Wigan in Administration

The official supporters club has launched a 'Save Our Club' fundraising campaign and set a target of £500,000 - by next Monday.

In a worse case scenario - and no buyer comes forward - this money raised would be a safety net to ensure the League One outfit can start the new season and isn't liquidated.

Jackson, a director of Latics and the former chief executive, is working with the supporters club on the drive.

He said: "We're two weeks from the start of the season, we need to ensure the club survives.

"We're asking the supporters to come together to raise as much as possible for the future of the club.

"Time is ticking... and the alternative is absolutely unthinkable."

If the club is sold in the meantime, the supporters club plan to meet with the potential new buyers about taking a stake in Latics. If they choose not to, those who have pledged money will be refunded.

There are three tiers of pledges, raising from £250 to more than £1,000, though smaller donations are also being welcomed on the Crowdfunder website.

"We've seen examples in the past of clubs owned by supporters trusts, in times of difficulty, they come together and save the club," said Jackson, a lifelong fans and the long-standing CEO.

"We're in a position we do need to save the club.

"If the club is sold in the meantime, if they want the supporters to play a part in that ownership model - if they want them to have equity in Wigan Athletic 2020 - that's a choice for them.

"If not, everyone who pledges money will get their money back.

"I hate to say it, but if there's no solution found... they'll get their money back then as well."

He says liquidation is a "real possibility" if enough isn't raised but hopes fans' support and pledges will stave off that threat, if the administrators - who have been in charge since July 1 - can't find a buyer for the club.

Warriors chairman Ian Lenagan has bid for the DW Stadium and Latics' Euxton training base is set to be sold to Preston North End.

Wigan Council has offered its support and Jackson says they have had talks with the EFL.

"The EFL want Wigan Athletic to survive," he said. "Everyone does. The club is embedded in the community, it's a community trust, it's the 7,000 season ticket holders who come every other week, it's the 88 years of history.

"It means so much to the town, to the community. We can't lose that."

The crowdfunder page can be found

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-wigan-athletic

https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/football/we-need-fans-help-save-wigan-athletic-says-jonathan-jackson-2953486

7000 season tickets holders my arse! Even if that was true they were in the Championship and that is pathetic. Always will be a tin pot club with no fans.

Preston have apparently bought Euxton - for less than we sold it to Wigan.
Nixon meanwhile, seems confident that a deal will be done and Wigan will be saved. We'll see.

The Administrators held a press conference today and these are the headlines

The 31st August deadline for a sale is being extended.

"Having conducted an investigation, we have seen nothing to substantiate any allegations against Mr Yeung". Blowing my own trumpet I know but that's exactly what I said right back at the beginning of this thread, ie liquidating a company a company to stop future loss or for turning assets into cash is not illegal in itself.

The 'football' debt is now cleared.

Football 'creditors' still need to be cleared before a sale.

All players paid up to this month which includes deferred wages from previous months.

Sale of Euxton money to be received in September. -  "That will allow the September wages to be paid".

" In order to sell the club, certain criteria must be met:

* Football creditors must be paid in full.

* Sufficient monies to pay 25p in the pound to all other creditors. Still remains at £5million even with Au Yeung debt written off".

"I am now faced with a number of bids. I’ve told everyone the same: We are not looking to make a profit on this. We are looking for a figure of £4million. Including in that is the stadium, which we value at £3million".

"If we can sell the three properties we value in total at £4million, we will sell the club for £1. But the buyer would have to have a figure of at least £5million, which would cover the next two seasons".

"We believe the wage bill for next season will be less than £2.5million".

"We believe the club is in line to lose £1.9-2.2million for each of the next two years".

"Add-on clauses will be worth £4.8million over the next five years, which is an asset for the club".

"Where are we now?".
"At the start I sent out 75 packages. I got back 5 replies. The first bid was way above all the others, and had it gone through I would not still be here. Unfortunately, the one condition was that it was a Championship club. And they pulled out.  Of the other bids, none of them remain active, they have all moved the goalposts. One bidder is now on his third consortium. Most were only in it to make money on the property.

