Wigan - Into Administration

Interesting insight from one of their supporters:-

"Wigan Athletic have recently been sold and bought by the same person; Dr. Choi Chiu Fai Stanley. He is the chairman and majority shareholder of the last owner; IEC plc, and also majority shareholder of the new owning company 'Next Leader Fund LP'. This has been approved by the EFL which renders their club ownership process to kiddies TV; 'The Magic Roundabout'.

Dr. Stanley, has over 20 years experience in financial services and merger and acquisition projects. He also a renowned poker player in the far eastern gambling world through televised poker tournaments.

According to his letter sent to IEC plc shareholders on 8 May 2020 (link below), one of the principle reasons for selling the club and transferring ownership is that it will be financially advantageous to IEC in regard to a previous interest free loan of £24.36 million. IEC have provided a replacement loan via 'the new owner' and most importantly; it is interest bearing at 8%. This is now costing Wigan Athletic £37,846 A WEEK! The club have made an average loss over the last two years of circa £8.5 million which equates to £163,461 per week and therefore losses now total circa £200,000 per week.

For context; the present stock market capitalisation (value) of IEC plc is £36.48 million and is engaged in expensive court actions with tax authorities concerning 2 of it's subsidiaries.

However, the terms require the capital sum to be repaid in 12 months and if the club defaults then the interest rate increases to 20% to which weekly payments on the £24.36 million loan amounts to £93,692 !"

Dr Stanley knows the company cannot pay these figures on their present income and so did the directors of the club and the EFL. So why was it allowed to happen?"

 

I don't feel for them.

A decade or whatever in the Premier League, an FA Cup and European football - more than we've ever had.

So they sowed, now they will reap. Or the other way round. Reap/sow. Sow/reap. Administration/relegation. Relegation/administration.

Like cheating Bolton, they signed one of our best players when they were in the financial ****. Feel sorry for them? Don't make me laugh.

 

Wow!

 

Yup I did, and I understood it perfectly. I wasn’t seeking to dispute your post but to clarify the unlikely hood of Wigan being in the relegation zone. Perhaps I should have made an independent post

 

Would this be a good time to remind you about Bolton and Bury?

 

Ah yes, I forgot that football debts were prioritised nowadays. Probably not quite as risky a loan as I thought then.

 

EFL statement says a definite 12 point deduction.
Ollie Bayliss (@Ollie_Bayliss) Tweeted:
Interesting EFL statement regarding Wigan Athletic's administration.
Wigan will receive a 12-point deduction this season UNLESS they're already in a relegation position without the deduction.
In that case, the 12-point deduction will apply to their League One 2020/21 season. https://t.co/ElS7lu5ldb

 

I dont feel sorry for wigan continually living beyond there means for years even when they won the f.a cup. This seemed like a matter of time before they went tits up covid has just brought it forward hope they have paid us for moore!

 

It was a matter of time for wigan been over spending years.

 

Wrong set of ********. You're thinking of 32 Red.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/foo...eover/ar-BB16cuzS?li=BBoPWjQ&ocid=mailsignout

Decent article here. Interesting what the owner blames for the woes.

 

"Since buying the club the company said it sustained increases in players wages to £17.5m"

Interesting use of the word "sustained". Surely a football club doesn't "sustain" wage increases, they result from negotiations in which the club is an interested party. They can choose to walk away from those negotiations, as clubs such as our own routinely do.

 

Just reading the issue seems to be the new owners never materialised with any money as promised to inject into the club. Sounds more and more like another big tick for the Owners check by the EFL

 

I've just come.

 

Sad to see yet another club going into admin. Apparently their administrators said Covid hasn't impacted the financial position that much. Also reported Wednesday failed to pay some wages. Heres a couple of questions. If every club who have cheated the FFP went into admin, how many would exist / be left in the championship? Do we expect our owners to put their hand in their pocket to keep us going or will they use debt and the overdraft they negotiated to try to keep us afloat?

 

Paid in full or just so many pence in the pound owed like other failures?

 

The truth is I think they may go under. Whelan is probably the only person who would save them, if he can & he thinks it is wise, since he was skanked selling to a set of fraudsters. I can't see it happening TBH, I guess he has family he wants to leave money to, rather than paying football creditors. Who else would buy an unfashionable club that is going down to L1? Answers on a postcard.

I have to say we now have a real chance of staying up. Just a chance. A chance that had gone in March in my mind.

The reason we have a chance is; we have added a couple of decent defenders, our manager has had time to assess our defensive frailties & look at some youngsters in the U23's & we have no crowd to chide some of our young players. They can just get out there.

I'm counting on us now finishing above Wigan & Hull. We need another. Jesus, Holy Son of Ronnie, the Wednesday point deduction.

 

So Wigan have a massive incentive not to be in the bottom three.
They will still be relegated but would start in Div 1 with no point deduction - is that right?

 

It’s relatively simple,

finish outside bottom 3, 12 points deducted and table realigned.

finish inside bottom 3, 12 points deducted next season