Sorry if it's already been said, but this place is well worth piling into before matches.

Was absolutely buzzing last night, the shop was inundated and that mural on the wall, depicting the many major events from our astonishing history, is eye-popping.

If you like having a drink and a bite to eat before the match, go there. Way better spending our cash on the club we love than on the stadium they wouldn't let us buy into.

Have been in there a couple of times and its great. Can get a bit busy for what is quite a confined space but well worth a visit if only to grab some photos with players who are in there (Thornley, Tommy, Silva & Sutton in last night)

Far too congested.

Need to open the metal gates at the side.

Was superb, great atmosphere. Has to be a great money spinner for the club. It was rammed.

Where did you find food in there?

I went in on Friday, but ended up going to one of the burger vans outside the South Stand.

I thought it was a real missed opportunity, not to have food, when everyone is turning up at teat-time.

Snap!

We went in for food but couldn’t find anything so went to the burger van on the corner.

Kids didn’t want to stay inside as just too congested and couldn’t see anything for them to do.

No food, missus and lads ended up going back to the retail park for a subway. Missing a massive trick, although would need to be served outside as the fanzone is rammed prematch.

Maybe the people I saw eating had taken their own food in.

Apologies for that, it was my first time in there.

But I still think it's a great place for pre and post match drinks. If for no other reason than the money goes directly to Wigan Warriors.

I agree. Its great to think that some cash is going directly to the club. You can't get near the club shop at times.

I love the concept and that we generate more cash but with a bit more thought and utilising more of the facility i.e. outside it could be a lot better.
I didnt get there until late on Friday because I couldn't be arrised to queue for a poor selection of drinks in a room that would be sweltering hot.
My grandson loves it. A great photo opportunity for the youngsters as the players do a great job mixing with the fans.

As I say the concept is brilliant but a bit more imagination and commercial nouse is required.

The weather hasn’t really kicked in this summer so when we hopefully get a good solid run of nice weather, there should be some great nights for the remaining home games and hopefully food trucks on the outdoors bit by the running track and pitch

one of my work colleagues is a Saints ST holder, and he has been slating them for years about not having something outside the ground pre-match on the walk up where there are the grassed areas. He would love the idea of a BBQ / bars to allow fans to congregate outside and enjoy a beer and bit of something to eat

from what i've read, Wigan are onto something with the fan village, and with a bit more thought and planning could be onto a real winner for both home and away fans if they get it right. I suppose the challenge is the lack of green area that they could extend it to on when the weather is good. I've just looked at an aeriel shot of the TW stadium and Robin Park, and other than the inner area of the athletics track and a bit of what appears to be scrub land over near the 5 a-side pitches there is very little else other than to close the car park and have the fans out there

I agree with him in the main especially with the food part however there is a bar right outside the ground which is always busy pre-match and fans have been known to sit down on the grassed areas with their drinks.

However the fact that Madri is now on draught inside the stadium is a game changer. I take full advantage of that when its my brother in laws turn to be the designated driver

Well I for one am not impressed with a choice, in effect, of lager or lager in the stadium bars. The West Stand bar used to offer actual beer, but no longer.

And yes, i realise I should drink at RP to get the money to the club, but that's no good at half-time and/or if you only arrive 5-10 minutes before kick-off.

Presumably they got rid because it didn't sell very well.

I do think that the Fan Village concept is something that the club could consult with supporters on, unless they already did this?

It’s clear that whilst some people think the fan village is great, it’s not accessible for everyone…just imagine if you were in a wheelchair (the club now has a PDRL team so that would be a good start).

Pretty sure the club consulted a panel about the logo change so why not this?

They have done this and do it on a weekly basis. KR and/or IL walk around talking to fans and they make changes week on week also with more bars, more tables etc.

It's a work in progress. They'll get there.

I think that’s what we all need to acknowledge, it’s a work in progress and as long as the feedback is taken on board and changes made, it’s happy days. We have the debate about a new stadium time and again on here but that’s a pipe dream. What I would like to think isn’t a pipe dream is some investment in to the facilities around the fan village. That is something that can pay for itself. Having it mainly based in the players training facilities isn’t ideal IMO and they need to try and utilise the outdoor space more but at the same time shield people from the elements when needed. If they grow the food and drink options over time then they can bring some good income in.

For me I want the the club to maximise it's revenue streams whilst giving fans something different. Having a burger isn't different and I'm unsure how much the club will earn from this type of sale if the burger vans are 3rd party traders.
IL/SF need to be talking to and if required paying hospitality experts. No disrespect but most fans, myself included, have little or no knowledge on hospitality particularly where it will need to cover dispersed internal and external areas. I had one drink there last Friday outside near to the running track. I got there late and it was quite quiet but I still had to wait for my pint as there was one area with one tap serving lager. Ideally I'd like to get to the ground at least an hour before kick off but if I have to queue for long periods to get served I'm more inclined to go/stay in the pub.

My grandson loves it primarily due to meeting and have photos with players. This is great but I'm sure after a while the appeal will decline.

As I've said previously the concept is first class but if this is to be a long term success the club may have to invest and take a few risks accepting that some new ideas will fail but when the club do get it right the financial benefits could be significant.
We need activities to keep the kids happy whilst serving up drinks/food/music that will ensure that adults keep wanting to go back for every home game.
Kingfisher appear to be the beer sponsor so I'm not sure how feasible it would be to get say Real Crafty or the owners of The Central involved on match days even if its for a limited number of games.

It's early days and I'd like to think that the club can build on what seems to be a very popular concept with a lot of regular fans.
A great pity we couldn't have bought Sharpies(?) as this would have been perfect.

The problem with Sharpies is making money the other 350 days of the year.

They had xbox games in there for the kids a few weeks ago but not sure if they are a regular thing or not.

Excellent post & already there have been some good suggestions/ideas within the thread.

Look forward to seeing the fan village go from strength to strength in the future.

Went into the fanzone again pre and post match. Very busy inside and a good number of people outside on the running track as it was a pleasant evening.

Once noticeable difference I saw was the running of the bar, in games prior the bar was run by a third party company.
For the Wire game both bars were ran by Wigan staff (at least one of them was a player from the ladies team). Great to see as hopefully all takings and profits go directly to the club.

With regards to the food we had Ben Westwood's burger van outside. So plenty to work on from that respect. I believe it is work in progress and will only get bigger and better for the remainder of this season and into next but it must be having a positive £££ going into the club which is great.

They also housed the past players in the kingfisher lounge. I believe this is also an option going forward for corporate hospitality.

Yes saw this. I do believe it's an option which was openly discussed on the fan survey and is an absolute no brainer.

More £££.

It's certainly a preferable option to pumping our cash into the stadium.

I see the South Stand had plenty of empty seats despite us being told they'd stopped selling tickets for it on the Wednesday.

My question, therefore, is ... had those empty seats already been sold to season ticket holders who were on holiday, which I admit is a distinct possibility, or were the stadium authorities just being dicks?