WIGAN CRASH
FORMER CHAIRMAN WANTS TO HELP OUT CLUB/
FORMER Wigan owner Dave Whelan says he will see if he can do anything to help the club after they were put in administration.
Administrators Begbies Traynor say other interested parties have already been in touch, as they prepare to undertake a thorough review of the club’s financial position.
The Championship side are facing a 12-point deduction for entering administration, although when that sanction is applied depends on whether the club can achieve survival on the pitch.
They are currently 14th, and if they stay out of the bottom three with on-field results the deduction will be applied to their final tally this season. If they are relegated, they would be docked the points at the start of their 2020-21 League One campaign.
Wigan are the first club to go into administration since the suspension of English football due to the coronavirus pandemic, with joint administrator Gerald Krasner saying the impact of the outbreak on the club had been ‘significant.’
Another administrator, Dean Watson, said his firm Begbies Traynor was contacted by the club’s legal team. The club were FA Cup winners as recently as 2013, under former owner Whelan who sold to the Hong Kong-based International Entertainment Corporation (IEC) in November 2018.
Whelan expressed his shock at the news but said he would see what he could do to help.
“I’ll have to stick my nose in a little and have a look, to see if I can find out what’s caused it, how much are they in liquidation for,” he said.
“I’ll have to just try because the people of Wigan will be in absolute shock, because I am.
“Wigan is Wigan and I built the stadium, so I am going to have to see if I can help in any way, shape or form.”
Administrator Watson confirmed there had already been expressions of interest.
“It’s very fluid, very fast-moving,” he said.
“We’ve got interested parties already getting in touch with us. I’m stood on the pitch now and you’ve only got to look at it, see what an impressive stadium they’ve got, a good fan base, and the team are on a really good run. So we’re quite positive.”
Watson and his colleague Paul Stanley both said it was too soon to ascertain the full financial position of the club.
The chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee Julian Knight called for ‘leadership from the very top of the pyramid,’ saying the Premier League had to step in and provide assistance.
“It would be tragic if a club that has been in existence for nearly 90 years is forced to the wall,” Knight said.
“We know that 10-15 clubs could find themselves in the same position. What’s needed now is leadership from the very top of the pyramid to help save the Wigan side and the jobs of those who work for it.” “Yesterday the DCMS Committee sought clarification from Richard Masters at the Premier League on what action it was taking to provide extra money for clubs at risk he told us that the EFL hadn’t asked for extra funding and the PL hadn’t provided it. That’s a situation that has to change.” Premier League chief executive
Masters told MPs on Tuesday that his competition had already made good on its 2019-20 commitments to the football pyramid, and that there had not yet been any ‘specific approach’ for further help from the EFL. Wigan were in the Premier League as recently as 2013. They dropped down into League One in 2015 but made an immediate return to the Championship.
I’ll have to try because the people of Wigan will be in absolute shock, because I am Dave Whelan