Its current capacity is 25,138—seated in four single-tier stands—and its record attendance was on 11 May 2008 when 25,133 people watched Wigan Athletic play Manchester United in the final match of the 2007–08 Premier League season.
[11] The stadium's inauguration was marked with a friendly between Wigan Athletic and neighbours Manchester United – who were then reigning European champions, Premier League champions and FA Cup holders – with United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson officially opening the stadium.
Wigan played in their changed strip and used the away dressing room since it was technically a 'home' game for Cambridge City.
This move would almost certainly have resulted in the stadium's safety certificate being revoked, effectively forcing the team to play behind closed doors.
The situation was temporarily resolved on 8 March with both sides reaching an agreement that would allow Athletic to play at the ground until the end of the season.
Four months later, Wigan Athletic, facing the prospect of playing their home games in the Premier League in an empty stadium, grudgingly paid the money they owed to the police.
[17] On 7 September 2008, Wigan Warriors revealed plans to take their Super League Play-Off against Bradford Bulls to a neutral venue.
[19][20] Whelan, who controlled Wigan Athletic, refused permission for the Warriors to stage their elimination at the stadium, citing concerns over the playing surface.
[27] This is the stadium's highest recorded overall attendance to date, and was the match where Manchester United were crowned Premier League champions for that season.
[30] Concerns about the future of Wigan Warriors were arrested in the same announcement, as Whelan extended the lease on the stadium by 50 years for the rugby league team.
[32] Later that month it was announced that Frasers Group would buy "certain" assets from DW Sports Fitness for £37m, but would not be using the firm's brand name.
[2][41] Wigan Athletic's success has improved considerably since their move to the stadium from Springfield Park in 1999.
[43] The highest attendance at the stadium for this season was a match between Wigan Athletic and Arsenal F.C., in which 22,954 people were counted.
[43][44] Wigan Warriors moved from Central Park to the stadium in 1999 after the end of Super League IV's regular season.
Aside from Grand Finals, the largest Super League attendance was recorded at the stadium in 2005 when Wigan Warriors played their local rivals, St Helens R.F.C.
The twenty thousand mark has been broken 17 times since moving to the new stadium, 12 times against St Helens RLFC, once against local rivals Warrington Wolves in the opening round of the 2008 Super League XIII season, and once in July 2009 against the Leeds Rhinos following a campaign advertising the game as the 'Big One'.
Australia played Great Britain in front of a sell-out crowd during the 2001 Kangaroo tour, with the home side losing 8–28.
[61] Australia narrowly defeated Great Britain again in 2003 at the stadium, winning by a margin of four points during their 2003 European Tour.
[63] The visitors lost again during their 2007 tour, this time 28–22 in a closely fought game in which Wigan-born second-row Sean O'Loughlin featured.
[64] The stadium has hosted the World Club Challenge four times, in 2000, between St. Helens and the Melbourne Storm in 2011 when Wigan took on St. George Illawarra Dragons.
The stadium's surroundings are mostly urban, as it is located in the north of Wigan's Robin Park retail complex in the western suburb of Newtown, on the south bank of the River Douglas, west of the Miry Lane industrial estate.
[2] The main road serving the complex is the A49, running east-bound from the M6 motorway, junction 26, 750 metres (820 yd) south of the stadium.
[69] Next to the stadium's South Stand lies the Robin Park Arena,[70] which is operated by Wigan Warriors and is capable of seating around 1,200 spectators.
Robin Park Sports Centre is situated directly opposite the Stadium and Arena.