Edge Hall Road

Last updated

Edge Hall Road
Orrellnorthstand.jpg
The north stand pictured in 1997
Edge Hall Road
Full nameEdge Hall Road Community Stadium
Location Orrell, Greater Manchester, WN5 8TG
Coordinates 53°31′53″N2°42′23″W / 53.53139°N 2.70639°W / 53.53139; -2.70639 Coordinates: 53°31′53″N2°42′23″W / 53.53139°N 2.70639°W / 53.53139; -2.70639
Capacity 3,000
Construction
Built1950
Opened1950
Tenants
Orrell (1950–2007)
Wigan Academy (2007–) [nb 1]

The Edge Hall Road Community Stadium is a rugby union community stadium, located in Orrell, Greater Manchester. Originally built as the permanent ground of the local Orrell rugby union team, but the club departed the stadium in 2007, with the development team of Wigan Warriors beginning to use the ground that same year.

Contents

While the ground has a technical capacity of 5,500, the safety certificate only allows 3,000 at present, due partly to damaged terracing. The Wigan Warriors senior team also uses the ground as their training complex. Throughout the latest years, the stadium has had name sponsorship, including The Co-operative, The Wigan Laundry and recently Solid Strip.

History

1950–2007: Orrell senior team

Edge Hall Road became the permanent residence of Orrell R.U.F.C. in 1950, replacing several locations previously used by the club, including Kitt Green and Abbey Lakes, both areas within Orrell.

Orrell RUFC were once a successful rugby union team, but the advent of professionalism saw them struggle to return to the Guinness Premiership following their relegation in 1997.

The training pitches that the club formerly used outside of the stadium Orrelltrainingpitch.jpg
The training pitches that the club formerly used outside of the stadium

With mounting debt, the club was sold to Dave Whelan, then owner of Wigan Warriors and current Wigan Athletic chairman. Following his takeover of the club, and the death of the landlord, the ground and its surrounding land was sold to Mr. Whelan's company, Whelco Holdings. After several successful seasons, Whelan withdrew his financial backing and the club again began to struggle, Whelan charging £1,000 per match to use the stadium. This excessive rent, coupled with Whelan's decision to ban the club from accessing the clubhouse, forced the club to relocate to playing fields at St John Rigby college for the 2007–08 season.

In January 2007, the clubhouse was converted into a state of the art training facility for the Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club.

2007–present: Wigan Academy

The pitch is currently used for training and Wigan Academy games. [1] Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan has recently suggested that he will be investing in ground improvements to enable the Warriors to play lower-key games in the near future. [2] While the ground has a technical capacity of 5,500, the safety certificate only allows 3,000 at present, due partly to damaged terracing. Expected improvements would be replacement of this terracing and a permanent food and drink outlet. As of the 2008 season, fans have been banned from parking inside the ground and have faced increased admission prices.

On 7 July 2008 Wigan Warriors announced a new three year sponsorship deal with the Co-operative and as part of the deal changed Edge Hall Road to The Co-operative Community Stadium. [3] In April 2013 the ground was renamed The Wigan Laundry Company Community Stadium after a draw. Twelve months later, the naming rights went to Solid Strip. [4]

Related Research Articles

Lansdowne Road Former stadium in Dublin

Lansdowne Road Stadium was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on the same site, which opened in 2010.

Wigan Warriors Professional Rugby League Football Club

Wigan Warriors is a professional rugby league club founded and based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Betfred Super League.

Orrell, Greater Manchester Human settlement in England

Orrell is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The population of the ward had fallen at the 2011 Census to 11,513. The centre of the area lies 3 miles (4.8 km) to the west of Wigan town centre and serves as a predominantly residential suburb of Wigan. The area is contiguous with the district of Pemberton.

Firhill Stadium Football stadium in Glasgow, Scotland

Firhill Stadium is a football and former rugby union, rugby league and greyhound racing stadium located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland which has been the home of Partick Thistle since 1909. The stadium is commonly referred to as simply Firhill, although between September 2017 and September 2020 it was also known as The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill for sponsorship reasons. The stadium is also the temporary home of Queen's Park, while the club awaits the completion of redevelopment works at Lesser Hampden.

DW Stadium Stadium in Greater Manchester, England

The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned by Wigan local authority. It is used by Wigan Athletic football club and Wigan Warriors rugby league club, the rugby league club having a 50 years lease on tenancy to play games at the stadium. Built and opened in 1999, it is named after its main sponsor, DW Sports Fitness. In UEFA matches, it is called Wigan Athletic Stadium due to UEFA regulations on sponsorship.

Andrew David Farrell, is the coach of the Ireland national rugby team and a former coach for the England national rugby team and former rugby league and rugby union player. He is the head coach for Ireland following the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He is the father of England rugby union player Owen Farrell.

