THE OPPO Wigan Athletic
DATE Sat 18 August
KO TIME – 3pm
THE GROUND – The JJB Stadium, Robin Park, Wigan, – click here and here for maps of the area – the red circle shows where the ground is.
Wigan is in Lancashire in north-west England – about 20 miles north-west of Manchester, and 20 miles north-east of Liverpool, easily accessible from both the M6 and M61.
STADIUM CAPACITY 24,826
AWAY SUPPORTERS
Up to 5,400 away supporters are accommodated in the North Stand.
DISABLED FACILITIES
The stadium has designated platforms for the disabled in prime positions with dedicated ancillary catering and toilet facilities.
TICKETS
The game is all ticket and there will be no cash turnstiles on the day; SAFC advises supporters not to travel without a ticket.
GOING BY CAR?
Travelling from the north east, get yourself onto the A1/A1M southbound and stay on for about 90 miles then follow the signs for M1 Southbound.
Leave the M1 at jcn 42 and join the M62 signposted for Manchester.
At jcn 18 join the M60
At jcn 15 of the M60 join the M61.
At jcn 5 of the M61 take the A58 then the A577 heading west through the Hindley area towards Wigan then take the A49.
In the centre of Wigan turn left and go past Wigan Wallgate station and Wigan North West Station – stay on the A49 then turn right up Robin Park Road, and the stadium is on your right.
From Sunderland it should take you about two and a half to three hours.
There’s a large car park at the ground itself and also a little on-street parking; however be careful if parking at the nearby retail park as there is a time limit on how long you can stay there, and supporters have gone home with parking tickets in the past.
GOING BY TRAIN?
For full timing details, fares and to book, go to National Rail’s website.
SCRAN AND BOOZE
There’s a bar called ‘Champions’ opposite the main entrance of the stadium which welcomes well behaved visiting supporters, and a pub called The Orwell at Wigan Pier, with a very good selection of food and drink. There are several family restaurants close to the stadium if you fancy an early lunch – (eg Frankie & Bennie’s, Pizza Hut), and also a Burger King. Otherwise you can get a drink inside the stadium as well as soft drinks, tea, coffee, hotdogs etc. Wigan FC advise away supporters to avoid the Red Robin pub.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
There’s a Halifax ATM on Robin Park Road, also a Nat West ATM outside Boots the Chemist at the nearby Robin Park retail park. Also we were advised just before the match in April that had been some problems with the ATMs next to Burger King – it was suspected that the machine may have been tampered with (card skimmers?) at some point as some people had large anauthorised cash withdrawals from their account after using those ATMs.
Credits Wigan Athletic FC, Link, Multimap, The AA, BBC.
