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Re: Bid for the ground

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2021 8:20 pm
by Wes
morley pie eater wrote:I don't follow Latics and don't see much news about the situation here in darkest Yorkshire.

I'm not sure that I'd celebrate Leneghan taking over - haven't we been there before with the lovely Mr Whelan? (Bet I can guess who paid for that statue of him btw :lol: )

How would co-owning a 4th Division football club help us?

As has been said, the ground is too big for us. It's also soul-less. A ground like Saints, Wire, or Leigh, with 50/50 seats and terracing and a capacity of 18,000 or so would be best. Easily maintained not built on a bog, and less of a drain on resources. A no-brainer for me.

How much would it cost to build this ground that’s not on a bog with planning permission and land purchase required, why would the council pass permission when there is already a facility in place?


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Re: Bid for the ground

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2021 9:40 am
by Exiled Wiganer
It would be good to have a bigger ground than we normally if next season they allow crowds based on % of capacity.

Re: Bid for the ground

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2021 10:11 am
by morley pie eater
Wes wrote: Fri Jan 08, 2021 8:20 pm
morley pie eater wrote:I don't follow Latics and don't see much news about the situation here in darkest Yorkshire.

I'm not sure that I'd celebrate Leneghan taking over - haven't we been there before with the lovely Mr Whelan? (Bet I can guess who paid for that statue of him btw :lol: )

How would co-owning a 4th Division football club help us?

As has been said, the ground is too big for us. It's also soul-less. A ground like Saints, Wire, or Leigh, with 50/50 seats and terracing and a capacity of 18,000 or so would be best. Easily maintained not built on a bog, and less of a drain on resources. A no-brainer for me.

How much would it cost to build this ground that’s not on a bog with planning permission and land purchase required, why would the council pass permission when there is already a facility in place?


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Good question, Wes.

So let's add to the questions which need answering in order to develop a business plan:

• What capital expenditure is required on existing stadium and for purpose-built stadium?

• What are expected income and annual running costs for each?

• Learning from Saints and Wire, could we expect increased crowds in new stadium?

If you add to these questions, get answers, and decide if we're looking at next 10, 25 or 50 years, then you're nearer to having a fact-based debate.

Until then, we'll all have to rely on our gut feelings. Mine is that "we" made a mistake in 1999, and it's always better to cut your losses than compound the error.

And I can't see that any involvement with Latics would help us in any way - hitching a lift on a sinking ship.

Re: Bid for the ground

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:07 pm
by Exiled Wiganer
Just a small point, and I am sure this isn’t what you meant., Wes. We didn’t make a mistake as a club - the club was owned by someone who decided that sharing a ground this size on this site was the way to go. DW may think that he made the right decision even now from his football loving perspective. Given where we were as a club, we had no real choice but to be bought (we kept our shares, but many didn’t for very good reason - it looked like be bought or go bust!)

I agree with the last 2 posts, that we should know enough by now to work out what can be done and where, particularly given the huge strides in building stadia over the last 20 years...

Re: Bid for the ground

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:10 pm
by Fizz Bomb
In 1998 we were in trouble as the then board ( chairman Jack Robinson ) did a deal with Tesco for the purchase of Central Park which nobody knew about until it was signed. Mr Dave Whealan loaned the club some more money which he subsequently said he wanted back, but a way out could be shared ground with Wigan Pathetic ( sorry typing error ). At the time it was proposed to be a shared stadium, neither club owning it but being run by a separate company. That didn’ t seem to last long as it now seems to belong to the football club, as it was given to them by .......
All that is now history and cannot be changed but we already have a steak in the ground but how we can use it to our advantage is now the problem. If we take the ground on then we will have access to the car parking revenue, the ground catering revenue, and any other revenue streams that can be generated instead of that money going to the football club through the Stadium Lease Agreement. I wonder if Dave Whealan was related to Donald Trump in another life.

Re: Bid for the ground

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:46 am
by x Wigan Warrior x
I doubt Wigan Council would ever grant permission to build another stadia when we have one. As soul-less as it is, if we buy and modify it, we could finally call it home.

Re: Bid for the ground

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:48 am
by Fujiman
x Wigan Warrior x wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:46 am I doubt Wigan Council would ever grant permission to build another stadia when we have one. As soul-less as it is, if we buy and modify it, we could finally call it home.
Fill in the corners would be my hope.

Re: Bid for the ground

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 12:05 pm
by nathan_rugby
Fujiman wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:48 am
x Wigan Warrior x wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:46 am I doubt Wigan Council would ever grant permission to build another stadia when we have one. As soul-less as it is, if we buy and modify it, we could finally call it home.
Fill in the corners would be my hope.
As in spend money to add capacity to the 25k limit despite our averages being around 10k?

Re: Bid for the ground

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 12:35 pm
by fozzieskem
nathan_rugby wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 12:05 pm
Fujiman wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:48 am
x Wigan Warrior x wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:46 am I doubt Wigan Council would ever grant permission to build another stadia when we have one. As soul-less as it is, if we buy and modify it, we could finally call it home.
Fill in the corners would be my hope.
As in spend money to add capacity to the 25k limit despite our averages being around 10k?
I certainly agree with your logic Nathan but those corners are terrible and should have been filled in from the start,but now fairly pointless

Re: Bid for the ground

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 12:49 pm
by Firestarter
fozzieskem wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 12:35 pm
nathan_rugby wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 12:05 pm
Fujiman wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:48 am
Fill in the corners would be my hope.
As in spend money to add capacity to the 25k limit despite our averages being around 10k?
I certainly agree with your logic Nathan but those corners are terrible and should have been filled in from the start,but now fairly pointless
Exactly....... maybe there’s a way to fill in the corners and reduce the capacity...... maybe more cooperate boxes or something....... leave it to the experts i think