint mean it they wunt say anythin would they?