Wigan Athletic CEO puts forwards plans to improve atmosphere at the DW Stadium

Wigan Athletic CEO Mal Brannigan puts forwards plans to improve and make the atmosphere better on matchdays at the DW Stadium.

He consulted with the fans group and the supporters last month in an attempt to boost the noise and feel good factor, with the club sitting 23rd in the Championship table and are manager-less having sacked Leam Richardson.

CEO Brannigan has admitted that he is desperate to translate the wall of noise created by the club’s away fans back at their own ground.

Interesting, proactive thoughts from Mal on a burning issue…improving the atmosphere at the DW #wafc

“I’d like to sit down with a number of the supporter groups that would be reflective of the stands around the ground, to talk about what we can do…”https://t.co/KkevXaU8tt

— Paul Kendrick (@PKendrickWIG) October 8, 2022

“I think now we’ve been here for a while, we’ve started to understand the club and where the whole match-day experience needs to get to,” he said.

“We know there is growth within the football club and within the fanbase, but it will take time.

“There are no quick fixes, but I do think we all recognise the need to improve the atmosphere within the stadium.

“I’d like to sit down with a number of the supporter groups that would be reflective of the stands around the ground, to talk about what we can do to improve the atmosphere.

“It might well mean we start to dress the stadium better, bring more life, more colour to it.

“Does that mean we use up some of the seating area we have to be able to do that? I think that’s sometimes a wise move to ensure you concentrate that noise.

“But we’ll also be looking at attracting a much younger audience.

“The family zone, now being re-energised under the East Stand, has created a really good atmosphere in there on a match-day, and a real excitement for youngsters who may be coming to their first game.

“We’ve worked hard on creating that matchday experience, which I think maybe has been missing here since administration.

“These young fans are going to be the ones who will continue their Wigan Athletic journey into other areas of the stadium, so we have to create that affinity to the club from an early age.

“Hopefully it’s part of their life and not just a case of going along once and ever doing it again. They will help grow our club.”

Twitter users reacted as the Wigan Athletic CEO puts forwards plans to improve the atmosphere at the DW Stadium…

@WAFCDaniel: Knock it down and start again

@DannyAinscough7: Knock it down build a 12500 seater stadium n jobs a good un

@_Leftynotreety_: Blanket off the upper sections, rather than the bottom. Bring the supporters closer to the pitch

@SportyWigan: Safe standing areas. Get people stood up and not sat down.

@spwafc88: If we could turn back time and build a slightly bigger version of what Rotherham have that would be ideal.

@Jamie_derby99: Majority of the ones who make the noise (es2/es3) already stand the whole game

@faz42: In theory it’s the right idea but I’m not sure bringing the supporters groups in will get to the route cause as with the greatest respect they are all ran by older fans. When your main area is in one corner you are going to fave numerous problems in spreading that around. The idea of moving fans closer by shutting off areas with ads/flags etc only works if the club can make revenue from it which means the first rows are used pushing people away from the pitch instead of the top rows. Personally I’d like to see something done for the south to bring in new fans, families and fans that can’t afford the game anymore. My mates a spurs fan with 2 footy mad kids who don’t support anyone but to come watch us it’s an expensive do as a day tripper yet of one of those lads turns st holder its A dad and lad every week watching us. Same for lads that have lost their job or unable to work and can’t afford to watch us. Or those on shift work where they miss games especially in the championship. We need to look at that and come up with ideas.

@jay_tics:
Sell it to the rugby and council.
Build a 12-14k ground elsewhere 🙌

@JakeH1922: Buy Tesco at Wigan and build one there just to take the piss

@Jamie_derby99: I don’t think the solution is bringing fans closer together. I might be wrong, it may help, but it seems to see a lot are just unwilling to put in the effort to make noise and create an atmosphere 🤷‍♂️ even seen some say they want rid of the drummer 🥴

@steveWAFC: Take out the middle 5 rows of the east and south home stands make it two tier stands and close top tiers till we’re back in the premier league , hence all fans closer together and closer to the play

@ella_jadee_: I think closing off the top of the east and south would be beneficial. Get fans closer to the pitch. And then maybe initiatives to get more fans in the south. Give out deals for families, school age kids, people who can’t get STs due to working a lot of weekends, etc.

@WAFCRob: Cut the stadium in half

@JS121198: How’s about tell your stewards to calm down, es2 is half empty most of the time yet the stewards are insistent on going round bullying young groups of kids to move and stopping potential future fans from making an atmosphere. And they say it’s instructed from the club..

@lancstic: Close the majority of the South – stick a huge banner in top 3/4s. Likewise cordon off 1/4 of the east toward the South. Effectively make ground more compact. Target schools with initiatives child and parent for a tenner to entice a new generation.

@dannywafc99: The ES2 group needs to move to the South Stand – most clubs have their most vocal supporters behind one of the goals and it seems to work as a psychological trigger for their teams. There’ll always be an atmosphere in ES2 because it’s naturally close to the away stand, anyway.

@superbchops:
Zip wire east to west.
Laughing gas pumped into the stands.
Half-time bingo with Syd Little.
A troop of phantom flan fingers in the away end.
Strobe floodlighting.
A singing section with admission only after ingesting helium.
Stanley Choi in stocks.
#wafc

@TDWigan1992: Thinking long term,we need to do more to get the kids in. The growth from early 2000s to today was based on JJs club and the ridiculously cheap tickets (obviously aided by the success from 2003-2013). We need to get back to that.

@SteveHorsfield5: Start playing watchable football. How long is it since we saw a decent winger playing as flying winger. Mix the game up between passing and long ball. A decent box to box midfield general. More dribbling. Passes along floor to winger or strikers to run on to. We play a drab game.