Wigan petition...

What happens when owners go rouge after they pass the fit proper test etc and then decide to put the club up.  What I'm trying to say is people can change one minute they are the saving keeping the club afloat and the next they are putting the club in admin.  I don't think this can be resolved unless there is something that allows transfer of ownership when being neglected.

Football at top level sold its soul many years ago
Anything goes now
We are all complicit - eg: if Newcastle gets taken over by a murderous regime and do a Man City NUFC officials and fans won't give a toss

I have no wish to return to non league but one of many things I enjoyed was its honesty and a feeling of 'this is genuine' as footy was meant to be

Rose tinted perhaps but it was the impression I was left with

I don't doubt something dodgy has gone on here, but the sentiments of "devastated local community" etc. don't quite wash with me.  Wigan is a small place, and of the people I know through work from that area, they are ALL rugby league fans, or fans of another football team.

Wigan is a rugby league town.  To give the rugby club a run for their money, Dave Whelan pumped money in and made Wigan an EPL club, despite not even being a fan of them beforehand.  Fair play to him.  But even then they couldn't fill their fantastic stadium, and it remained a rugby city.

I can only imagine that they have over-spent mightily over the years, and whilst we'd all love the meteoric rise they've had (not to mention that FA Cup win), this all crashes eventually, and in reality they're a L2 club posing as a Prem club, and you can only wear sheep's clothing for so long.

Whilst they have a good squad etc., can they really afford them?  I'm making big assumptions here and admittedly know no facts as I've only read the initial post above, but this is a well-trodden path here.

I am reading that the Saudi Arabians have pulled out of buying NUFC, not because of the fair and proper test but because they ran out of patience. Like they did with Khashoggi.

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I think you're p*ssing in the wind. Any sport that views the government of Saudi Arabia as a potential 'fit and proper' owner is morally bankrupt and won't take any notice of your petition, regardless of how many signatures are on it.

This country sells arms to Saudi Arabia in full knowledge that some/all are used in Yemen. It isn’t football’s job to be the moral compass of the nation. It’s the government’s responsibility to put trade sanctions in place if they are warranted. It’s bad enough that the Premier League & EFL showed more leadership against the Coronavirus pandemic in early March than the elected shambles of a government we have without the Premier League having to take responsibility for our countries relationship with Saudi Arabia too.

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

The EFL are mainly to blame.  Thet sanction these rogue owners in the first place under the guise of "Fit and proper owners test".

However, using the analogy of credit card companies giving you a large credit balance is no reason to go out and spend to the thh limit (and beyond).  

Clubs must live within their means and run them properly (hard for some to do).   The Wigan poster said that "one offshore business/owner sold the Club to another offshore owner".    There is the crux of the problem. Selling the Club to an owner in the first place who was based offshore for business and/or tax reasons.

No! No! No!

Brentford are in the Chanpionship playoff final next Wednesday. In recent years they are profitable through player sales. But they spent millions and millions setting up their system over a number of years. Why can’t lower league clubs be allowed to speculate in that way? Salary caps and living within theirs means will only hand an even bigger monopoly to the biggest clubs in the land.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

This country sells arms to Saudi Arabia in full knowledge that some/all are used in Yemen. It isn’t football’s job to be the moral compass of the nation. It’s the government’s responsibility to put trade sanctions in place if they are warranted. It’s bad enough that the Premier League & EFL showed more leadership against the Coronavirus pandemic in early March than the elected shambles of a government we have without the Premier League having to take responsibility for our countries relationship with Saudi Arabia too.

I completely agree with you on all counts but football has to HAVE a moral compass. Because the government sells arms to KSA does not make it right to have Saudi owners (or any corrupt owners from anywhere). Football has one god and one god only, money.

What the FA, EPL and EFL do have is an obligation to show leadership in the game of football, especially as it so important to so many people in this country. And they fail miserably against that measure.