Made in Wigan
Vital Champions League
Interesting article in the Telegraph today from Lisa Nandy - partly on our takeover and partly on other ownership issues in the game. Posted in full as it’s subscription only, rather than via link. She mentions OCG’s who were interested in buying us. Pity she couldn’t give us a heads up who ‘ H’ is and save us a lot of stress later.
After more than a decade in the Houses of Parliament, Lisa Nandy thought she had seen it all when it came to dodgy backroom deals and self-serving interests, but nothing prepared her for what she found in football. With Wigan Athletic on the brink of extinction last year, plunged into administration by the acts of selfish and callous owners who had bought the club looking to make some easy money, she did what every local MP should do – joined the fight to save her local football team.
She was integral to finding suitable new buyers, but what she encountered, not just in what the old owners had done, but also what was unearthed during the search for new ones, shocked her. It was not just the naked self-interest, the greed and dubious motivations, but the fact people knew these things were going on and had done nothing about it.
It is why she welcomed the Government’s review, which will be led by former sports minister Tracey Crouch, but warns the pressure on politicians and clubs sparked by the Super League breakaway plan must be maintained. “You think you have seen it all as an MP of almost 11 years, but the things that go on in football are incredible,” says Nandy, whose stepfather was an avid fan of Bury, who went out of business in 2019 because of poor decisions by owners.“I was disgusted, to be honest. A little ashamed I did not know about it sooner. It is a national scandal that our national game has been allowed to get into this state. It’s at every level of the pyramid. We have to do something.
“What I realised, and what ultimately made me so angry, was that a sport that was built by working-class people for working-class people had been hijacked by far too many owners who have no interest in them, and no intention of listening to them either.
“There are too many owners who treat supporters with disdain, who disrespect them, refuse to listen and even complain about them. It’s as though the people who want to own football clubs – as well as many who already do – see fans as an irritation, something to be tolerated and managed, not engaged with or listened to. Even saying that aloud, I cannot believe it. That is not football, it is nothing to do with the game that millions of people love and which is woven into the social fabric of towns and cities, which bonds families relationships, brings people together in a way few things manage to do.“Lives are intertwined with their football clubs, they are loved and cherished, yet that is open to abuse by people who either fail to understand what these clubs represent or simply don’t care. English football has been preyed on by individuals and groups who are, to varying degrees, interested only in themselves. Some of them don’t even like football and have very little interest in it. Which inevitably begs the question why?” Nandy reveals that even a League One club such as Wigan had plenty of people interested in buying it. These included groups with alleged “links to organised crime.”She adds: “You had such varied types of potential owners who are very difficult to assess beyond what they initially offer as a bid and a loose plan for the future … these global networks, which are opaque and very difficult to untangle. There were groups, and I have to be careful here, but who had suspected links to organised crime, backed by people who were very difficult to pin down on anything and cannot be held to account. There are criminals involved, and it appears to be an open secret.
“The fact football clubs can be bought by someone borrowing all the money to pay for it and then transfer that debt on to the club, that’s not illegal but …”
Everybody knows who Nandy is referring to. Manchester United were bought by the Glazer family, who borrowed the money to finance the deal and then transferred the debt on to the club. It is the club that repays the loans and the interest, while they pay themselves millions of pounds in dividends each year.
When news of an attempt by the biggest clubs in the country, including United, to launch a breakaway Super League emerged, against the wishes of supporters, Nandy was reminded of the blatant self-interest that had led Wigan to the brink.
“What we saw with the Super League were the owners of the biggest, richest and best supported clubs in the country behaving in a similar way, the difference was they were already owners not prospective ones,” she saysThese billionaires, many of them living abroad and barely lifting a finger in terms of the day-to-day running, had control. Now it was a case of exploiting that. What can this club do for me and how much more money will I make? The fans? Who cares? It’s my business and I will run it how I want, it was so sad. The mobilisation of fans in opposition to the Super League should embolden all of us that we can force that change. The level of anger didn’t surprise me … this was a pressure cooker environment and the Super League was the moment the safety valve blew. The anger forced the Government to take notice and the big clubs were forced to backtrack rapidly.”