I’ve now got two different groups of Americans, and two UK-based bidders. They are the frontrunners and we are talking to these people. I remain optimistic one of these bids will come to fruition.

Talking to the fans now, I must be honest, if none of the bids come to fruition, we have to think about whether the club has a future.

How close to a stadium sale? We’re not selling the stadium as things stand as a one-off item.

Has Ian Lenagan approached to buy the stadium?  Without naming anyone, because of the NDA, I had an approach to buy all the properties but not the club. I also had an approach to buy the properties split between two parties, with one buying the club. That collapsed quickly. There’s been an offer for just the properties, which I will reject.

I've spoken to senior members of the council, they're looking at options, they've been really positive.

We're going back to EFL about new season, we'll see what they raise.. there's a long way to go.

This is not a Bury or anywhere near a Bury. At this moment... I have to add that, in case all the bidders disappear. [Sounds very much like it IS like a Bury to me! - Sluffy]

Bidders have all been doing their due diligence... first person to sign contract, with satisfaction of EFL, will get it. We can't wait for more money. It won't happen before bank holiday.

My understanding, if someone dumps £5million into a special bank account (for a bond), the EFL will want to see this account. The EFL has had a lot of criticism over the change of ownership, and won't be caught out again by someone who can come in, sell off stuff and walk away. Whoever it is will have to demonstrate medium to long term commitment to this club.

"One of the suggestions I put forward when I met the supporters club, was if you can raise enough money, go to a business person and say, 'Look, we have X, we will pledge it, we want a seat on the board or 10% of the shares or a quarterly meeting...' - unfortunately football is about money.

The main issue is the values... we've got £3million in administrators to pay, £1.3million to creditors... you've got 15-point deduction next season.

The fee (we're paid) will be in the report to creditors. If may be six, nine months before we get paid.And we came into this knowing if we don't succeed, we don't get paid. [Interesting - Sluffy]

If we can't pay the wages, there's no club.

Today, we've paid all wages, all referrals. Bang up to date. But the VAT hasn't been paid and it will have to be.

https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/football/live-blog-wigan-athletic-administrators-thursday-press-conference-2954259?page=1#liveblog

My summary

Bottom line is they need someone to pay £4m for the club/ground, an undetermined amount to pay of unsecured creditors (for arguments sake say £2m) and to cover trading losses of around £4.5m for the next two years.

Let's say a round total of £10m

Could they cobble some sort of alliance between the Council, Supporters group, Wigan Rugby, persons or business of high net worth (to coin a phrase!) and that be acceptable to the EFL as I very much doubt there is an individual bidder going to come forward like FV did with us?

The ball as I see it is in EFL's court in that they have to decide to let Wigan start the season in Admin like us, or say no to Bury who was also in Admin - the reason for that being we had a clearly identified buyer and were halfway or more to a sale and Bury didn't and were not.

I see Wigan being in the same position as Bury and if the EFL is consistent in their views from last year then I can't see them allowing Wigan to start the season unless they have a clearly identified, seriously intended buyer - with proof of funds within the next fortnight!

Sounds like they might escape going bust but how can that stadium only be valued at £3 million? Sounds low to me.

Found it interesting listening to the meeting this morning, having read most of the postings on Latics Speyke they see the administrators as the enemy and selling the crown jewels to line there own pockets.

Hearing the explanation and reasoning behind all the decision painted a very different picture, they may not survive,but for sure at this point the administrator seems to have kept them in with a chance.

Agree with Sluffy with 4 days to go who would stump up 10 million at this point ? always thought it was weird that the new owners would want the stadium selling off, obviously that was rubbish, going back to our predicament FV wanted the stadium and the hotel. So never really saw why they would sell it seperately.  A bare knuckle ride over the next few days.

The Admin did say that they would start the season (EFL approval) if so then they are still running the club and would have to fund it, so does that not say that they think that they have a firm buyer on board ?

