Too many association clubs make too much money from using their grounds for other sports, especially GFs and the like. Even Birmingham City would struggle with the loss of revenue (from concerts, which must be worse for the pitch).

In a time when Prem clubs are going bust, I don't see them accepting a loss in revenue.

(As to the specific case of Hull FC, there are more FC fans in Hull than Tigers fans and the ground is owned by the council, not the Tigers. The council is more likely to block the Association club from the Prem than FC from the SLeague).

we have nothing to worry about then

You may have misunderstood my comment. I suppose Latics may class being in the Premiership a success. I don't know why there is ill feeling between the 2 sets of supporters, I am not saying all of course. Maybe a born and bred Wigan RL or Latics fan could enlighten us.

I have friends/work colleagues that are warriors and Latics fans and when talking about the other team they are very critical and this critiscism was there well before Latics were in the Prem.

You only have to read wigan RL and Latics fans forums to get the feeling of mutual dislike when the other team is being discussed.

latics are a pretend side who without their owners millions would be in Division 3 and have minimal fans from wigan

wigan warriors are what the good people of wigan support

Latics are a dave wheelan heart attack away from playing before crowds of hundreds

Reading the respective fans forums over the last couple of seasons this would also seem to be case regards Hull City and Hull FC who share the KC stadium.

However, for the time being at least, the chances of the Tigers regaining PL status seems quite remote.

On reflection it appears Hull FC also have a dislike towards their neighbours Hull KR....so at least they appear consistent.

Jesus you all live in fairy land.

Much as I love league it is a small regional sport that cowers in front of the juggernaut of the premier league.

Premier league clubs turn over 100s of millions, attract big crowds to towns and are regularly on tv. League clubs - 4 million turn over max? Watched on tv by people living up north?


Get real. If its premier league or rugby league there can only be one winner.


This talk of premier league going pop is crazy too. Too many people have too much money invested in it to allow that to happen. I work for a premier league club - believe me its only gonna get bigger.

There may be some clubs looking for new stadia but, as we have seen, don't worry about it. Stadia are completely irrelevant when it comes to licences, it just depends on whether the face fits and you can't do much about that

Im sure thats what people at Pompey thought. Far short of you being a Chairman or a Chief Executive then I dont believe you thats its only going to get bigger. The money and wages arent sustainable long term, thats shown by the amount of teams going into administration. Its just a joke how they always get away with it.



Hardly, leases are contracts, (I know that means nothing in the soccer world but they count in the real world). And ours is 50 years, so to get us out of there will cost someone alot of money, so I dont see how we would be a loser in that one.

Do you honestly think we would just have to walk simply because the premier league says we have to. If so then your the one living in fairly land, along with the rest of the arrogant muppets in soccer.

when i was in wigan i couldnt find many actual latics supporters

all the people i talked to were only wigan RL fans.

when you look at the latics crowd average and take away the away support you can see what im getting at

Once the premier league obsession goes, you'll see the average crowds at the Warriors consistantly higher than the soccer. Go back over the years and its only the premier league years which has seen the soccer have higher average crowds. Although quite often this is helped by 4,000+ away fans. Something we are lucky to get twice a year. The average away crowd for us must be around 1,000

Bondi, you really are a sad misguided league fan living in a bubble.

You question whether premier league will get bigger.

Here's your answer. Look at where the premier league teams go on pre season tour, (excluding this world cup year). All are territories without a premier league tv deal of any substance. I know from going on some of these tours you're talking USA, china, africa, middle east, australia and russia.

Imagine tv deals for the premier league in just the USA and then the ones the individual clubs can have overseas. Limitless. You put the hours in it happens.

I'm not a "soccer muppet", I just speak from an informed position. As I say, you think the premier league generates money now! Any lease for a ground can be paid up if that's what the premier league wants and the RFL can't compete now or in the future is all I'm saying.

Where did wigan go on pre season tour?

Well said Bondi, the Premier League is starting to get worried. Thats why they're attempting to introduce things like overseas quota's and the "fit & proper person" test, and secretly I think they'd love to be able to introduce a salary cap. It's just in football there are plenty of clubs who will happily take them to court without thinking twice and anything like a salary cap has to be brought in worldwide by FIFA for it to be effective.
Also as you said, the Premier League doesn't own the entire sporting nation, just because they say so doesn't mean its going to happen. For instance at Wigan, the Warriors have a legal agreement that cant just be ripped up which Im sure is the same at other multi-use stadia that contain Premier League clubs.

They aren't going to go through the mess and extremely high cost of kicking other sports clubs out, simply to stop the pitch getting messed up a couple of games per season. Especially as most of the time its the football club at fault for playing too many games anyway.

Freddie lad, to say you apparently work for a Premier League club you don't seem to know that much about the Premier League. Take a look at the rest of the league apart from Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal & Man City and you will see a league full of clubs who are on the verge of bankruptcy often only saved by foreign investors with more money than sense. Even a club as well supported as Liverpool are in serious financial difficulties. In fact I would say the only "top" clubs who could potentially keep going without a sugar daddy are Man Utd and Arsenal. Both Chelsea & Man City consistently run at a loss, as do the vast majority of other Premier League clubs. This fascination that Russian & Middle Eastern investors have with Premier League clubs will fade when times become tougher or they simply get bored.
The Premier League are on the edge of a precipice and they know it too, they just don't know how to get out of it without losing an awful lot of clubs.
For instance, what happens to Chelsea when Abrahmovic sells up?

