Marwan koukash

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  • #142813

    He may have plans to buy us out and the ground and Charnock Richard etc etc. Could move Salford RL in to our place and chuck the Warriors out. Maybe the Warriors will be off to their first choice in Horwich. Got to admit I would rather have Salford at our place than those ungratefully disgusting parasites.

    he doesn’t want to buy wafc he wants to buy the rugby team and stadium[/quote]

    And then send the laughtics off to Salford to share with them and Sale Sharks. Then you can truly be the Manchester United of the lower leagues.[/quote]

    Surprised at you mutt, more chance of Nelson getting his eye back. Normally you are a reasoned at times and sensible lad but you are hoping beyond belief now. If any of the clubs ever leave the DW and I don’t think for one minute they ever will it will be the Warriors. What both clubs have now works, whatever both sets of fans think it works.Whether Blue or Cherry and White we will always be Wigan.[/quote]

    Agreed. In the hard world of economics, having an expensive item that is only utilised for 23 out of 365 days a year is bad for business. Having a dual purpose stadium is the way ahead – even premier league grounds such as the Etihad now host major concerts, and if Man City and their multi billionaire owners are finding an alternative use of their stadium, then the DW must be used for as much time as possible to bring in an income stream that covers the cost of running it. Remember, the stadium is run by a separate company, and the two clubs pay rent to use it, and if that company cannot cover their costs with the rental money then they must look elsewhere to raise money. If that doesn’t happen, then the company will turn to the tenants and increase their rent. You only need to look at Coventry and the Ricoh to see what happens when a once prosperous football club falls to the 3rd division and then has its rent increased.

    Frankly Im sick of the myth being pedalled that the Warriors are cuckoos, parasites etc. The land was given to DW at no charge on the basis that it would be a dual purpose stadium. The sale of Central Park to Tescos raised more than the sale of Springfield Park. The ground is owned by a separate company. The Warriors have a lease to play at the DW, just as the football do. Both clubs are very happy with the arrangement.

    #142814

    The revenue stream for the stadium is in fact the corporate events and wedding receptions etc. They ensure the stadium is utilised (and bringing in money) every day of the week. The sporting events are a side-issue.

    #142815
    SammySammy
    Player
      Frankly Im sick of the myth being pedalled that the Warriors are cuckoos, parasites etc. The land was given to DW at no charge on the basis that it would be a dual purpose stadium. The sale of Central Park to Tescos raised more than the sale of Springfield Park. The ground is owned by a separate company. The Warriors have a lease to play at the DW, just as the football do. Both clubs are very happy with the arrangement.

      The Sale of Central Park

      The introduction and move to summer rugby in 1996 saw Wigan become emerged in financial difficulty. They had built up debts of £3 million and the club’s board members decided the answer to the financial problems was to sell Central Park.

      Local Businessman Dave Whelan, owner of Wigan Athletic Football Club, wanted to buy Central Park and have Latics share the ground with the Warriors. He offered £4.5m for the ground and pledged to spend a further £12.5m to turn it into a 20,000 all seater stadium for both clubs. Shareholders had voted for the idea but the Wigan board had another offer to consider from the Tesco Supermarket chain, which was rumoured to be closer to £10 million. If the Tesco offer was accepted, Wigan would be homeless. The idea was that Wigan would share with Bolton Wanderers new Reebok Stadium, which at the time was being built.

      Central Park was the historic home of Wigan Rugby League and the fans were outraged at the suggestion of Wigan moving four miles out of town to Bolton’s Reebok Stadium.

      In late February 1997 news emerged that Wigan were holding talks with Bolton about a ground share. Dave Whelan responded to the news by offering to virtually wipe out the club’s debts within 48 hours. In early March Tesco increased their offer to buy Central Park to £12.5 million and news broke that the ground sale was to “go-ahead”. Fans held a protest outside Central Park ahead of a pre season friendly against Castleford whilst other fans chose to boycott the game. Some fans even travelled down to Tesco Headquarters and protested there! The Wigan fans simply did not want the club to move to Bolton, even if it was for a temporary period. They could not believe the board could sell the ground without a permanent new home being in place.