Norpig wrote:Sounds like they might escape going bust but how can that stadium only be valued at £3 million? Sounds low to me.

The value of something is what what someone will actually pay for it - and not what it cost.

I've no doubt the cost to build the stadium was far closer to £30m than £3m but what would anyone pay to own it now is the question.

What can you do with it other than to play football and rugby there?

You can't knock it down and develop the land because there are planning constraints preventing that.  It costs money to maintain even if no one uses it from month to month, and the rugby crowds are insufficient to keep it viable if it cost too much to buy, so if you think about it, there are very few people who would want to buy it at all - so the value is set at a price that somebody will actually be willing to pay for it - hence a £3m value.

They might not even get that much if it went to liquidation and Wigan Rugby were the only ones to make an offer on it!

Ten Bobsworth wrote:It would be interesting to know what income Mr Krasner was forecasting for the next two years (I'd say that was very uncertain)and how their expected outgoings compared to BWFC's.

I took the above comments from the Marc Iles equivalent from Wigan's local newspaper - unfortunately he only said what he did - but I've taken the following quote from someone on the Latics Speyk - Administrators 'press conference' thread which was this -

"Projected to lose 1.9m-2.2m the next 2 years, with a wage bill of 2.5m on a base revenue of 4m, with a closed stadium and 0 money from gate receipts, with all transfer bills paid off and instalments owed to us over the next few year..."

https://forums.vitalfootball.co.uk/threads/press-conference.107584/

I've not checked it to actual video of the meeting but take it to be what was said.

Video of the presentation -

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?extid=2CGhVSCrUfVnfcCC&v=1018583858575761&ref=watch_permalink

Chanel 4 News feature featuring Bury fans wishing us the worst, an Administrator storming off from an interview and Wigan's MP blaming the Administrators and saying the fans will save the club.

Great viewing!

https://www.channel4.com/news/wigan-athletics-administrators-confident-of-completing-takeover-deal-despite-search-for-buyer

Certainly doesn't give you any confident feeling that they're going to get out of this does it!?

Natasha Whittam wrote:Why is a thread about another club dominating the Wanderers section?

Put it in the right section you mod bellends.

Not sure how I missed this post.

Did anyone see that clip on the TV where some Bury fans were watching the Wigan team training, and were asked what they thought about the club's problems?
They said they wouldn't wish it on any team, even Bolton. Then one of them turned around and said, well, yeah, maybe Bolton. Fucking wanker. With an attitude like that, I'm glad your clubs gone. actually, I'm not really).

gloswhite wrote:Did anyone see that clip on the TV where some Bury fans were watching the Wigan team training, and were asked what they thought about the club's problems?
They said they wouldn't wish it on any team, even Bolton. Then one of them turned around and said, well, yeah, maybe Bolton. Fucking wanker. With an attitude like that, I'm glad your clubs gone. actually, I'm not really).

I posted the link in post 210 of this thread if anyone wants to see it - well worth a watch!

Sorry Sluffy, I missed that one.

gloswhite wrote:Sorry Sluffy, I missed that one.

No problem, in fact it gives me another chance to tell people to watch the clip, I found in quite funny really!

I post below the next video blog from the young Wigan fan - I've really been very impressed with him - he's got loads of stuff out there from interviews with the Administrators to the local MP and from the club manager when this started to one of the Directors of the company (before he was pushed in order to allow all this to happen with the club) and his 'Plan B' bid with their version of the ST (in fact it's quite funny that they are starting a ST as such and spoken to Portsmouth and others as to how to go about it properly by have not mentioned our ST - who not only are in the next town but also went through all they are going through now just a year ago - clearly they don't want to follow our model in the slightest - in fact I don't even think they've even tweeted any offers of help or even support to them - you'd have thought they would have - brothers in arms so to speak?).

Anyway, the interview with Lisa Nandy -




She talks a good fight but I think there needs to be something more substantial in place for the EFL to give them the green light to start the season and I get the feeling they are a long way from that yet.

