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If Unsworth doesn’t know what the Queen’s Shilling is then perhaps you don’t know the meaning of servile, sycophantic or patronising Sammy. You could be right with drivel.
If you weren’t just using those words to prove how clever you are, then show me where they apply so I can learn the errors of my ways.
All I was trying to say was that when all these problems were created, I wasn’t even born and people like me and you didn’t even have a vote. It’s time to move on.
what I am saying is that the people responsible for these past outrages are long gone and we that remain have learned the lessons of history. I would like to think that the present day British regret the past and would like to move on in friendship and mutual understanding.Only to be replaced by people carrying out further outrages in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria so I’m struggling to understand how “we” regret the past and have learned the lessons of history as if I – or you for that matter – have anything to regret, learn or be ashamed about.
”The British” have done much to be proud of in the past but unfortunately they have also done much to be ashamed of as well. Ireland is one such place but there are many more, throughout the world, who were exploited and sometimes enslaved.It is often forgotten (or not known) by people such as Mr McClean that the British working classes have also suffered terribly at the hands of the ruling classes in their pursuit of wealth and power. I am not saying that we suffered nearly as much as the Irish, Africans, Indians et al but what I am saying is that the people responsible for these past outrages are long gone and we that remain have learned the lessons of history. I would like to think that the present day British regret the past and would like to move on in friendship and mutual understanding.
I said in a previous post that James McClean was only guilty of being ill-mannered but, with hindsight, it is worse than that. He is obviously so bitter that it is all consuming and he cannot move on to create a better future for his and our children. His bitterness is causing him to pick fights with people who are not his enemies but those who wish to be his friends.
Servile, sycophantic, patronising drivel.
One thing McClean can’t be accused of is hypocrisy. It was an uncomfortable but respectful display of disrespect to the British national anthem he finds so abhorrent.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/brian-reade-column-james-mcclean-6117991
If he had chosen to do that before a competitive Ireland v England game the consequences could have been horrendous.Except there would be no reason for him to do the same in an Ireland v England game.
Plenty haven’t done much in their time at Wigan, generally because they didn’t get played due to a succession of managers being inept.Do you really believe that a succession of managers working day-in day-out have chosen not to pick players because they cannot see what you obviously can?
No doubt the FA will have had their lawyers crawl over it and come to the conclusion that they were on dodgy legal ground should they have imposed some kind of fine and/or ban on Mackay therefore leaving themselves open to it being challenged with a high risk of losing.
The comments by Mackay were not made in the public domain. Even though he did it on a company phone they were not intended for public consumption whereas Whelan’s comments were.
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.
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.
A good article by Brian Reade which points out that our own FA are not a bastion of morality when it comes to money.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fifa-odious-corrupt-fiefdom-fa-5787882
I repeat what I’ve previously said that the magnitude of what was achieved that day will only be realised with the passage of time. The fact that next season we start in the first round is reminder enough that the feat is never likely to be repeated. Think yourselves lucky it happened in your lifetime.
You lot crack me up, you really do
You’re just like Sky – football didn’t exist before 1990
Nah we are just not all old feckers ;) ;) i am 30 and i first went in 93 so you have to be at least 35-40 but i would say about 45.
I think one poster did mmention his age group and how long he had been going.
So who is in your top 3?Mine (from what i remember) and taking into account the levels of football at the time etc would be :- in descending order (and consistently playing, not just a few games = a dog shit player) but i need 4
4. Peter Kennedy
3. Michael O’Neil
2. Brian McLaughlin
1. Alan McLoughlin[/quote]Michael O’Neill? Another from a long list of those who got undeserved stick from fans who couldn’t spot a decent player if their lives depended on it.[/quote]
Undeserved, not really, The O’Neil era saw me going to every home and away game so it’s a considered view. For every one good game he would completely outweigh it with 5 stinkers, long passes to nowhere, no pace, limited skill and great vision with no end product. Bit like Jordi Gomez was[/quote]
Sort of proves my point.
You lot crack me up, you really do
You’re just like Sky – football didn’t exist before 1990
Nah we are just not all old feckers ;) ;) i am 30 and i first went in 93 so you have to be at least 35-40 but i would say about 45.
I think one poster did mmention his age group and how long he had been going.
So who is in your top 3?Mine (from what i remember) and taking into account the levels of football at the time etc would be :- in descending order (and consistently playing, not just a few games = a dog shit player) but i need 4
4. Peter Kennedy
3. Michael O’Neil
2. Brian McLaughlin
1. Alan McLoughlin[/quote]Michael O’Neill? Another from a long list of those who got undeserved stick from fans who couldn’t spot a decent player if their lives depended on it.
