Pies in administration

[Worthy4England]

Some good news for Wigan. HMRC have issued a winding up petition. That usually gets shit moving!

[GhostoftheBok]

Some good news for Wigan. HMRC have issued a winding up petition. That usually gets shit moving!

Scuppers them if their accounts are frozen, though. Unless they get a validation order (they won't, as they're clearly insolvent) or go into admin I'm not sure how they'll pay the players, who have to be paid by Friday or they can begin the process of buggering off for nowt.

[officer_dibble]

Does sound like they have a more sensible buyer - Mike danson. I know not a lot but he seems to be involved at Wigan warriors? So uniting the two clubs or simply saving the ground? Either way they will have to be run sustainably which the tics won’t like.

[Worthy4England]

Some good news for Wigan. HMRC have issued a winding up petition. That usually gets shit moving!

Scuppers them if their accounts are frozen, though. Unless they get a validation order (they won't, as they're clearly insolvent) or go into admin I'm not sure how they'll pay the players, who have to be paid by Friday or they can begin the process of buggering off for nowt.

I'm happy with "scuppered!" There an obvious downside due to the existential threat, but at least you get things moving!

[GhostoftheBok]

Does sound like they have a more sensible buyer - Mike danson. I know not a lot but he seems to be involved at Wigan warriors? So uniting the two clubs or simply saving the ground? Either way they will have to be run sustainably which the tics won’t like.

Not sure many people know a lot about him. He's not flashy, by all accounts.

I believe he owns 25% of Wigan Warriors. They ground share at the DW, so if Athletic went bust Warriors would have to buy the stadium and take on all the costs.

Buying the Tics might be the most economical way to keep the rugby team playing in Wigan, or he might genuinely have plans for the club. Maybe someone else on here knows more.

[boltonboris]

OR he flips it and makes the new custodians of the Footy club pay the Rugby team a nice handsome rent agreement to benefit the Warriors

[GhostoftheBok]

In other Wigan news, Rickie Lambert (who now works in their academy) has gone full Qanon antisemitic nutcase on them.

He's now making videos with Matt le Tissier and a Qanon blogger who claims god talks through him using secret numerical codes.

[GhostoftheBok]

On a related note, Reading's owners are now apparently MIA. The club is up for sale. Last season showed their best accounts in 5 years, they "only" lost £17m in the Championship.

Their owner put in £6m to stop them becoming insolvent, but that my be the last of the money. He previously owned KSV Roeselare in Belgium and when they suffered a similar relegation in 2020 he liquidated them after failing to sell (he could easily have saved that club, by all accounts) - one year short of their centenary.

The noises coming out of the club are, to put it mildly, not good.

[GhostoftheBok]

Looks sorted now. Players have been paid, paperwork signed, etc.

Glad if they are sorted. Hopefully they were too late to avoid being -12 rather than -8, but doesn't look like it.

[officer_dibble]

Yep, taken over. The fake sheikh has exited rather quickly in the end…

[Worthy4England]

Not nearly enough pain. But glad they've been rescued...

[TANGODANCER]

Wouldn't be the same with no Wigan anyway. Glad for them.

[DJBlu]

Fans celebrating moving their overdraft to a bank with a 0% 30 month deal.

There are some proper idiots out there.

FFP will be interesting.

[GhostoftheBok]

Reading now charged with multiple (looks like 3) breaches as regards player wages. There may also be concealment charges to follow.

We might need a new thread at this rate.