I do like Lisa Nandy. My favourite Labour MP. I watched it all the way through, and got a slight feeling that like all politicians, she knew a little more than she could/would say, although certainly seemed optimistic enough.

gloswhite wrote:I do like Lisa Nandy. My favourite Labour MP. I watched it all the way through, and got a slight feeling that like all politicians, she knew a little more than she could/would say, although certainly seemed optimistic enough.

Thought she was a little naive myself, either that or she probably knew the score but was talking things up for the future votes!

Bottom line is that it seems the EFL want £5m deposited with them to start the season and I simply can't see anyone doing that.

The Council could buy the ground but unless things have changed since my time they are not allowed in law (ultra vires) to run a business/be part of, such as a football club.

So the only way I can see them getting involved is buying the stadium and being the landlord to Wigan football - and even then (again unless things have changed) they have a duty to charges economic rent to play there - otherwise the council taxpayers are subsidising a private business and that isn't allowed.

Even IF they bought the stadium there is an entirely different matter of how they would purchase it - do they have £3m in their capital account sitting spare at the moment for instance?

I can't make any sense of this French/American so called bidder, why would they want to pay a minimum of at least £5m over the next two years to buy a third tier football club, to run it 'sustainably' when the club has no ground to play at, no training ground to work in and no (well hardly any) current players???

Doesn't add up does it?

Although Daily Mail now running with Nixon's story too -

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8674179/Tampa-Bay-Rays-owner-Randy-Frankel-ready-complete-4m-deal-save-Wigan.html

Either the much derided Lenagan (Wigan rugby owner) decides to buy the club - and really why should he - he's going to lose £5m in the next two years for a start, or the supporters club takes it on from liquidation.

The supporters Trust have set themselves a target of £500k by the end of the month and raised £100k on day 1, £90k yesterday and £50k today (total £236,001) with tomorrow Saturday, Sunday and finally Bank Holiday Monday - a fine effort so far but they aren't going to make it unless the 'high net-worths' turn up for them.

It's clear the Administrators haven't got a buyer - all this talk about Euxton sale will pay September wages - they need someone to put £5m down now if they want the EFL to let them start the season.

I think Admin want the EFL to make the decision not to let Wigan start the season, so they could say that it is now out of their hands "but we could have gone on for a while longer to find a buyer if they would only have let us" type thing.

Nandy if she wants the club to survive has to find £5m somehow and within days  - until she manages that, they are sunk.

In a way I hope they prove me wrong - but I can't see it.

Cant see it either Sluffy,

the numbers dont add up, and while selling players is a way of getting cash into the business, i dont see a long line of clubs queueing up to buy. The main assets have pretty much gone, so where are the million pound players still at the club?

Wages need to be paid soon, if not already, and as you say the 5m in the bank assurance, the cost of the ground, safety case and inspection, ground staff wages, the mythical 25m to pay back (possibly)........a really exhaustive list could be made if we felt so minded.

Nandy is barking, (in both meanings of the word) and has to be seen to be supporting the 'push' to get the club running again.

so to be a realist they need the following now.......
£5m in the bank to prove sustainability for 2 years
£3m to buy the club

The supporters, god bless em, are fighting but as with any crowdfunding venture you will always see an initial surge then rapid tail off, and thats what we see here.

I doubt there ever was a buyer for the club or it would have happened by now.

I can see Tuesday being their last day to be honest. the EFL will have to, by then, come to a decision based on whats come to pass so far, and the fact they Wigan will need a full team available for the restart, and also for the sake of other teams who have to plan the season around wigan (or not).

They are doomed i believe, but i truly dont want them to go. How many more will follow this coming season?

In the cold light of day, I believe you two chaps are right. We've seen this before, and the bottom line is money. If it isn't there, no matter how things come and go, it'll force peoples hands. I can always invite Ms Nandy to become a Bolton supporter. 
When I think of it, maybe not. She's part of a losing Party, and a team about to disappear. Doesn't look good for the decisions she's making, does it ?