The DW Stadium is a sports stadium in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, that is home to Wigan Athletic football club and Wigan Warriors rugby league club.

Built and opened in 1999, it is named after its main sponsor, DW Sports Fitness, and managed by the independent Wigan Football Company Limited.

Its current capacity is 25,138—seated in four single-tier stands—and its record attendance was in 2008 when 25,133 people watched Wigan Athletic play Manchester United in the title-deciding match of the 2007–08 Premier League season.

The stadium was built by Alfred McAlpine and completed in August 1999. Wigan Warriors moved to the stadium a month after it opened, once they had played their final home game of the 1999 regular season at Central Park. After their former ground was sold, the possibility of ground sharing with Bolton Wanderers F.C. at the modern Reebok Stadium was presented, however, the new stadium in Wigan was chosen instead. Their first game at the stadium was a play-off match against Castleford Tigers, which they lost, on 19 September. Wigan did not lose a competitive match at the stadium in 2001. Wigan Athletic had spent the previous 67 years playing at Springfield Park, and their first match at the stadium was a friendly against Morecambe, just before the stadium's official opening.

Paul Josef Herbert Scharner (born 11 March 1980) is an Austrian footballer who currently is on free agent. He usually plays as a central defender or midfielder. He is noted for his positional flexibility having played every outfield position for Wigan except left back.

In the Austrian Bundesliga, Scharner played for Austria Wien and SV Salzburg, before joining Norwegian club SK Brann in 2004.

Scharner was voted player of the year by the Brann fans in 2005, and one of the best players on all the major player rankings in Norwegian newspapers and TV channels in 2005. All together, his time in Norway was very successful, and soon, clubs from bigger leagues were keen to sign him.

Scharner signed a 3.5 year deal with Wigan Athletic on 22 December 2005, and joined the squad after the holidays. Wigan agreed a fee of £2,500,000 (€3,700,000, 29,500,000 NOK), making it the biggest transfer in SK Brann's history.

In his first match for Wigan, Scharner scored the winning goal against Arsenal in the Carling Cup at the JJB Stadium. He went on to start in the final for Wigan that season, a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United.

Dean John Hammond (born 7 March 1983 in Hastings) is an English football player who plays for Southampton in the Championship. He previously played in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion, Leyton Orient and Colchester United.

During the early stages of his career at Brighton & Hove Albion, Hammond had loan spells at lower league teams twice in 2003, first to Aldershot Town during September, and secondly to Leyton Orient in October. He was given a six-month ultimatum at the start of the 2004–05 season by then manager Mark McGhee, Hammond impressed and was awarded a new deal that summer.

At the beginning of the 2005–06 season, he was handed the vacant number 11 shirt at the club, and became a first-team regular, either playing on the left hand side of midfield or in his preferred natural position of central midfield. In the 2006–07 season, he was handed the captain's armband at the club after injuries to both Richard Carpenter and Charlie Oatway. At the end of January 2007, Carpenter was released by Brighton, so Hammond became the new official club captain.

Robert Samuel Kiernan (born 13 January 1991 in Watford) is an English-born Irish footballer who plays as either a centre back or central midfielder for Wigan Athletic. He previously played for Watford, and spent time on loan at Kilmarnock, Yeovil Town, Bradford City and Wycombe Wanderers. Kiernan has captained the Republic of Ireland national football team at under-19 level and under-21 levels.

Watford's sent two youth squds to the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland in the summer of 2008. Kiernan was moved from his natural position of central midfielder to play centre-half, to take advantage of his height and physical presence, and also captained the side. His performances drew praise from coach Mark Warburton.

Later in summer −2008 he was called up by the Republic of Ireland under-19s for a four nation tournament. However, he had to withdraw after tearing his right thigh muscle.

Kiernan captained the under-18 side in 2008–09, in which they reached the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup. In October 2008, along with Billy Gibson and Ross Jenkins, Kiernan signed a developmental contract, keeping him with Watford until the end of the 2009–10 season. A professional contract, it allowed the players to continue their scholarship without the pressure of worrying about their future.

David Rhys George Best Cotterill (born 4 December 1987) is a Welsh footballer who currently is on free agent.

Born in Cardiff, Cotterill started his career at Bristol City, making his debut as a substitute for Michael Bell during a 0–0 draw with Colchester United on 30 October 2004. He played 57 games and scored seven goals for them before the end of the 2005–06 season and was subsequently voted Bristol City's Young Player of the Season.

Cotterill joined Wigan Athletic on a three-year deal for £2 million on 31 August 2006. He scored his first goal for Wigan with a curling shot against West Ham United in a 2–0 victory at the Boleyn Ground, on 6 December 2006. Despite scoring 2 goals in 24 games with the Latics, his other goal coming against Sunderland in the FA Cup, he never fully established himself in the first team and was made available for loan.

Seeking first team football to aid his international career, Cotterill joined Championship side Sheffield United on 8 February 2008 on a loan deal to last until the end of the 2007–2008 season. He made his debut for the Blades the next day in a 0–0 home draw with Scunthorpe United eventually going on to play sixteen games for the Blades during his loan spell.