Brick Community Stadium

About

The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic football club. The stadium is owned by local businessman, Mike Danson, who owns both Wigan Athletic and the Wigan Warriors. Built and opened in 1999, it was initially the JJB Stadium after its main sponsor. In UEFA matches, it was called Wigan Athletic Stadium due to UEFA regulations on sponsorship. From 2009 to 2024, it was renamed the DW Stadium, and from 13 May 2024, it was again renamed, this time as the Brick Community Stadium, reflecting a partnership with a local charity. The stadium was built by Alfred McAlpine. Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors moved into it from their long-term homes of Springfield Park and Central Park respectively. International rugby league matches have also taken place at the venue. Its current capacity is 25,138—seated in four single-tier stands—and its record attendance was on 11 May 2008 when 25,133 people watched Wigan Athletic play Manchester United in the final match of the 2007–08 Premier League season.

The stadium was built by Alfred McAlpine and completed in August 1999. Wigan Athletic had spent the previous 67 years playing at Springfield Park, and their first match at what was initially called the JJB Stadium was a friendly against Morecambe, just before the stadium's official opening.

The stadium's inauguration was marked with a friendly between Wigan Athletic and neighbours Manchester United – who were then reigning European champions, Premier League champions and FA Cup holders – with United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson officially opening the stadium. The first competitive football match there took place on 7 August 1999, with Wigan Athletic facing Scunthorpe United in a Second Division match. Simon Haworth scored twice, including the first competitive goal at the new stadium, as Athletic won 3–0. Wigan Warriors moved to the stadium a month after it opened, once they had played their final home game of the 1999 regular season at Central Park, which had been the club's home since 1902. After their former ground was sold, the possibility of ground sharing with Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium (now University of Bolton Stadium) was presented, but the new stadium in Wigan was chosen instead. Their first game there was a play-off match against Castleford Tigers, which they lost, on 19 September. The Warriors did not lose a competitive match at the stadium in 2001 and 2020.

The first away team to win a competitive football match at the stadium was Wigan Athletic. A first round FA Cup tie against non-league Cambridge City was played there due to City's ground being deemed unsuitable to host the tie. Wigan played in their changed strip and used the away dressing room since it was technically a 'home' game for Cambridge City. A Stuart Barlow brace secured the win for Wigan. On 7 March 2005, Greater Manchester police announced that they would stop policing Wigan Athletic matches at the stadium from 2 April. This move would almost certainly have resulted in the stadium's safety certificate being revoked, effectively forcing the team to play behind closed doors. The move was part of an ongoing dispute between the police force and Dave Whelan surrounding £300,000 in unpaid policing costs. The police's decision would not have affected Wigan Warriors, whose games are stewarded instead of policed. The situation was temporarily resolved on 8 March with both sides reaching an agreement that would allow Athletic to play at the ground until the end of the season. Four months later, Wigan Athletic, facing the prospect of playing their home games in the Premier League in an empty stadium, grudgingly paid the money they owed to the police. The club successfully appealed against the payments in court and won damages from the police. On 7 September 2008, Wigan Warriors revealed plans to take their Super League Play-Off against Bradford Bulls to a neutral venue. The controversial relocation was forced due to a fixture clash, with a match between football clubs Wigan Athletic and Sunderland to take place less than 24 hours after the Super League match. Whelan, who controlled Wigan Athletic, refused permission for the Warriors to stage their elimination at the stadium, citing concerns over the playing surface. The game was relocated to Widnes Vikings home ground, the Stobart Stadium. In the same season, JJB Sports announced they would not continue to sponsor Wigan Warriors, leaving them without a main shirt sponsor. The stadium's average attendance has increased significantly since its opening in 1999. The Wigan Warriors' average attendance has increased by 32.5% from its first full season at the stadium in 2000, and Wigan Athletic's average attendance has increased by 181.2% from the 2000–01 season. The highest recorded attendance for a rugby league match is shared between three fixtures; the Wigan Warriors' fixture against St Helens R.F.C. on 25 March 2005; Game 4 of the 2005 Tri-Nations series between Great Britain and Australia on 6 November; and Game 5 of the 2004 Tri-Nations series between Great Britain and Australia on 13 November at 25,004 each. The highest recorded football attendance at the stadium was Wigan Athletic's home fixture against Manchester United on 11 May 2008—the final day of the 2007–08 Premier League season—with 25,133 fans attending. This is the stadium's highest recorded overall attendance to date, and was the match where Manchester United were crowned Premier League champions for that season.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.