Football must not ignore alarm bells from Wigan

IT IS not even 10 years since Liverpool FC were within 24 hours of going into administration.

Look at ‘em now.

Newly crowned champions of England, sitting on top of european and world football.

Not bad, eh?

It would not have crossed the mind of one supporter, while those – admittedly Covid-muted – celebrations kicked off across Merseyside as to how close the club came to collapse not so very long ago.

Why should it?

Never mind that within 18 months of the takeover by the Fenway Group, two of the executives responsible for saving the club – Ian Ayre and Christian Purslow – were pointing out how supporters were suffering from ‘short memories.’

In itself, that’s no surprise.

The Anfield crowd sees 11 men run out of a tunnel. They come to see those famous red shirts. And if their team doesn’t look so different from last week... well, so what?

Yet English football failed to heed the warning as one of its’ biggest names almost went to the wall.

Due, in part, to that ill-fated leveraged takeover by George Gillett and Tom Hicks (right), a government enquiry into football’s governance had been set up to examine how the game was being run. A 447page document was produced after witnesses were called from all levels of the game.

But what really altered?

It was criticised at the time for being ‘too broad to change anything’ and once that box was ticked, everyone moved on.

Instead of finding solutions, taking tangible measures aimed at preventing almost inevitable corruption, it had performed its’ duty – something was seen to be done – only it wasn’t. After the maelstrom, no one pressed it. There was no lasting change. No one asked: ‘What can we really do to prevent another disaster taking place?’

Now, this piece isn’t to blame Liverpool or the club for anything. It is simply the most high-profile example of how an institution so big, that matters so much to so many people could go so badly wrong.

And so we come to the events of this week – and what has taken place at Wigan Athletic.

We have now reached a situation where the club’s administrators are investigating an allegation the club going into administration is linked to a bet on the club being relegated. That thinking – confirmed by EFL chairman Rick Parry – would lead Wigan to suffer a 12point penalty, almost certainly shoving them into League One.

It’s a story so bizarre, so improbable that Wigan MP Lisa Nandy is calling it ‘a major global scandal.’

Who knows what the outcome will be?

Doubtless there will be calls for another enquiry. People hand-wringing and asking themselves: ‘How did this happen’?

Well, it happened because the game failed to take notice of the last major warning. Alarm bells clanged – and everyone carried on as they always did.

Football – certainly outside the Premier League – is incapable of policing itself.

It needs outside intervention to ensure incidents like this cannot be repeated.

The EFL deserves criticism. But the simple fact is that, as a body, it does not have the resources necessary to deliver the safeguards supporters need.

This week it’s Wigan. Next week, who knows?

There are ownership issues throughout the EFL – people in football know exactly where.

We must not let another lesson of history go unheeded – otherwise we are opening a Pandora’s Box – and who knows where that will lead.