Just a reminder that the Leigh East problem is being discussed on BBC Radio Manchester at 7.50am (I think).

Good luck to everyone at leigh East. SOme of the best times of my life spent there watching my son play. It would be a tragedy if they folded.
Absoulte shame on Wigan Council. Maybe we should all refuse to pay our council tax.

Can I just ask how much subscriptions are now and how much they would have to be raised by to cover the shortfall?

That's a massive jump Keith and obviously numbers would drop dramatically if prices were raised to such an amount.

Is £4 the norm? Is this the sort of amount that the kids who play at other amateur clubs pay?

Subs were £3 a week when I played for Easts over 20 years ago. With the facilities they have, £4 is a bargain.

Agree that £10 would be too much to ask.

It would be interesting to see what the councils vision is should the club fold (i sincerley hope it doesn't). They would probably lose even more !!

Heres praying for a bit of common sense, and well done to Janet who put Easts side of the story to Beswick well. Its just a pity no-one from the council had to balls to debate it live. Beswick would have had a field day !!

Wigan Council have just tweeted their press releaseLeigh East is a valued and valuable part of the borough’s sporting community. The club’s commitment to working with young people is well-known. Like everyone else, we want to see Leigh East grow and thrive and we would urge them to come back to the table and rearrange the meetings with us that they have cancelled.

However, we also have a responsibility to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent appropriately, particularly at a time when the council faces financial pressures due to government cuts. That means our present arrangement with the club cannot continue. For a significant period of time, we have sought to negotiate terms for the club's occupation of the pavilion at Leigh Sports Village with no success. Because the club has never contributed anything to the maintenance costs of the pavilion it means that the residents of the borough have been picking up the bill. As a result the club has left us with little option but to act to put in place arrangements which better reflect the balance between the interests of the club and the wider community.

In order to maximise the potential of the venue and so it can be better used by the local community, the council has decided the bar should no longer be operated exclusively by the club but instead by Leigh Sports Village Company Ltd. The council has assured the club that the pavilion will still be their club house and will remain available for their members to use. Over the past three years the bar has generated average profits of around £10,000 per year. The new arrangements will take away the cost of renting and operating the bar and function room which will compensate for this loss of income.

We recognise the good work the club does with young people and Leigh East is absolutely not being evicted from Leigh Sports Village. We are putting in place arrangements we believe to be fair because we are mindful of the excellent voluntary work the club does. We understand this decision may not be what people connected to Leigh East hoped for but hopefully they will understand the council has a duty to get the best deal for all taxpayers.[/i

-------------

I'd like to know how much the 'maintenance costs of the pavilion' are and how they can justify the fact that in effect they gained a brand new sports pavilion and playing fields for nowt seeing as they got an £810,000 grant to build this for Leigh East.

How can they say they are acting in the interest of spending the tax payers money when the council bailed out the LSV as a whole to the tune of £500,000 last year? they have 2 execs who run the village and are paid over £100,000 a year.

secondly why would they want the bar when they have been franchising there own out? they run very few bars now? the one at the stadium? monaco? let Leigh east franchise it out if thats the case!

Top and bottom every year they move the goal post and offer empty promises, the people we deal with are bullies and are ultimately puppets for LPS. Why should we trust them when everything they have given or offered they have subsequently taken away.

Yours Frustrated parent

Surely as it's 10 grand profit, that would be after all other costs have been considered?! I'm sure the amount they charge from hiring the pitches out, the 6 a side leagues etc would more than cover the maintenance costs.

Spent appropriately !!!!! What, just like the hundreds of 20MPH signs erected all over the borough that 99% of drivers will just ignore. ( I could list many more examples if I had the time).

Get in on question time, now that would be fun and see how many people would back up the council after a open debate with all the cards on the table

Council wasting money then shafting those they think have it - never!!!!!!!!

Collect the outstanding rent and rates from the scrounges to increase income, its a lot more than the the few grand on offer here

I think it's important that Leigh East issue a further statement to answer the allegations about cancelled meetings, and also, answer point by point the items you are saying are lies such as East's innacurate responses. This needs to be done ASAP whilst the item is high on the social media, otherwise it could be yesterdays chip papper to those not directly involved.

This sort of response for example from Wigan council to a tweeter
"Leigh East is a great club and we think it has a great future. We’ve asked the club to discuss terms with us but they’ve cancelled our meetings. We’ve worked with them for many years so we’re disappointed they have been making inaccurate claims about their relationship with the council. We want to find a solution to this issue. They know our door is open and we’re ready to talk."

Also, obviously raise all the good points being made on here and elsewhere.

Oh and another thought, Si Reynard brought up the fact that Wigan and other teams wouldn't be able to show interest in Sam Hopkins without Leigh East...which led me to thinking the club would do well to issue a list of all players who have gone on to play semi/pro, and the actual numbers of registered players over the years - children especially

#saveLeighEast

How much does the Council contribute to Robin Park?

Keith, you must set up a public meeting and get the press involved. Invite the council, if they turn up you can't lose, if they don't you still win, that would speak volumes.
Anyone who has been remotely involved in East knows what a fanatastic job they do and how much they inspire the youth of Leigh to do something useful with their spare time.

People who love Leigh East more than they love the Wigan Council should fight for the East cause. From what I can gather, comments from various councillors on here seem mis guided, they don't seem to know the full facts and are trying to be clever with words. They refer to large 'subsidies' - that doesn't mean that East get the money they refer to as 'subsidies' although the wording does suggest that they do. Different councillors make fools of themselves by saying things that are factually wrong - have we had an official statement from Wigan MBC yet following the press release from Leigh East - That is the one we should read and then pull to pieces - when it comes.

Yes, it is on the previous page.