Saturday sees our first visit to Wigan Athletic since 2006 and the kick-off is at 12.15pm thanks to our good friends at Sky, who are delighting the nation once again by televising one of our matches.

If you're coming by car on from Leeds the best way is to stay on the M62 till you reach the M6, then go northbound. (There is a more direct route via the M61, but it would probably be slower as you’d have further to go once you’d left the motorway and you’d have to go through a couple of towns. Come off the M6 at junction 25 and follow the A49 to Wigan, and in two miles you should pass an Aldi store on your left, before reaching a large traffic light controlled roundabout.

Turn left at this roundabout into Robin Park Road and continue into Scot Lane. The stadium is down Scot Lane on your right. The official JJB Stadium Car Parks have 2500 spaces in the on match days, and if you park anywhere else in the Robin Park complex you run the risk of getting a ticket. Most spaces are unreserved, so if you'll need to get there early to ensure you have a space. There are spaces allocated for disabled supporters too.

Wigan has two railway stations within 100 yards of each other, both being about 20 minutes walk from the stadium. If you're coming from Leeds via Manchester you'll find yourself at Wallgate. The other station (Wigan North-Western) is on the other side of the road and is served by Virgin trains on the London Euston-Glasgow route,

From either station you need to go under the railway bridge and keep to the right, following the same road for around 10 minutes, passing the Seven Stars Hotel and then going under a second railway bridge. By now you should be able to see the JJB Stadium, and you just have to turn down Robin Park Road and you'll be there.

If you fancy a swift ale or two before the game there is a large indoor Marquee Bar, specifically for the use of away fans, with another option being the Red Robin, which is only a few minutes walk away from the ground opposite the Cinema Complex. With the early kick-off there won’t be much time for drinking in the town centre, but you could try the Wetherspoons 'Moon Under Water' or the ‘Anvil’, both of which are listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

Also worth a mention are the ‘Berkeley and 'The Swan and Railway’ near the two railway stations. Finally, these is also ‘The Orwell' at Wigan Pier, with it's real ales, regular guest beers and good food. The pub is on the canal side and a short walk from the pub along the canal will take you to the ground. It is also only 5 minutes walk from both the train stations, and if you're driving you'll pass the pub on your right as you come in on the A49.

Other places to get some scoff are Frankie & Bennies, Pizza Hut, and Burger King within the Robin Park complex near the stadium, and there are also some takeaways opposite Wallgate train station.

If you were one of the 2,000 Leeds fans who managed to get a ticket for our FA cup 6th. round tie at Springfield Park in 1987, you'll remember being crammed onto a shallow open terrace where it was almost impossible to get a good view of the game. Things have certainly changed since, thanks to the deep pockets of Dave Whelan, who is chairman of both the football and rugby league clubs. He played for Blackburn in the 1960 FA cup final before making a fortune though his company JJB sports, but is no relation to me as far as I know.

There was no chance of improving the old ground to meet the standards demanded by the Taylor report, and Whelan's first idea was for Wigan Athletic to share the rugby league clubs superior Central Park ground. When this plan fell through he decided to build a new stadium for both clubs to share, which cost £30 million and opened at the start of the 1999/2000 season.

The total capacity is 25,023 and Wigan's official site boasts of all sorts of exciting facilities, which ominously include a purpose built Police Station and cells. If you don't fancy being carted off to sample the local plod's hospitality you can stay on the concourse and buy alcohol from the bars, as well as the usual pies, etc.

Away fans get the whole of the North Stand at one end of the ground, which gives an allocation of 5,400 seats. As you would expect from a new stadium, the concourse is pretty spacious and the views are good, etc, and they have the usual football ground food inside, as well as alcohol.

This is of course a category A game, but the prices are only £20 for adults and £15 or £10 for concessions. If you haven’t yet got a ticket you can still order one from Leeds up to 4pm today, and then pick it up at the stadium tomorrow. As far as the home stands are concerned, the official Wigan site says that “ticket sales on the day will be restricted to Wigan Athletic supporters with a previous booking history of games at the DW Stadium. “

Photo: Action Images

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