Wigan Athletic 2 West Ham United 1

Ground 64

Match 61

Venue The DW Stadium

Nickname The Latics

Wigan Ath 2-1 West Ham Utd

Founded 1932

Capacity 25,133

Attendance 19,090

Ticket £20

Distance Travelled 14  miles

Wigan is in Greter Manchester - nearest rivals are Bolton Wanderers but in their non league days , Chorley were their main rivals . Since Wigan became a league club in June 1978 , replacing Southport , they have not played Chorley .

Wigan Athletic share the DW Stadium with Wigan Warriors Rugby League .Despite having lower attendances than most in the Premier League the Latics average home cowds  are higher than The Warriors . Wigan moved to the stadium in 1999 and were the first away side to win there , against Cambridge City in the FA Cup .  Orrell RUFC also rented the stadium for one season in 2003 .
The stadium design is based on cantilevered, prefabricated steel roof and terrace structuring . Four separate stands are of roughly the same height and are all single tiered. They are also quite steep meaning that fans are sat quite close to the playing action, although this is mitigated a little by the fact that the stands themselves are set back a fair distance from the pitch perimeter.

Both the side stands have large supporting steel frameworks visible above their roofs, whilst oddly both ends are different, having the steel framework located below the roof line. Unusually for a modern stadium, it does seem to be lacking in the number of corporate areas and executive boxes. There is an electric scoreboard above the Boston (East) Stand, on one side of the ground. 

West ham played the first five minutes and last five minutes . Wigan were far superior and deserved their win , dominating the middle of the park . The Hammers will have to improve their away performances ,  in particular , against sides like Wigan who are more likely to be in and around them in the league come the end of the season . The huge following from East London were unusually quiet for most of the game . The vocal chants included ' This grounds too big for you .' ' You're only here for the West Ham .'

In the distance you can see the Robin Park Arena - current home of Wigan Robin Park who play in the North West Counties League .

 

The Boston Stand + Electronic Scoreboard

 



The South stand Home Supporters

 

Springfield Stand

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