I remember once being lucky enough to be invited to the chairman’s box by IFL for a game shortly after he took over the club. DW walked into the room at half time, looked through the window to see the kids playing their half time game ‘get them f%&king kids off my pitch’ he shouted in front of everyone. Hardly ever seen kids playing at half time since, only around the time prior to the pitch getting resurfaced.

Only put in around 20% of the cost of the Stadium but sold it along with his "beloved" Latic's at a profit.

Did he donate the Stadium to the town and people of Wigan and just sell the Latic's on its own?

No, the bigger profit the better and sod Wigan!

Only proved that when he had won a trophy, his interest in the Latics declined by buying cheaper players with the result that the Latics and the Stadium ended up in administration like his JJB Store business where he also made a profit for himself.

That's how much Whelan cared about Wigan!

Seeing as how we're all going on about Whelan I might as well share my families experiences with him. People assume my hatred of Whelan comes from the fact I'm a rugby fan but it comes from the way he treated my grandad when he worked for Whelan at Rathbones. My grandad was one of Whelan's top bakers for many years and had to have some time off to have a triple bypass. Firstly my grandad had a company Merc from Whelan but two days after his operation Whelan sent two of his goons around to my nan and grandad's house who practically barged past my nan when she opened the door, took the keys off the hook and drove off with it.

Then a few weeks later my grandad returned to work (much sooner than he should have done) went to his office, opened his desk drawer to find that his recipe book that he made himself and written over 30 years (so long before he even worked for Whelan) had gone, when he confronted Whelan about it he claimed that it was his property and not my grandad's. A few other things happened after that and my nan and grandad got a lawyer and were ready to take him to court but then something happened (I'm not sure what exactly) and were then advised they should leave it.

That's deplorable. I've removed my previous sarcy comment about Whelan myths, no one should be treated like that.

im not sure he put anything in after the councils money and the sale of central park had the debts removed

No money from the sale of CP went into the new stadium

just into his pocket?

Did he even own the club when we sold CP?

Grimmy i wasnt personally impacted as i was only there for 12 months but saw enough to form an opinion of the man. Whilst he may come across on TV / radio as the loveable uncle Dave, trust me his is far from it when it comes to business, he is as ruthless as they come (and some).

i know we are all entitled to our opinions and some may love the guy, but he is genuinely someone i wouldnt trust if my life depended on it. i think i would trust some of the Wire and Saints posters on here before DW

He put in only around 20% as I have stated, a fact confirmed to me by a local businessman who knew a lot about the financing of the Stadium.

Nothing went into the building of the Stadium from the sale of Central Park as the money came form various grants, the share of 14% of the Council and the 20% contribution of Whelan.

After the debts of around £6.5 million to creditors, the remaining £6.00 million of the £12.5 million form Tesco went in the funds of the club which was later bought by Whelan after the DW Stadium had been built.

Spanish Bid fallen through!

Surely now is the time for another Leneghan bid, which appears the only realistic and sensible one left on the table?

Leneghan buys the stadium, use the fans money raised for the supporter's club to buy the football team. Wigan give latics a long lease.

Everyone's happy. Saves them from being liquidated, preserves their football league status, and ensures the ground isn't at risk.

Pie-Ella off the menu at the DW it would seem.

Adios Amigos.

Granted my figures are only based off a quick skim read of a few articles, but I've heard the figure of £3m being touted for everything. If IL can buy the stadium for £2m then Latics fans have already raised £900k. You'd think that would cover everything.

Time for the fat controller administrator to check his ego and accept IL's money (if he's still willing to buy it that is) & time for Latics fans to accept it's 'us' or failure.

Doesnt the buyer have to prove they have funds for 2 years? Fans can't do that on 900k.

IMO its the only realistic option now. And one which is hugely beneficial for both clubs. As a plus, if we could pull it off we would have avoided all the running costs of a stadium thats been unusable for a year due to covid, picking it up just as things start opening up again

I think thats comes from the EFLs requirement to show they will be solvent for the next two seasons (this and next), which is why they wanted proof of 5m plus 3-4mil for the sale.

If leneghan took the stadium, their fans the club, surely whelan would be prepared to guarantee their losses up to that much to keep them going? Not even the price of an average footballer in the days he was loosing tens of millions a season on them! You'd think he'd do that as a parting gift.

If I were leneghan, id get onto Whelan, then approach the supporters club with the proposal. Its about all they have left which is viable tbh!

It's time to put the rugby/football bitterness aside. The town need BOTH clubs, whoever finishes up owning them needs to respect the other and work together for the good of both.

It would seem a few on social media would rather go bust than IL be involved with a buyout.

Unbelievable.

They have a strange dribbling bunch of fans. One section in particular. The 40 somethings that hate Maurice Lindsay and bring their kids up to follow suit. Let them eat cake. If they want to go bust i hope Lenegan is listening to them. Hope they enjoy Frickley and big local derbies against Chorley and Bamber Bridge.

both clubs need each other you are right, I wouldnt want them to go belly up

Yup that's what I've seen too.

Whilst I don't think this moronic bunch are representative of the majority of Latics fans, they do make up a fair chunk of them sadly.

Like you said it's unbelievable. IL is a decent guy and more importantly from a Latics POV, he's got strong footballing connections. He'll run a steady ship and look to promote youth - pretty much ticks every box you'd want from an owner

Surely these are a relatively small number compared to those who just want their club to survive?

I've heard before about fan power in football, but that usually refers to clubs like Juventus and Barcelona, who can call upon legions of supporters.

It surely must be the case that Latics' hardcore dissenters can walk away and no one will even notice?

And what happens if they take Wigan R.L with them?

Fully agree. The bitterness and pettiness appears largely one way these days. Its time the clubs came together. Whats amazing is that theres a large proportion of tics fans who can't do that, even when their future could potentially depend upon it!

That's the worry. This stadium ownership debacle could have serious implications for us.