But will the Government really intervene when the emotions have died down and public interest is focused elsewhere?
“The Government, for a long time, knew the problems,” Nandy adds. “But didn’t think it was worth having the fight. I’m not the first MP who has had their eyes opened. It took the outcry that greeted the Super League for them to realise they had to do something.”Nandy’s unhappiness with the Government’s handling of football extended to the Newcastle takeover saga, when Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia warned the Prime Minister on June 27 last year that relations between the nations would be damaged unless the £300 million buy-out was approved. That led to Johnson tasking one of his senior aides, Lord Lister, to investigate the matter, before the Saudis withdrew from the process at the end of July.
“What has this country become when an elected Prime Minister is effectively threatened by a foreign dictator, who warned there would be serious consequences for this country if he did not get control of Newcastle United?” Nandy says. “When did Britain become a country that would allow itself to be approached in this way by a dictator, let alone act on their behalf to try and appease them?”
Despite sitting on the opposite side of the House, Nandy admires Crouch and is convinced she will allow fans to drive the review. “I’ve got high hopes for the review led by Tracey Crouch. I know her and I rate her. She is totally committed to the game and won’t pull her punches. What I am worried about is that everybody knows what’s been going on and has done nothing to stop it. We’ve not had a more populist government in my lifetime. One thing they do respond to is public pressure and think how many football fans there are in this country. They rose up and this review has to have some teeth. It has to make concrete recommendations that are implemented, and I don’t think the Government will be able to resist that.”“We already have a report from a parliamentary select committee that highlighted these problems, and it’s on a shelf gathering dust. Nothing changed and we have to keep the pressure on them. There has been a calculation in government that it’s job done. We’ve announced the review, there has been a public debate, but it will move on. They thought ‘the Super League has collapsed and we’ve got some positive headlines out of it.’
“No, that’s not what needs to happen. No more toothless reports, no more sweeping this scandal under the carpet. No more patronising fans, a collective patting on the head, telling them they’ve been heard and we care.
“We need the Government to give fans the power to protect their clubs. The power that resides in the hands of a very small group of people, who can effectively do whatever they want with the clubs, give it [power] back to the people who actually make the game what it is – the supporters.”
After more than a decade in the Houses of Parliament, Lisa Nandy thought she had seen it all when it came to dodgy backroom deals and self-serving interests, but nothing prepared her for what she found in football. With Wigan Athletic on the brink of extinction last year, plunged into administration by the acts of selfish and callous owners who had bought the club looking to make some easy money, she did what every local MP should do – joined the fight to save her local football team.
She was integral to finding suitable new buyers, but what she encountered, not just in what the old owners had done, but also what was unearthed during the search for new ones, shocked her. It was not just the naked self-interest, the greed and dubious motivations, but the fact people knew these things were going on and had done nothing about it.
It is why she welcomed the Government’s review, which will be led by former sports minister Tracey Crouch, but warns the pressure on politicians and clubs sparked by the Super League breakaway plan must be maintained. “You think you have seen it all as an MP of almost 11 years, but the things that go on in football are incredible,” says Nandy, whose stepfather was an avid fan of Bury, who went out of business in 2019 because of poor decisions by owners.“I was disgusted, to be honest. A little ashamed I did not know about it sooner. It is a national scandal that our national game has been allowed to get into this state. It’s at every level of the pyramid. We have to do something.
“What I realised, and what ultimately made me so angry, was that a sport that was built by working-class people for working-class people had been hijacked by far too many owners who have no interest in them, and no intention of listening to them either.
