Latics on the verge of being taken over by Chinese Group (apologies for posting links to the Scum but potential major news)

[urlhttps://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/4690510/wigan-athletic-league-one-takeover/[/url

EFL would need to ratify the deal and who is Chairman of the EFL?????? Potential conflict of interests depending on what might happen to stadium ownership and what that might mean to our lease agreement.

So being taken over allows you to rip up contracts such as lease agreements? Don't you have to transfer all current assets, liabilities and contracts in a takeover otherwise what stops any company from using a "takeover" to walk away from previous agreements?

Depends how the lease contract is drafted and what the break clauses are. The stadium might not even be part of the deal and stays with Whelan - interesting times ahead.

It would depend I assume on wether the new owners, if indeed there are any of course deem the deal worthwhile, their aim will be the premiership again I'd think (if they get there is another issue)they may just feel that rugby isn't worth the hassle.

I'd assume there are clauses on both sides to walk away in any number of circumstances? and be very surprised if there wasn't frankly.

Maybe IL should put in a bid for the stadium and then charge these rich Chinese investors top dollar to play football there!

I thought the stadium was owned by a separate company but that was effectively owned by latics. I am fairly certain a few years ago DW gave the stadium ownership over to latics in some way or other.

Hopefully the new owners will want to rip up the lease agreement and as part of the deal build us a nice stadium of our own.

Could be a blessing in disguise...a purpose built stadium solely for us is what the club deserves

I'm missing something here. Why would this mean we would need to look for a new stadium? Surely:

a - We still have a contract to play in the stadium
b - It would be in their interests for us to play in the stadium anyway, as we will be contributing to costs and move whenever we are told to anyway.

Yes it's still a separate company that runs the stadium - Wigan Football Company LTD, this hasn't change since the stadium was built. Whelco was the ultimate parent company for all his football business dealings, he simply liquidated this and set up a new parent company called Wigan Athletic Holdings Ltd. The Latics are run as Wigan Athletic AFC Ltd. It looks like nothing really changed in terms of ownership.

Both the Latics and Wigan RL have a lease to rent the stadium.

In the end it all depends on what the potential new owners are buying.

It makes the move to Robin Park all the more interesting.

Was thinking that as well. The costs of developing a new stadium there will obviously be much cheaper than starting from scratch somewhere else.

Would be naive or daft to buy the football club and not the stadium. Could suit Dave though.

I'm not a planning expert, but surely there isn't room when you take parking, access etc into account. We would be surrounded by the River Dougie, DW Stadium and the retail park after all. Not to mention how daft it would be to spend money developing a stadium next to the perfectly good stadium we already have access to.

Why would there be a need for new roads and parking? It's there already. All the infrastructure is there and the footprint of Robin Park is similar to the DW. Obviously all speculation at the moment but if things do progress in the takeover and the new owners are not happy with the current arrangement, Wigan RL would not be doing its job if it didn't consider what options were open to it.

I could see the potential worry if the latics were still a premier league side, but they aren't bringing in the money all on their own these days.

So the club owners, who in this scenario have presumably booted us out, would still let us use their parking? Meaning we would still have to ensure the games don't clash.

By 'access', I didn't mean new roads, but walking room, bearing in mind everyone pretty much leaves at the same time, and would need to be able to leave in a hurry in the event of an incident. By the time you have built four stands there, I reckon you are already in the River Dougie on the east side, before you have added in room for thousands of people to safely enter/leave. It would be nice to have our own stadium in an ideal world, but I don't think developing Robin Park into an SL ground is realistic.

The stadium company charge for parking, why would they turn down the chance to make money? The police wouldn't allow two games to go ahead at the same time next to each other, so no chance of clashing anyway.

Plenty of other grounds are bounded by rivers (Notts Forest, Notts County, Fulham etc) they seem to manage ok.

I think we might be over thinking this at the moment, putting 2+2 together and making 6. [uIF[/u the club ultimately want their own ground I wouldn't be surprised if Robin Park is the easiest/cheapest/most favourable location.

having a stadium next to a stadium is probably the most unlikely solution no matter how feasible it may seem!

The Wigan evening post say the potential sale has a long by way to go and is nowhere near as advanced as the national newspapers have reported.

Unless these Chinese blokes don't like money, I doubt it'll be an issue regardless but we'll see.

Move ?

Training, gym, academy, media etc etc.
Get your van round to Orrell quick

I believe that the bloke who brokered the deal with the Arabs at City is behind this.

I see Ashley has put Newcastle up for sale. I know where my money would be!

I don't think we need to worry. This is probably the beginning of the end for the Latics. I can't see a lower end investor forking out for a stadium too. It would be too costly. Unless they have the money of Man City, Chelsea etc (i very much doubt it) then all the hysteria behind this proposal will soon disappear. Recent history shows us that foreign investors in the lower leagues have a woeful record and are only in it for a quick buck. Birmingham City, Coventry City, Charlton Athletic, Leyton Orient etc all ruined as clubs. Leyton Orient and Coventry barely have a club any more. Once this happens and there are protests etc and the rest of the 200 fans they have disappear they won't have a club left.