Edge Hall Road
Encyclopedia
The Co-operative Community Stadium (formerly Edge Hall Road) is the Wigan Warriors
Rugby League
club's high performance training complex and the home ground of the Wigan Warriors
Senior Academy
and Junior Academy
teams and the former home ground of Orrell R.U.F.C.
. The ground is located in the Orrell
district of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
, Greater Manchester
. The ground consists of the 1000 capacity all seat North stand, the terraced South stand, the East 'scoreboard' end and the high performance training centre (formerly the Orrell clubhouse).
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.
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 it's 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. The pitch is currently used for training and Wigan Academy games. 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. 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 & 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.
The original clubhouse, constructed in 1957, was badly damaged in mysterious circumstances on 10 August 2002 and was replaced by a new clubhouse which was completed in the spring of 2005. In the 1991-2 season, Orrell averaged gates of 6,000. Home fans call the stadium 'The (Grand) Hall' or 'Straight Edge'.
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....
Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
club's high performance training complex and the home ground of the Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....
Senior Academy
Wigan Warriors Youth Development
Wigan Warriors Youth Development is the youth system of the Rugby League Football club Wigan Warriors. It is one of the most famous and successful youth system for rugby league and has produced some of the best players in both rugby league and rugby union. The Wigan Warriors Youth Development...
and Junior Academy
Wigan Warriors Youth Development
Wigan Warriors Youth Development is the youth system of the Rugby League Football club Wigan Warriors. It is one of the most famous and successful youth system for rugby league and has produced some of the best players in both rugby league and rugby union. The Wigan Warriors Youth Development...
teams and the former home ground of Orrell R.U.F.C.
Orrell R.U.F.C.
Orrell Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union team from the Orrell area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester.The club were founded in 1927, holding a place in the top-tier of rugby union from 1986 to 1997.-1927–1939:...
. The ground is located in the Orrell
Orrell, Greater Manchester
Orrell is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The area is contiguous to the town of Wigan itself and the centre of the district is situated to the west of the town centre...
district of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is named after its largest component town, Wigan and also includes the towns of Leigh, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Ince-in-Makerfield, and Hindley. The borough was formed in 1974 and is an...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
. The ground consists of the 1000 capacity all seat North stand, the terraced South stand, the East 'scoreboard' end and the high performance training centre (formerly the Orrell clubhouse).
Edge Hall Road became the permanent residence of Orrell R.U.F.C.
Orrell R.U.F.C.
Orrell Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union team from the Orrell area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester.The club were founded in 1927, holding a place in the top-tier of rugby union from 1986 to 1997.-1927–1939:...
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.
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 it's 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. The pitch is currently used for training and Wigan Academy games. 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. 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 & 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.
The original clubhouse, constructed in 1957, was badly damaged in mysterious circumstances on 10 August 2002 and was replaced by a new clubhouse which was completed in the spring of 2005. In the 1991-2 season, Orrell averaged gates of 6,000. Home fans call the stadium 'The (Grand) Hall' or 'Straight Edge'.