Why Wigan MUST Bounce Back Next Season If Relegated …
March 7, 2012 Leave a comment
Before I Begin this post, let me state where i stand with Wigan. I’ve been free lance reporting on Wigan for about 18months now, it is a fantastic club, with a small but fiercely loyal fan base, and I absolutely love the place now. my love for the club comes from my admiration for its great owner Dave Whelan, one thing I’ve learnt at the tender age of 18 and that I’ve forced upon myself as an aspiring journalist and in light of recent events RE: Levesson enquiry, is too report as fairly as possible, therefore any subject I report about I send a copy, so with this in mind all the reports I write on Wigan I have sent a copy to Dave Whelan’s people, and too my surprise, I have received feedback on a few occasions, this sense of a close community is a fantastic concept that many of the ‘big’ clubs in the Premier League’s are losing touch with.
But this personal connection is not the only reason why i believe Wigan should bounce back for the good of football. Over the past 8 seasons Wigan have literally been ‘living’ the dream, but ever the pragmatist Whelan has not let this success get ahead of him, and in house wage cap, an idea Wigan believes should be rolled out across European football, has allowed Wigan to become self financing, just two players allowed over 20k a week, is a fantastic set-up and their involvement in the league shows that clubs DO benefit from living with their means, an example I’ve been banging on about for the last 6 months, is a great institution people haven’t even thought about in the Npower Championship and that’s Leicester City. They have a huge fan base, but now with Thai investors they are living very much beyond their means, what if they lose faith if promotion isn’t gained this year and pull out in the summer? we could face another potential Portsmouth….
This is the key reason why i believe that everyone should back Wigan in the relegation race, everyone who believes in the good of the game should back Wigan to the hilt, and hope their own owner follows suit of Dave Whelan and sets an in-house salary cap, not the 20k he has set but whatever the club believes is the limit. Wigan in the premier league next season would be a victory for common sense, for a true football man, not an Oil tycoon; a man who has took the maximum from the game then put the most back in. A owner who refused to raise ticket prices but instead offer free games, it really is one of very few ‘real’ clubs left in England’s elite and I for one would be deeply saddened to see them drop into the Championship.
p.s. a big thank you to Wigan Athletic who have sent me two tickets for the West Brom game and thanked me for my comments on the club really is a wonderful gesture, and too those reading this, it is my honest opinion and not a kiss arse to a Dave Whelan.