In todays Sunday Express Dave Whelan revealed that he intends to step down from Wigan Athletic and hand control to his 21 year old grandson.
He goes on to say it will be officially announced tomorrow in the latest issue of the FC Buisiness Magazine (trade mouthpiece for the football industry)
He also says that his grandson is bright boy and massively keen on soccer,Whelan then says that he may step down as early as the end of the present soccer season.

What effect do Wigan fans think his decision to step down will have on the Warriors?.

A 21 year will merely be a puppet controlled by the board, I think things will stay very similar for Wigan Warriors but this young lad will be the head of a Championship side next year.

With him being 21 I'm sure he will have advisors and DW will still have a hand in, I don't think much will change with regards to us playing at the DW.

On another note I reckon he will have more of a clue on how to run the club better than the Blackburn owners who haven't a clue and won't spend a penny.

none what so ever.

Think this is DW finally giving up on Latics in the premiership. Wether you hate or like DW he has done a lot for both football and rugby in Wigan.

I thought this thread was regarding birth control

DW did the same when JJB was about to sink. He jumped ship.

I doubt it'll change anything as regards to us

Other sports surely. Mods!

Good to see him giving youth a chance its a shame other clubs don't follow Wigan's example but oh no most prefer 30 plus year old foreigners to own their clubs, when will we ever learn in this country.

I'll predict that Wigan RL have bought the stadium outright within 5 years. We shall see!

Spot on!

Time for Wigan to be relegated 5 times before that

There's only one Wigan


Latics may well get relegated this year, I personally hope they don't, but I really can't see them free-falling through the leagues ala Bradford City, Leeds United.

I do. We'll be able to buy the stadium for cheap.

OR have to pay rent at a much higher rate that it currently stands. It's within Wigan Rugby's financial interest's for Latics to be in the Premier League.

I certainly think, and I still follow Latics albeit not on the terrace anyway, that if they go down once, they'll drop down again. Bigger clubs than them have done it like Man City, Leeds, Southampton, Charlton, Sheffield Wednesday to name a few. The club needs a fortune to keep it going at a high level and clearly the investment isn't there, or isn't possible anymore. No investor is going to come in and bank-roll them like Whelan has had been doing. I just fear for that club in the post whelan era. Time will tell though. Only an opinion.

That old propoganda. Think for yourself rather then believe everything Lenegan tells you. If IL has signed up for a deal such as that he wouldn't be a successful millionaire businessman.

Don't be fooled. His GS will merely be a puppet adviced & controller by Dave.

Nowt will change in the immediate future

So I should make a completely unfounded opinion because listening to an official statement is likely to be a fabricated lie?

Surely it'll be a fixed contract. Latics can't just change the rent when ever they feel like it.

No not a fabricated lie - but IL can hardly come out and say "we want the Latics to go down" even though it may be better for our club.

Has he actually handed the stadium over to Latics? I'm sure Whelco are the major shareholders in the stadium and both us and Latics pay rent to them.

Contracts have duration's so what happens if at the end of the contract Latics are struggling in the Championship or League 1 with low revenue? The simple answer would be to charge us more for rent, it's a basic concept really.