      The Wigan board was made up of four people, Jack Robinson, Arthur Thomas, Tom Rathbone and John Martin. They had a vote over Whelan’s offer and Martin, who ran the Riverside Club at Central Park, was the only member of the board who voted for it. The other three voted against as they were holding out for an increased offer from Tesco and thus seeing us move out of the town to Bolton. Following the vote Martin resigned has he had become frustrated by the board’s apparent lack of urgency to agree the Whelan plan despite shareholders voting in favour of the move.

      As the month wore on over 200 disgruntled shareholders met to discuss the controversial decision to sell Central Park to Tesco. They also backed a petition calling for the removal of chairman Jack Robinson and Mick Rathbone from the board immediately.
      Into May 1997 and shareholders had decided they wanted to oust Jack Robinson as chairman. A shareholders action group claimed the board sold Central Park to Tesco without consultation after previously agreeing to accept a rescue package from millionaire Dave Whelan. Former player Phil Clarke was offered to the shareholders as the man to lead the ousting bid. The group’s next move will be a circular to the club’s 1500 shareholders seeking support for their attempt to remove Mr Robinson and his vice-chairman Tom Rathbone at an Emergency General Meeting on May 20.

      A week before the shareholders EGM, Wigan unveil details of a proposed new super stadium. But critics of the board fear that if the team moves out of town to Bolton Wanderers’ new stadium at Horwich they will never return to Wigan. Robinson had met the shareholders’ action group that week but their spokesman Ernie Benbow said at the time that “he was unable to give any categorical assurances about a site in Wigan.”

      At the same time Dave Whelan unveiled plans to build a new 25,000 seater stadium for Wigan Athletic at Robin Park but he refused to open ground share negotiations with the Wigan board after the collapse of his Central Park rescue package earlier this year.

      On 20th May Wigan shareholders held the EGM and Jack Robinson survived, for now. Robinson won a vote of confidence 484 to 400 while fellow board member, Rathbone held on by 489 to 407. So Robinson was still chairman but Wigan was still homeless. The wrangling was far from over.

      June 1997 saw the Wigan team embark on month long trip down under for the World Club Challenge. The trip had quietened the ground move saga but as they returned Jack Robinson faced a new vote of confidence from the shareholders. A newspaper reported that an associate gathered proxy votes for the original EGM in May by fraudulent methods. The paper claimed someone was instructed to fill in forms for shareholders who were believed to have died so they could be used as votes in favour of the two Wigan directors. Robinson reacted by saying “(The claims) are totally untruthful. This is just part of a smear campaign which has been going on by a certain group of people who want me out of the club.”

      On August 19th 1997 Jack Robinson and Tom Rathbone resigned from the Wigan board. Then Wigan Coach Eric Hughes revealed that the pair had their homes damaged and their lives threatened. Following the resignations the Rugby Football League’s financial department were called in by the club to investigate its cash flow position. Arthur Thomas was the only remaining board member left so it was he who became temporary chairman. With Robinson gone John Martin, who earlier had resigned from the board, offered to ease the club’s financial problems with a 750,000 interest free loan. But the offer was conditional on the Warriors staying in Wigan and rejecting a temporary move to Bolton. He made the offer to bide the club time to negotiate a deal to move to proposed Robin Park stadium with Wigan Athletic on a permanent basis.

      It was finally announced on October 29th 1997 that Wigan would not be moving to the Reebok Stadium. Mike Nolan, who owned finance and car leasing businesses in Wigan, took over as chairman of the club from Arthur Thomas. He was joined on the board by John Martin who returned after his row with the old regime. Tesco agreed to let the Warriors stay on at Central Park until the end of 1999, when they would then join up with Wigan Athletic at their new stadium which was about to be built at Robin Park.

      This article was posted on the “Cherry and White Independent Wigan RLFC Website” as part of an article documenting the life and times of Wigan RLFC at Central Park.

