Wigan Athletic commit six-figure pitch investment

Wigan Athletic’s first big-money acquisition under new owners Phoenix 2021 Limited will be proudly unveiled this weekend.
The playing surface at the DW will be as good as new after much-needed maintenance workThe playing surface at the DW will be as good as new after much-needed maintenance work
The playing surface at the DW will be as good as new after much-needed maintenance work

It’ll never score a goal, provide an assist or keep a clean sheet – and the Warriors will even get first use of it!

But chief executive Mal Brannigan says the £120,000 invested in the playing surface at the DW Stadium – as well as the pitches at their Christopher Park training ground – will prove to be money very well spent.

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“The pitch is looking very good, it’s in very good nick,” Brannigan told Wigan Today.

“We’ve been told by our contractors and our consultants that it will be ready for the rugby league game on Friday night (against Hull KR).

“They’re happy with the way it’s gone, and it’s really amazing what’s been done with a window of only five-and-a-half weeks.

"To be able to get the pitch back up and running in such a short space of time is pretty impressive.”

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The annual pitch renovations were an unfortunate victim of the club going into administration last summer.

As a result, the pitch was showing noticeable signs of wear and tear only a couple of months into the campaign, despite the best efforts of the hard-working groundstaff who remained after 75 members of staff were made redundant.

But the recovery operation is another statement of intent from Phoenix 2021 Limited, who are desperately playing catch-up in so many areas – on and off the pitch – following the takeover.

“We’ve invested around £120,000 into the pitch at the DW and also the pitches up at Christopher Park,” revealed Brannigan.

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“The work at the DW has had to be so concentrated, while the work at Christopher Park has included sand-slitting the top two pitches, to improve the drainage.

“There’s been a concentrated and renewed programme to sorting out the pitches, after what happened last summer.

“You can’t let it go for two years in a row because you’ll never get the pitch back to how it was.

"I think we have six or seven years left on the expected lifetime, and it should last a good 10 years before you do it again.”

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