Steve B the Groundhopper

2.45pm 21 February  2026 Cheshire League, League Two Wigan Town 6 Sandbach Town 2 (att 10) When I last saw Wigan Town at home, in April 2024 , they were using the well-appointed ground of amateur rugby league club Ince Rose Bridge. At the start of this season they moved a short distance to the new Leisure United William Foster facility. It's typical of such venues, with a building housing changing rooms, toilets and a café alongside a pair of 3G pitches. Both have a spectator area running the length of one side, while 'pitch one' also has partial access at one end. Grounds like this often come in for criticism, but on an afternoon of constant heavy rain there's almost no chance this fixture, or the Wigan Amateur League fixture on the adjacent pitch, would have survived. My plan was to watch whichever match was on pitch one. Having previously visited what was then William Foster's Playing Fields in 2012 , the single grass pitch back them mostly overlapped what is now...

11am 30 August  2025 Under 18 Professional Development League Wigan Athletic U18 0 Watford U18 0 (att 40) The was pitch hopping rather than groundhopping. I was last at Christopher Park in 1997, before it became Wigan Athletic's training ground, to see West Lancashire League side Wigan College. The pitch used that day is still there, and was marked out this morning, but Athletic use a different pitch for their under 18 and under 21 games. There's a pair dugouts on the far side, opposite an area that's designated for spectators and that runs to just beyond the halfway line. Beyond that is a separate area reserved for scouts. This looked a good contest on paper. Watford headed the southern section with three wins from three games, having scored 15 goals, while Wigan were unbeaten and top of the north division. Both sides hit the crossbar, Watford in the first half and Wigan in the second, and both had other good chances to score. The best opportunity fell to a visiting player...

6.30pm 30 April  2025 Wigan and District Amateur League, Colin Silcock Cup, Quarter Final Spring View 4 Red Lions 2 (att 30) To say Spring View made hard work of beating lower division opposition to earn a place in the semi final of the Wigan League's Colin Silcock Cup would be an understatement. They dominated early possession but were rocked when Red Lions scored with their first attack. Three minutes later, with just 10 minutes played, and the visitors went 2-0 up. Spring View pulled a goal back, but a missed a penalty was just one of many chances that were spurned. Eventually, with an hour played, Spring View did equalise. A second penalty put them ahead with about 20 minutes left. They also added a late fourth, but four goals was a poor return given the number of chances they had. Spring View, an area of Wigan, share their name and their ground with an amateur rugby league club. The main pitch, used for both sports, is close to the pavilion and car park and is fenced off along...