Welford Road Stadium

Welford Road is a rugby union stadium in Leicester, England, and is the home ground of Leicester Tigers. The ground was opened on 10 September 1892, and is located between Aylestone Road and Welford Road on the southern edge of the city centre. The ground was developed in two main periods: either side of the First World War stands were built on both sides, and then between 1995 and 2016 both ends were developed and the north side redeveloped. The stadium has a capacity of 25,849, making it the largest purpose-built club rugby union ground in England. It hosted five full England national team matches between 1902 and 1923, and staged a single match at both the 1991 and 1999 Rugby World Cups.

Dave Whelan English businessman

David Whelan is an English businessman and former footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is the former owner of club Wigan Athletic, having also been the chairman of the club for twenty years, before passing the position over to his grandson, David Sharpe, who eventually passed the ownership over to International Entertainment Corporation.

Orrell R.U.F.C. English rugby union club, based in Wigan

Orrell Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union club from Orrell in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester.

DCBL Stadium

The DCBL Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Widnes, Cheshire, England. It is the home of Rugby League side Widnes Vikings of the Betfred Championship, and American football side Halton Spartans of the BAFA National Leagues. The stadium is all seater and has a total capacity of 13,350.

Knowsley Road

Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted Liverpool F.C. Reserves. The stadium was demolished during spring 2011 and a new construction then known as Cunningham Grange, named after club legend Keiron Cunningham, was built on the site.

Rodney Parade

Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, South Wales, owned and operated by the Welsh Rugby Union. It is located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre. The ground is on Rodney Road, a short walk from the city's central bus and railway stations via Newport Bridge or Newport City footbridge. There is no spectator car park at the ground but a number of multi-storey car parks are nearby.

Kingsholm Stadium

Kingsholm Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in the Kingsholm area of Gloucester, England, and is the home stadium of Gloucester Rugby. The stadium has a capacity of 16,115. It is sometimes nicknamed 'Castle Grim' after the estate where the stadium is built. The new main grandstand, opened in 2007, is an all seated 7,500 capacity stand along the south touchline. It is currently sponsored by Malvern Tyres.

Sixways Stadium Sports venue in Worcester, England

Sixways Stadium is a stadium in Worcester, England. It is currently used for rugby union and association football matches and is the home stadium of Premiership Rugby club Worcester Warriors and Hellenic League Division One football side Worcester Raiders. The stadium is able to hold 11,499 with parking for 1,000 cars, Sixways has 60 modern meeting and event rooms. The ground opened in 1975 and is located off junction 6 of the M5 motorway, which splits into six directions, hence the name Sixways. The Stadium commenced building on the site of the old 3rd team pitch and club house after a lottery grant in 1998.

Galway Sportsgrounds

The Sportsground, also known as The Galway Sportsgrounds and the Galway Greyhound Stadium and the Connacht Rugby Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Galway, Ireland. It opened in 1927, with the playing of a football match and has been used to host Connacht Rugby matches and greyhound racing since that time.

Ian Lenagan is a business entrepreneur, theatre producer and shareholder of London Broncos, chairman and owner of Wigan Warriors, and former owner of Oxford United F.C. In 2016 he was appointed Chairman of the Football League.

Central Park (Wigan)

Central Park was a rugby league stadium in Wigan, England, which was the home of Wigan RLFC before the club moved to the JJB Stadium in 1999. Its final capacity was 18,000. The site is now a Tesco supermarket car park.

Gary John Connolly is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s as a fullback and centre for St Helens, Canterbury Bulldogs, Wigan Warriors, Leeds Rhinos and for the Great Britain national side. In the twilight of his career, he played rugby union for Irish side Munster.

Leigh Sports Village

Leigh Sports Village is an £83 million multi-use sports, retail and housing development in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. The centrepiece of the development is a 12,000-capacity stadium which is home to professional rugby league team Leigh Centurions, Manchester United's under-19 and under-23 teams and Manchester United W.F.C. The complex also plays host to amateur rugby league club Leigh East and amateur athletics club Leigh Harriers, who both occupy dedicated facilities on the site. Other facilities on site include the Leigh campus of Wigan and Leigh College, Leigh Sports Centre, which includes a gym, multi-use sports hall and swimming pool, a Holiday Inn Express hotel, a Morrisons supermarket and the Whistling Wren pub.

History of the Wigan Warriors

The History of the Wigan Warriors stretches back to the club's foundation in 1872. It was one of the founding members of the Northern Rugby Football Union after the schism from the one code of rugby football in 1895. At the elite competition level, Wigan is the most successful club in the history of British Rugby League, measured by total of trophies won. The club has won 22 Rugby Football League Championships, 19 Challenge Cups and 4 World Club Challenge trophies.

References

  1. The ground is currently uses as the Wigan Warriors senior team training complex and is used by the development squad.
  1. "Orrell to quit Edge Hall Road". Wigan Today. 24 January 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. "Wigan can wait says coach Ged". News and Star. 1 May 2008. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008.
  3. "Wigan Announce Partnership with The Co-operative". Wigan Warriors Official Site. 7 July 2008.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. "Community Stadium Re-Named". wiganwarriors.com. 12 April 2013. Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.