“There are too many owners who treat supporters with disdain, who disrespect them, refuse to listen and even complain about them. It’s as though the people who want to own football clubs – as well as many who already do – see fans as an irritation, something to be tolerated and managed, not engaged with or listened to. Even saying that aloud, I cannot believe it. That is not football, it is nothing to do with the game that millions of people love and which is woven into the social fabric of towns and cities, which bonds families relationships, brings people together in a way few things manage to do.“Lives are intertwined with their football clubs, they are loved and cherished, yet that is open to abuse by people who either fail to understand what these clubs represent or simply don’t care. English football has been preyed on by individuals and groups who are, to varying degrees, interested only in themselves. Some of them don’t even like football and have very little interest in it. Which inevitably begs the question why?” Nandy reveals that even a League One club such as Wigan had plenty of people interested in buying it. These included groups with alleged “links to organised crime.”She adds: “You had such varied types of potential owners who are very difficult to assess beyond what they initially offer as a bid and a loose plan for the future … these global networks, which are opaque and very difficult to untangle. There were groups, and I have to be careful here, but who had suspected links to organised crime, backed by people who were very difficult to pin down on anything and cannot be held to account. There are criminals involved, and it appears to be an open secret.
“The fact football clubs can be bought by someone borrowing all the money to pay for it and then transfer that debt on to the club, that’s not illegal but …”
Everybody knows who Nandy is referring to. Manchester United were bought by the Glazer family, who borrowed the money to finance the deal and then transferred the debt on to the club. It is the club that repays the loans and the interest, while they pay themselves millions of pounds in dividends each year.
When news of an attempt by the biggest clubs in the country, including United, to launch a breakaway Super League emerged, against the wishes of supporters, Nandy was reminded of the blatant self-interest that had led Wigan to the brink.
“What we saw with the Super League were the owners of the biggest, richest and best supported clubs in the country behaving in a similar way, the difference was they were already owners not prospective ones,” she saysThese billionaires, many of them living abroad and barely lifting a finger in terms of the day-to-day running, had control. Now it was a case of exploiting that. What can this club do for me and how much more money will I make? The fans? Who cares? It’s my business and I will run it how I want, it was so sad. The mobilisation of fans in opposition to the Super League should embolden all of us that we can force that change. The level of anger didn’t surprise me … this was a pressure cooker environment and the Super League was the moment the safety valve blew. The anger forced the Government to take notice and the big clubs were forced to backtrack rapidly.”
But will the Government really intervene when the emotions have died down and public interest is focused elsewhere?
“The Government, for a long time, knew the problems,” Nandy adds. “But didn’t think it was worth having the fight. I’m not the first MP who has had their eyes opened. It took the outcry that greeted the Super League for them to realise they had to do something.”Nandy’s unhappiness with the Government’s handling of football extended to the Newcastle takeover saga, when Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia warned the Prime Minister on June 27 last year that relations between the nations would be damaged unless the £300 million buy-out was approved. That led to Johnson tasking one of his senior aides, Lord Lister, to investigate the matter, before the Saudis withdrew from the process at the end of July.
“What has this country become when an elected Prime Minister is effectively threatened by a foreign dictator, who warned there would be serious consequences for this country if he did not get control of Newcastle United?” Nandy says. “When did Britain become a country that would allow itself to be approached in this way by a dictator, let alone act on their behalf to try and appease them?”
Despite sitting on the opposite side of the House, Nandy admires Crouch and is convinced she will allow fans to drive the review. “I’ve got high hopes for the review led by Tracey Crouch. I know her and I rate her. She is totally committed to the game and won’t pull her punches. What I am worried about is that everybody knows what’s been going on and has done nothing to stop it. We’ve not had a more populist government in my lifetime. One thing they do respond to is public pressure and think how many football fans there are in this country. They rose up and this review has to have some teeth. It has to make concrete recommendations that are implemented, and I don’t think the Government will be able to resist that.”“We already have a report from a parliamentary select committee that highlighted these problems, and it’s on a shelf gathering dust. Nothing changed and we have to keep the pressure on them. There has been a calculation in government that it’s job done. We’ve announced the review, there has been a public debate, but it will move on. They thought ‘the Super League has collapsed and we’ve got some positive headlines out of it.’
“No, that’s not what needs to happen. No more toothless reports, no more sweeping this scandal under the carpet. No more patronising fans, a collective patting on the head, telling them they’ve been heard and we care.
“We need the Government to give fans the power to protect their clubs. The power that resides in the hands of a very small group of people, who can effectively do whatever they want with the clubs, give it [power] back to the people who actually make the game what it is – the supporters.”
