League One new boys Wigan Athletic have announced a huge cut in their budget for next season, just moments before being hit by yet another points deduction.
The Latics were riding the crest of a wave 12 months ago, having won League One and secured a return to the Championship. However, this season has been an unmitigated disaster. They finished bottom of the Championship, ten points adrift of safety, and failed to pay their players on numerous occasions. That led to a four-point deduction, which certainly didn’t help their survival bid.
Defender Steven Caulker accused the owners of lying about the situation, and fan groups have demanded ‘decisive and immediate’ action in the wake of the current troubles. Those troubles have been exacerbated today, as the club has been hit with yet another points deduction, meaning they’ll start eight behind everyone else. This time, the club failed to provide 125% of the club’s forecast wage bill as a bond, to ensure the players and staff would be paid again.
EFL Statement
The EFL statement read: “Following the failure to ensure that an amount equal to 125% of the Club’s forecast monthly wage bill was deposited in a designated Club account by Wednesday, 24 May, as per the order of an Independent Disciplinary Commission, Wigan Athletic Football Club has been deducted a further four points and will now start the 2023/24 season on minus eight points (-8).”
Fans are understandably worried, but their chairman has moved to allay their fears for the upcoming season. He has promised an ‘eight-figure’ sum is imminent, securing the club’s future, but that they’ll not only come into League One with fewer points, but a vastly reduced budget when compared to last season.
Chairman Statement
In a statement, the Wigan chairman Talal Al Hammad said, “After meetings with the Board and Technical Board, the wage budget for this coming season has been agreed upon. It will be over 65% less than what it was this season, making it a much more sustainable budget from an ownership perspective. We know, however, that this will still be a competitive budget in League One.”
The chairman also repeated claims they’d spent £30m getting the club into the Championship, and in the process, accumulated an unsustainable wage bill, one they made worse in the January transfer window, with their endeavour to stay in the second tier. That wage bill, which sees players requiring two pay packets in June, is the focus of the fan’s anger.
“With the players due to be paid twice during June, and other bills stacking up, we worry for the future of our club,” their statement said. “Our confidence in the current board was already damaged by previous events and we fear the small faith we had in their ability to return the club to a stable footing, and deliver on their promises to supporters, has now gone.”
The statement was signed by several fan groups, comprising the Progress With Unity podcast, the Mudhutter fanzine, Indie Latics, the Pie at Night podcast, the Wigan Athletic Supporters Club, and the newspaper Wigan Today.
Writer’s View
How did we get back here? Ten years ago, Wigan won the FA Cup. 36 months ago, they dropped into League One, hit with a 12-point deduction and were close to going out of business. They rallied, pulled off a survival bid under Leam Richardson, and yet two years later, we’re back in the same situation. Is it the EFL’s fit and proper person’s test at fault? Were they hoodwinked? Where does it end?
Honest supporters of the club, utterly delighted when they were promoted 12 months ago, have little to cheer right now. The sad situation should have been avoided, and it was almost prophecised. How many other League One supporters asked where the money was coming from in 2022? At what point does this ‘boom or bust’ approach to club management, end? When are sustainable clubs, run properly, going to find a level playing field?
Wigan are not the only one guilty of ruining the landscape for others, but the Covid year taught some clubs nothing. How did their spending in 2021/22 fit in with FFP? How did we get back here? There are answers needed by the wider football world, and not just from a single club owner.
Founder and Editor-in-Chief at The Real EFL, Gary is a passionate Lincoln City fan with extensive content creation across the Championship and EFL. He also shares expert football betting tips.
