The way football has gone, there are very few clubs which will turn a large profit for the owners. It's not really a sound business investment, it's more of a rich mans play thing.

As a comfortable Premier League club, I don't they've ever had the wheels on.

Surely that is the last reason to buy into any sports club? The very top clubs may turn a profit but haven't Utd's owners said the £80m they just got is all available for transfers? You would have expected them to trouser at least half of it if they were in for the cash.



How many soccer clubs can fund themselves to sufficient levels to compete at the top level? Most that have genuine aspirations to compete at the top sell out as Man City did and despite their much bigger following than latics it isn't enough to fund them to the extent they need to be to try and break into the big time.

The point is, if some mega rich person or corporation fancied being associated with the English premier league then won't be doing it for an investment and they need to buy a club and Latics would be a cheap option.



It doesn't matter they have a small fan base and are not self financing. Any new owner would know that and would be expecting to put the money in and so effectively run it at a loss.

So what has that got to do with us? It is in our interests for Latics to be able to fund their existence without the need to go looking to see if they can squeeze more money from their RL tenants.

The lease may be bomb-proof enough to prevent them doing that anyway but it would be nice if this was confirmed by our chairman so we need not worry regardless of what happens to Latics.

The other scenario to them being successful is Latics go bust and as the JJB/DW would be an asset the liquidators would need to dispose of to pay creditors, that gives us a far more uncertain future but that may also depend on how bomb proof the lease is.

Dave

Apart from the big 4 not many others have!

And that's the point I was making, they may be cheap but they have no brand presence as the likes of Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea and to a certain extent City. Therefore any sale would just be a 'play thing' so to speak and I would think there are far better options available in the PL at the moment than Latics.
I think, as I've said on another post, the reason for the change in ground ownership is more to do with helping fund the short/medium term future with regards transfers and salaries without DW being saddled with an ongoing & presumably longer term debt just at the time he's looking to wind down and effectively back out.

Given the speculation and concern this has generated I personally would have liked to see a statement issued from Wigan Rugby to the fans clarifying the situation, or is that too much to ask as a concerned loyal ticket holder?

Whats to be concerned about? We have a 50 year lease, thats all that would be said in the 'statement' because thats all there is to it. The Stadium has always been owned by Wigan Athletic because Whelan IS Wigan Athletic, so i dont see why everyones getting their knickers in a twist

There may be nothing to be concerned about but the fact is there is a 12 page thread on the subject shows some people are concerned.

They may be misplaced in their concern but DW giving the stadium to Latics (when he said he was gong to give to the tow and both clubs) is a pretty major development and it is quite understandable people want to know how it will effect Wigan RLFC, if at all.

It may not change a thing but I think if IL stays quiet on this it would be a mistake. He has piped up on issues far less significant than one to do with the future of the club e.g. the Higham transfer and Ainscough's contract not allowing him to play.

This is way more significant than either of those so I for one think a statement is required.

The one caveat is IL probably can't make a statement until the facts are clear so given this was DW talking about something that has not actually happened yet IL is probably not in any position to do so just now.

Dave

I dont want to say this but our new home mite just have opened ( leigh)put two tiers on the stands down the side would take the capicty to around 20000 than put a tier on the seated stand behind the sticks and you get around 23000. What do other people think seriously this could happen.

No thanks.

You cant just stick tiers on top of stands, its not lego

Ive always wanted the JJB to have seats in the corners so its an enclosed stadium. Then all the atmosphere wouldnt escape out the corners. Never going to happen though as the end of the South Stand is all concrete, and Latics attendances dont warrant it.

It would end any association Ive ever had with Wigan Rugby league

No chance, we are going nowhere, we will not be leaving the DW/JJB Stadium for quite a while, if ever.