Yes they did very well - some of those achievements were incredible. I remember speaking to a few Latics fans right after their FA Cup win and subsequent relegation. They said they wouldn't have swapped the cup win for staying in the division. Although I understood why they said it I'm not sure they would hold the same view now.
The ones I know personally from Cockney Latic and Latics Speyk (inc their SLO who's commitment to supporting his club over the years has been recognised nationally) would give any history just to see their club playing football. They dont really care if they play at a latics-owned DW or latics-rented DW. They want to see their club playing football at their home stadium, and the standard doesnt matter. I feel their pain and hope that however this pans out, those lads still get to do on a Saturday what they have done for 40+ years.
There are of course others who would rather see the club die than pay in a Leneghan-owned stadium. I suspect their doppelgangers are the ones that stormed the US Senate this week.
If he didn't sack you then he must have sacked a member of your family.
Oh, and please tell me.....how do joe public own and fund a stadium? If council tax goes up to cover the running costs how would you feel on the matter then?
Yes a member member of my family was sacked many years ago by Whelan, but has never looked back since as a result of getting a better and more well paid job with a more reputable local employer.
As for joe public running a stadium, perhaps you should asked the numerous Councils who own Stadiums, but pay for the running costs by inviting large business companies to sponsor the Stadium in the form of naming rights like for example, John Smiths Brewey in Huddersfield, Kingston Communications in Hull, Etihad in Manchester, AJ Bell in Salford etc, etc.
Its called Franchising!
Perhaps the same kind of large sponsorship and proper naming rights should be done with the Stadium in Wigan instead of it still just having the initials of someone who no longer owns it?
Firstly, the only use of the land can be for sporting use, under both planning and council regulation. Secondly, its hardly crumbling down. Its a modern state of the art stadium, that looks a bit tired because it hasn't been used for 12 months, nor had anything spent on it because of latics plight. Sure there would be some initial outlay but nothing beyond general repair / remediation work....few seats, panels on the stands etc and a bit of a spruce up. When you look at some other 'stadiums' in both super league and the football league, it is in a damn site better nick and practically new....20 years into a realistically usable period of between 100-150 years.
That stadium will outlive all of us so long as its used, so there's very little to worry about in that regard. Its who picks up the liability for maintenance moving forward and whether we think we can make it commercially viable. Notwithstanding comments of some, I firmly believe we could....most properly run stadiums generate a profit, its more the mis-management of the stadium thats caused the problem
Excuse me, the lack of new seating and maintenance was happening during the time that Whelan owned the Stadium and may be one of the reasons why he decided to sell it and the Latics when he saw what it was costing in maintenence, especially the cost of keep renewing the pitch due to it being built in the wrong place.
Yes, it is a good Stadium compared to many of the older stadiums in the country, but not a patch on many others, like for example the nearby University of Bolton Stadium which only cost £10 million more to build,
Excuse me, the lack of new seating and maintenance was happening during the time that Whelan owned the Stadium and may be one of the reasons why he decided to sell it and the Latics when he saw what it was costing in maintenence, especially the cost of keep renewing the pitch due to it being built in the wrong place.
Yes, it is a good Stadium compared to many of the older stadiums in the country, but not a patch on many others, like for example the nearby University of Bolton Stadium which only cost £10 million more to build,
thought the pitch issue was fixed 2 years ago, when the DW was built and brand new it wasnt as nice as Bolton then, look at Huddersfield, not a lot spent on it and is really starting to look its age
All he’s done is give the most marquee contracts out. All he’s done is spend the cap each season and use every dispensation available to spend over it (legally). All he’s done is build the club back up to help us win multiple trophies. All he’s done is drive the values of the club and put pride back in the badge.
I wouldn’t rule out him ‘only’ ending up purchasing the stadium but we shall see. He isn’t on his own anymore in terms of funding the club, with him having brought in a couple of wealthy shareholders so we’ll see what they can do. As a supporter of both clubs I’d ideally like to see the ground in the hands of somebody who will do their best for both clubs.
I wish the majority of your fellow Latics fans had the same breadth of vision. Following the saga on Twitter, there are still plenty who are firmly convinced that IL is the evil genius behind their demise.
Last edited by Cruncher on Sat Jan 09, 2021 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
thought the pitch issue was fixed 2 years ago, when the DW was built and brand new it wasnt as nice as Bolton then, look at Huddersfield, not a lot spent on it and is really starting to look its age
Bolton has always been a better ground.
The main stand facilities at Huddersfield are good, but not sure on the rest of it with an outdoor concourse. Typical of a Yorkshire based ground that the away fans get sh*t on in bad weather.
Of course, Whelan being the terrible person he is built it on the cheap.
I wish the majority of your fellow Latics fans had the same breadth of vision. Following the saga on Twitter, there are still plenty who are convinced that IL is the evil genius behind their demise.