Wigan Administration

[1864roverite]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

Nixon says they lost and are relegated 

Looks like my scoop beat every hack going??

[rigger]

7 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

Looks like my scoop beat every hack going??

Is that a poop scoop

[Tom]

Whilst I will say I wanted them relegated due to the way some of their fans acted it’s now looking bleak for Wigan 

Down to 12 players currently, they need an owner in quickly 

[chaddyrovers]

18 minutes ago, Tom said:

Whilst I will say I wanted them relegated due to the way some of their fans acted it’s now looking bleak for Wigan 

Down to 12 players currently, they need an owner in quickly 

The asking price for the club must be surely reducing after his assets is sold. They need a new manager plus loads of players. 

Must be really possibility they not starting the season. 

[Mattyblue]

6 hours ago, Tom said:

Whilst I will say I wanted them relegated due to the way some of their fans acted it’s now looking bleak for Wigan 

Down to 12 players currently, they need an owner in quickly 

Article in their local rag makes it sound as if 12 will end up being the high point. Echoes of Bolton...

 https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/football/wigan-athletic-back-training-who-will-stay-and-go-2939624

[JHRover]

https://wiganathletic.com/news/2020/august/Update-Statement-from-the-Joint-Administrators/

I would be worried reading this if I was a Wigan fan.

Effectively 4 interested parties, but only just over 2 weeks to sign up and buy otherwise they won't be able to start the season.

Not much time. I'd still expect someone to step in at the last minute but doesn't need much to go wrong.

[bazza]

I wonder how Dave Whelan is feeling about all this. After all he was the one who invested in a little non-league club existing in the heavy shade of a gigantic Rugby League club.

[JHRover]

Whelan must be stuck between a rock and a hard place. No doubt tough watching them face oblivion and he has the means to bail them out.

But he's also in his 80s, a businessman who took years to offload them in the first place. Is he really daft enough to plough his families inheritance into keeping a League One club afloat? 

[Waggy76]

14 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Article in their local rag makes it sound as if 12 will end up being the high point. Echoes of Bolton...

 https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/football/wigan-athletic-back-training-who-will-stay-and-go-2939624

Bolton will probably by pass Wigan the season after next ...

 

[Mattyblue]

Quite possibly, my point was more they could start the season with a squad akin to the one Bolton were repeatedly getting smashed 5-0 with this time last year... though I suppose Wigan will be just happy to KO the season at this stage....

Edited August 13, 2020 by Mattyblue

[davulsukur]

1 hour ago, JHRover said:

https://wiganathletic.com/news/2020/august/Update-Statement-from-the-Joint-Administrators/

I would be worried reading this if I was a Wigan fan.

Effectively 4 interested parties, but only just over 2 weeks to sign up and buy otherwise they won't be able to start the season.

Not much time. I'd still expect someone to step in at the last minute but doesn't need much to go wrong.

What happens if they don't start the season? Out of the football league and starting life again in non league?

[JHRover]

Just now, davulsukur said:

What happens if they don't start the season? Out of the football league and starting life again in non league?

Another Bury. I think the Football League will demand guarantees from them before allowing them to kick off the season. If they can't they'll boot them out and they'll either disappear or apply to join non league.

Doubt it will happen to Wigan or Charlton though. Too high profile.

[davulsukur]

Just now, JHRover said:

Another Bury. I think the Football League will demand guarantees from them before allowing them to kick off the season. If they can't they'll boot them out and they'll either disappear or apply to join non league.

Doubt it will happen to Wigan or Charlton though. Too high profile.

Its mad. Wigan in non league would be crazy.

I've not quite grasped Bolton in league 2 yet.

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, JHRover said:

https://wiganathletic.com/news/2020/august/Update-Statement-from-the-Joint-Administrators/

I would be worried reading this if I was a Wigan fan.

Effectively 4 interested parties, but only just over 2 weeks to sign up and buy otherwise they won't be able to start the season.

Not much time. I'd still expect someone to step in at the last minute but doesn't need much to go wrong.

Not much of playing squad left there, so any new owner will need to invest in the squad and bring in a new manager. 

I thought Wigan entered exclusive deal with one interested party

[G Somerset Rover]

Robinson off to Everton, Sheff Utd or Fulham too. He’s one quality LB. 

[rigger]

20 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

Its mad. Wigan in non league would be crazy.

I've not quite grasped Bolton in league 2 yet.

I remember when it was crazy to think of Wigan as a league club.

[davulsukur]

8 minutes ago, rigger said:

I remember when it was crazy to think of Wigan as a league club.

Ha, fair point.

[only2garners]

As I pointed out earlier in this thread I still haven’t forgiven Wigan for “pinching” Southport’s league position in 1978, the last team to leave the Football League by the re-election process.

[Stuart]

What is happening to Wigan, nearly happened to Bolton and happened to Bury is exactly why we need to keep the Rovers Trust going.

The big fear is of course elimination from the EFL but the bigger fear is not even being able to start again in non-league.

Thanks again Venkys.

[We Are The Rovers]

On 14/08/2020 at 08:06, Stuart said:

What is happening to Wigan, nearly happened to Bolton and happened to Bury is exactly why we need to keep the Rovers Trust going.

The big fear is of course elimination from the EFL but the bigger fear is not even being able to start again in non-league.

Thanks again Venkys.

You may find our latest newsletter interesting reading, as it shares your sentiments:

Notice of AGM 2020:
The contents (and the optimism level) of this Newsletter has changed several times! After postponement due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, the Trust will hold its AGM on Thursday October 8th. It's our hope by then at least Season-Ticket holders will be attending matches.