      #142816

      Yes, the ground is owned by a separate company, in name at least – Wigan Athletic Holdings Ltd – and it’s managed by Wigan Football Company.

      These two companies, along with Wigan Athletic, have one common denominator, which Wigan RL no longer have: Whelan.

      #142817
      The EggThe Egg
      Chairman

        The original plans were for Latics and Orrell and then for all three.

        I remember seeing a scale model in the old supporters club at Springy and the badge on the outside was just one big tree and crown. The plans were even in the programme IIRC.

        I think deep down Whelan always wanted the rugby there though

        #142818
        Tez HTerry Hill
        Player

          I’m surprised to see Mutty back on here, I recently saw his attendance led comments on the WEP, in the comments after a Latics story. I hoped he may have emigrated there with the rest of the complete and utter bell ends.

          However here he is, not that there’s any question of him being obsessed :whistle:

          #142819

          Thanks for the history lesson Sammy. The article tells me that, after clearing their £3m debt and selling CP for £12.5m, there was £9.5 million left.

          What it doesn’t tell me was what was the value of the sale of Springfield Park. Perhaps you or one of your historians can enlighten me, and then tell me how much of the profit from the sale of the old ground was used towards the building of the new one. When you answer this question, you may realise why the ground is still owned by a company other than Wigan Athletic FC.

          #142820
          I think deep down Whelan always wanted the rugby there though

          Of course he does. Without the Warriors there, someone else would have to fund the difference in income. Like it or not, using the stadium for rugby fixtures means your rent isn’t as high as it would otherwise be.

          #142821
          Thanks for the history lesson Sammy. The article tells me that, after clearing their £3m debt and selling CP for £12.5m, there was £9.5 million left.

          What it doesn’t tell me was what was the value of the sale of Springfield Park. Perhaps you or one of your historians can enlighten me, and then tell me how much of the profit from the sale of the old ground was used towards the building of the new one. When you answer this question, you may realise why the ground is still owned by a company other than Wigan Athletic FC.

          Mutty – no money from the sale of either Springfield Park or Central Park was used to fund the building of the new stadium.
          Quite aside from the fact that all the funding for the building of the ground was in place before construction started (& construction started long before it was ever agreed that Wigan RL would become tenants instead of Orrell), the money from the sale of the old grounds went directly into the coffers of the respective clubs. A mate of mine did a dissertation at Uni on some football admin course on the construction of the stadium, was given access to all the info on it & it was him who set me straight on that point when I whinged that it wasn’t right that Latics were contributing to the cost whereas the rugby weren’t coz they weren’t owned by Whelan & hadn’t been on board at the start
          Besides which, As you’ve quite rightly pointed out the DW is owned & run by a separate company anyway & always has been, so that company wold have no right to access the money from the sale of something that they didn’t own

          #142822
          SammySammy
          Player
            Thanks for the history lesson Sammy. The article tells me that, after clearing their £3m debt and selling CP for £12.5m, there was £9.5 million left.

            What it doesn’t tell me was what was the value of the sale of Springfield Park. Perhaps you or one of your historians can enlighten me, and then tell me how much of the profit from the sale of the old ground was used towards the building of the new one. When you answer this question, you may realise why the ground is still owned by a company other than Wigan Athletic FC.

            I was responding to your assertion that the building of the stadium – or the acquisition of the land – was only granted on the basis that it was for both the football and rugby league to use. This was not the case since Whelan had already decided to build the stadium without the rugby’s involvement.

            #142824
            Zeb2Zeb2
            Player

              Mutty, don’t labour under the misapprehension that the Rugby club emerged from the sale of Central Park with any pot of gold and nowhere near £9m.
              Aside from any debts they may have had, the sale of the land was greatly compromised by the cost of settling the ‘ransom strip’ ……a significant legal/real estate technicality concerning land towards the front of the Central Park footprint.
              They may have emerged solvent, but they were broadly speaking…..’without one to piss in’ so to speak.

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