Nobody is suggesting RL competes with Premier League, theyre far bigger. What people are saying is they cant simply do what they like. They can't simply "pay up" the leases on stadiums, its not that simple since there are presumably penalty clauses or they would have to financially assist the other sports clubs with finding a new stadium to play in. Plus where do small clubs like Wigan Athletic get the money from to pay up a 50 year lease?

Just so that we all know, whats your position at this Premier League club? Steward?

the whole latics thing in PL is a bubble waiting to burst

im surprised their crowds are so poor being in the PL.

It already is! Every team would rather win the champions league than win their own domestic league.

Bubble, Ive lived in 4 other countries, have regularly watched and attended Superleague, NRL, MLB, NFL, NHL to name just a few... Hardly a bubble as you say.

So whats your informed position then? Again far short of running a club, I wont believe what you say. By the way if they dont have tv deals in these countries, how come they show the premier league in those countries??? i know ive seen it in the US, Canada, Australia, Asia....

If they want to pay us up then go ahead, im sure the FA having to pay out all that money will go down well in soccer land when they cant evn afford to sack the overpaid Italian who is the England manager. I wont complain about that.

Look at the teams which go on pre season tours to the US and Asia. When Man Utd leave the US, everybody goes back to watching better sports and forget all about soccer. Teams like Wigan dont do pre-season trips to the US. So tv money is going up, well yea we all know that, but is it inline with the disgusting wages that talentless nobodies demand???

Do you think that these clubs are sustainable? I highly doubt that, if the sugar daddy's walked out tomorrow there will be a few clubs in alot of trouble. We'll see how sustainable it is if the 'Euro league' every started off, when all the big clubs walk out

Im not for once suggesting the rfl can compete with the soccer, but equally the premier legaue cant just have what they want. Wigan have a lease and IF the Premier League decided they wanted sole use stadiums, we wouldnt have to walk anywhere unless it was for a lot of momey.

Right - to end the thread.

If the Premier League want their clubs to not ground share, then they will have to BUY their way into ending the other clubs' leases, OR find alternative grounds for their clubs.

It's is not the Premier League's place to evict other teams from stadiums - the stadiums and the clubs have contracts between themselves, nothing to do with the Premier League.

As a poster pointed out earlier, Wigan Athletic won't be a premier league side for much longer, given their recent performances. Even so, without Dave Whelan's money, Latics wouldn't even be in existence, and if that club doesn't turn a profit soon, Whelan will pull out. Where will they be then?

I'll tell you - Edge Hall Road.

It's not the end of the thread, as there is one aspect that no one seems to have touched on.

Imagine this scenario - a Rugby League Club is sharing with an Football Club (No Hull, not you.). The FC is told it has to get rid of it's ground sharing. They go to the RLC and tell them that they will pay their relocation fees and all other costs.
The RLC takes a look and says 'not good enough, we're stopping, we like it here'.

The FC then has no position from which to lever the RLC out. They couldn't do it in law, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Or at least, last time I looked the PL wasn't a part of the judiciary?


As for Football clubs finances, there will be two more clubs - minimum, they're a definate though - starting to head through the courts in the next 18 months for financial reasons. One of them will not survive. Both are clubs that have quite a history behind them.
I can't add to that at the moment, other than the person who told me this works for a club that is owed a lot of cash by one of these and is a position to know a lot of the ins and outs of that club (ie..not a steward or matchday announcer!)

and thats the bottom line, contracts are legally binding and can not be broken simply because the premier league say they want sole use stadiums. The only way it would happen is if those RL clubs were paid a hell of alot of money, enough to buy a new stadium. Not that I can see wigan council allowing another stadium in town. Non starter.

Wouldnt be surprised if there were more soccer clubs getting into financial dificulties in the next few years. Just the wages alone arent sustainable.

The only short-term, cheap way the Premier League will get this through, is to kick out the FOOBALL clubs that are groundsharing. In other words, Latics get told that if they don't have sole use of their stadium, then they no longer have a place in the elite football league.

exactly - it will be part of the criteria to be part of the Premier League that you have to have single use stadium. Those clubs which cannot meet that criteria by a) buying their tenants out, or b) finding somewhere else to play, wont get a Premier League licence.

Almost sounds familiar that.

Stadium minimum standards? Licensing? Overseas quotas and homegrown player rules?
But hang on, according to certain fans in certain small towns they are ridiculous ideas that no serious, major sports governing body would introduce.

did you read the link before you posted this rubbish?

First post!

Can I just say, as an avid football fan, that most of us want Wigan shipped out of the Premier League never to return again. If they go down this year, I'm optimistic theres a good chance they'll never come back up. Doubt it will be an issue with Wigan...Hull on the other hand

Its not about that link, the story has come out before on more reliable sources.