Wigan v Harlequins on the brand new pitch
PRESSURE
sacking of Manager Chris Hutchings. In November 2007, ex Birmingham City Manager, Steve Bruce, accepted a £2 million-a-year deal to take over the team management and Wigan were quickly on the up again. Improved team performance and convincing wins during the rest of the season saw Wigan guaranteed a place in the Premier League for the 2008-2009 season. Super League Wigan Warriors Rugby Club are one of oldest and most famous rugby league clubs in Britain and attract a huge following of dedicated fans to the JJB Stadium for every match that, strangely enough, far outnumber the attendance figures for football. Traditionally, the rugby supporters are associated with the eastern area of Wigan and the football fans with the western region which surrounds the old Springfield Park, previous home of Wigan Athletic FC. Tremendous rivalry
exists between the two clubs with fans on both sides avidly and deliberately supporting away teams during matches, much to Dave Whelan’s annoyance! Although the football and rugby teams
share the stadium equally, their training facilities are completely separate. The rugby lads using the Edge Hall Road ground at nearby Orrell, and Wigan FC the Christopher Park ground, a stone’s throw from the stadium. The demands created by playing the two disciplines on one shared pitch have been graphically illustrated by problems encountered at the JJB in recent times. A Desso specification pitch was originally installed when the stadium was built in 1999 and, initially, stood up well to play, although Ian Foreshaw feels that heavy rolling during the first two years created long term compaction problems. “With only a matter of a few weeks allowed for minimal renovation work, we were lucky
if we were able to scarify, aerate, lightly sand and overseed before play recommenced each season, and this was nowhere near enough maintenance for a Desso spec pitch. If weather conditions were against us, we were absolutely stuffed” says Ian.
By December 2005, with the club in
the Premier League, the pitch was desperately in need of replacement. Pressure of time dictated a speedy solution however, and the fateful decision was made to Koro and turf the pitch over the old Desso surface, with only a shallow sand rootzone, at a reported cost of around £100,000. Heavy usage three weeks later soon exposed the inadequacy of the system and, with nine games played within a three week period, the stability and durability of the pitch was already seriously in question. Unfortunately for Ian and his groundstaff further major corrective
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