Wigan petition...

I've taken this from a Wigan fan's post on the wimps site:


Good afternoon all, Wigan fan here.

The reason for my post is to make you aware of a petition, started by Wigan fans, to get the EFL Fit and Proper Owners Process debated in parliament with the hope that the EFL will be forced to review, revamp and make it fit for purpose to protect the future of football clubs in England.

For those of you not familiar with Wigan Athletic's current problems, very briefly, Wigan Athletic was sold by one offshore business to a second offshore business during June this year. Within days of acquiring the club, the new owners put it into administration resulting in a 12 point EFL penalty and ultimately relegation from the Championship.

The club was well managed, did not have any outstanding bills, there was no notice or rumour that this was going to happen and currently no sensible explanation why this was done so quickly. However, the new owners had been approved by the EFL.

Subsequently, many people have lost their jobs, charitable projects have ceased, fantastic work within schools and the local area has been adversely affected and the whole community is in a state of shock and devastation. The club is having to sell players to pay wages and bills and even if we survive and win our appeal against the 12 point penalty, it is very likely that our current squad will be decimated.

If this can happen to Wigan Athletic, it can happen to any club.

In recent times we have seen other Football League clubs suffer similar problems, some even go out of business altogether (eg Bury) and each time the EFL states that we must learn lessons......... but nothing ever changes.

Wigan fans feel this is now a watershed moment. Many clubs are likely to experience serious financial problems due to the effects of the Covid 19 crisis. We need a governing body that will look after and protect its members in the best possible way, starting with the Fit and Proper Owners review.

If you feel you would like to support our cause then please follow the link below and sign the petition.

This is not about getting Wigan's 12 point penalty removed, it is about demanding the EFL take responsibility and become accountable for their actions.

Thanks for your time.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/331589

Having read it, I have also signed it. There's some interesting information about the plight of Wigan, and their very dodgy owners.

It’s a no from me. Wigan’s owner acted impeccably right up until the moment he transferred the club to another of his businesses, offloaded that business and had the new owner (his stooge?) place it in administration.

The EFL can never implement a test that can predict a good owner (as Wigan’s was for 18 months With big investments into the club) suddenly pulling the plug.

My opinion is that Wigan would have sold players this summer to balance their books. They have some very good players. But coronavirus has destroyed the transfer market at that level. You’re not gonna have clubs spending like they did last summer in the Championship. The Wigan owner decided to cut his losses.

Have we got all the money from the sale of Bogle from them as I know they spread payments over many years.

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.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Have we got all the money from the sale of Bogle from them as I know they spread payments over many years.

I would imagine they would have had to pay us any money owed when they sold him on to Cardiff Pete.

The sentiment is there but it won’t change anything. Christ, we’re talking about the EFL, the league that sabotaged it’s own lower league cup competition to allow under 23 teams to infiltrate it, still floats the ideas of B teams, is inconsistent at implementing its own rules and is generally incompetent.

One could also argue that fit and proper tests don’t necessarily identify people good at running a club. I’m sure Swann, Fenty, Lincoln’s previous owners, even the Allams etc would all meet and would appear fit and proper but doesn’t mean they’re any good.

Surely being good for a club goes beyond just making them financially stable or self sufficient?

Quoted from GollyGTFC

It’s a no from me. Wigan’s owner acted impeccably right up until the moment he transferred the club to another of his businesses, offloaded that business and had the new owner (his stooge?) place it in administration.

The EFL can never implement a test that can predict a good owner (as Wigan’s was for 18 months With big investments into the club) suddenly pulling the plug.

My opinion is that Wigan would have sold players this summer to balance their books. They have some very good players. But coronavirus has destroyed the transfer market at that level. You’re not gonna have clubs spending like they did last summer in the Championship. The Wigan owner decided to cut his losses.

True that the EFL is short of mind readers but there is more to it than the football club I suspect. Cook had put together a reasonable squad and was looking at play offs next season. There would have been no sales if it was about football business alone.

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.

Quoted from aldi_01

The sentiment is there but it won’t change anything. Christ, we’re talking about the EFL, the league that sabotaged it’s own lower league cup competition to allow under 23 teams to infiltrate it, still floats the ideas of B teams, is inconsistent at implementing its own rules and is generally incompetent.

One could also argue that fit and proper tests don’t necessarily identify people good at running a club. I’m sure Swann, Fenty, Lincoln’s previous owners, even the Allams etc would all meet and would appear fit and proper but doesn’t mean they’re any good.

Surely being good for a club goes beyond just making them financially stable or self sufficient?

How on earth can you put JSF in the same sentence as Swann

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.

Spot on!

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.