At the AGM we seek new Members of the Board. One of our longest serving Board members, Professor Michael Doherty, has reluctantly resigned his Board post due to the Covid-19 pressures of running a Law Department. He will still be available if the worst happens to the Club (see his article to be sent later). We at Rovers Trust would like to thank Professor Doherty for his service to Rovers Trust and its members.

One other Board Member, Mr. David Riding, is due to seek re-election. Board Members serve for 2 years and the number of elected Board Members allows us to seek co-opted Board members in the same numbers. So please consider putting yourself forward for election–we have a lot to do!

All that is required is that you must be a Rovers Trust Member, be nominated by another Rovers Trust Member, and be seconded by a third Rovers Trust Member.

Any nominations should be directed to our Secretary, Michael Ellison via his email: michael91ellison@hotmail.com

or if you want to discuss anything at all, contact the Chair, John Murray on 0044-7880507080, or email chair@roverstrust.co.uk


June Newsletter Response:
The June Newsletter asked a number of questions –thanks to all those who responded.

SEASON TICKETS:
95% sought no refund (out of 52 responses) although 10% mentioned incentives for next season.

NEXT SEASON:
Some 42 respondents were keen to come back as soon as possible.

VENKYS OWNERSHIP:
Only 1 Member who replied was NOT happy for a rapprochement with Venkys.

SALARY CAP:
Including Twitter responses, some 118 supporters were in favour for each Division.
- Note: Since the time of writing, clubs in Leagues 1+2 have recently voted in favour of Salary Caps. This shows there is appetite for change even at Board level within Football Clubs. Rovers Trust, alongside a multitude of Supporters Trusts, have helped in this regard by ensure fans' views are heard at Board level.

Conclusion:
If you wondered about the Rovers Trust position on EFL rules and policies to maintain the integrity of the EFL (and PL), here is a good summary recently put together by retiring Board member, Michael Doherty:

'For Rovers supporters the events at Wigan, 20-odd miles down the road, over the last few months will have been both reassuringly familiar and depressingly chilling. The distant owners with a complex corporate network around the ownership arrangements – check. The obscure former footballer appointed as a ‘football consultant’ – check. The agents and loans and interest payments all happening right in the line of sight of a football organisation that has shown no genuine interest in protecting its clubs – check, check, check.

Blackburn Rovers has suffered some indignities over the last decade, but we have been spared the near-death blow that fell on Bury and the tide of sanctions, points deductions, squad culls and (hopefully) in-depth investigations that have started to roll over Wigan Athletic. Memories are both very long and very short in football – who remembers Wigan profiting from Bolton Wanderers financial distress by buying their principal training ground as long ago as 2016? The current model of ownership and regulation in the EFL keeps disaster lurking just over the horizon for the majority of its clubs.

Those were not particularly cheery paragraphs, were they? More direct and useful questions are;

• What can Rovers supporters do to reduce the risk of similar existential threats to the continuance of the club that has been at the heart of our community for 145 years? Look at what has saved clubs facing similar threats – not the Government, not the FA, not the EFL. It had been supporters who have created or, more effectively, drawn on existing organisational structures to save their clubs – see Wimbledon, Bury, Cambridge, Portsmouth, Swansea etc etc etc for examples.

• What can Rovers supporters do to avoid the need for this sort of crisis-management, heart-in-the-mouth, sleepless-night approach to supporters saving their clubs? It cannot lie in individual action. It can only lie in collective action from a legitimate supporters’ organisation that can push for real change. The Rovers Trust is a member of the Football Supporters Association. It is sitting down across tables with Government ministers, FA, EFL etc putting forward specific demands to protect clubs as not ‘ordinary busineses’ but as expressions of community identity. This involves removing conflicts of interest, professionalising the regulatory abilities of football authorities and introducing greater financial responsibility and transparency.

Rovers Trust can be a part of that conversation via the FSA and you can be a voice in this debate because you are a Member of the Trust.'

Keep the faith, get involved and encourage others to join via www.roverstrust.co.uk.
John Murray, Chair of Trust

[K-Hod]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/aug/16/wigans-former-owner-kay-asked-about-administration-before-his-takeover?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The EFL have some serious questions to answer.
Will they have to? Probs not.

[Damien]

21 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/aug/16/wigans-former-owner-kay-asked-about-administration-before-his-takeover?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The EFL have some serious questions to answer.
Will they have to? Probs not.

Shocking reading!

[Mashed Potatoes]

1 hour ago, K-Hod said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/aug/16/wigans-former-owner-kay-asked-about-administration-before-his-takeover?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The EFL have some serious questions to answer.
Will they have to? Probs not.

What do you think those questions should be ? Personally I can't see how officials at the EFL could have known what Kay was up to, especially as I am still unable to understand why he continued with the purchase given that he seems to have already realised that he would be unable to finance the club.

[K-Hod]

1 hour ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

What do you think those questions should be ? Personally I can't see how officials at the EFL could have known what Kay was up to, especially as I am still unable to understand why he continued with the purchase given that he seems to have already realised that he would be unable to finance the club.

Would have helped if you’d read the article, for some context instead. In fact just the headline would have been beneficial, but here you go- ‘Wigan's former owner Kay asked about administration before his takeover’. Why on earth would that not lead to the EFL smelling a rat?!

[EgyptianPete]

6 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Would have helped if you’d read the article, for some context instead. In fact just the headline would have been beneficial, but here you go- ‘Wigan's former owner Kay asked about administration before his takeover’. Why on earth would that not lead to the EFL smelling a rat?!

He was probably in contact with S Kean (tosspot) ha ha told him porkies as well. Only joking, Shame on the EFL but hey Sheff Wed bigger than Charlton so they get the nod. Now thats a disgrace when you read directors changed dates to beat the rap.