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Wigan sporting company

Is it confirmed bullshit that Danson bought the rest of the rugby shares? Not see this reported on companies house or anywhere else.
 
Wlatic said:
That sounds more like a rumor or expectation than fact. Has a deal been signed or just expected?
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Mike Danson 'honoured' to take over as Wigan Warriors owner following Ian Lenagan decision.​

The local businessman Mike Danson will take 100 percent ownership of the club on December 1, following Ian Lenagan’s decision to stand down chairman and shareholder.

www.wigantoday.net

Mike Danson 'honoured' to take over as Wigan Warriors owner following Ian Lenagan decision

Mike Danson says it is an honour to have the responsibility of becoming Wigan Warriors’ new custodian.
www.wigantoday.net www.wigantoday.net
 
Third Avenue said:
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 Melvyn Leatherbarrow (aka 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 shareholder’s 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 shareholder’s EGM, Wigan unveiled details of a proposed new super stadium. But critics of the board feared that if the team moved 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 “They (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 the 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.
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Just purely on the move to their ground, Nat Lofthouse told all and sundry at Bolton, he would never allow them to groundshare as long as he was alive and while that was the case, his word was law as far as BWFC were concerned.
 
AbramLatic1 said:
Just purely on the move to their ground, Nat Lofthouse told all and sundry at Bolton, he would never allow them to groundshare as long as he was alive and while that was the case, his word was law as far as BWFC were concerned.
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A shame that. Would have been great if they had gone there.
 
jeffs right said:
A shame that. Would have been great if they had gone there.
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There was absolutely no chance, Nat Lofthouse would never had agreed to it, know people who he actually said that to and he was held in that high esteem at Bolton, if he said something wasn't happening, it didn't happen. By all accounts he was an absolute gent, seems if you weren't aware, you'd never know he was a proper, proper legend of English football
 
Frankel Bucks said:
He will be at Wembley obviously and quite right too. If the shoe was on the other foot and the Rugby had a home game then he would be at Wembley watching Latics. That's why owners buy clubs (partly) you know, to watch the success. Not sure how you can manage to make to make any kind of deal out of it, mind.

Just for clarity, i will be at Wembley. I will be there whether the Warriors are there or not as i already have a ticket. I like watching rugby and it's a great day out. Fortunately rugby fans aren't as tribal as football fans so i will be there in my Wigan colours with my mates whether there are a sea of Saints fans around us or not. It's good craic. Wont be the first or last time that's happened.
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I disagree. It’s not just any home game, it’s the first competitive home game under his ownership. Even Mr Al Jasmi himself showed up for that one, the only game he ever attended if I remember correctly? He doesn’t own Wigan Warriors as of yet, Ian Lenegan does and when they get to Wembley, he’ll get the spotlight.

Not that I’m arsed in the slightest, but if I was then the above would be my opinion. I know he’s a massive rugby fan though so I’m sure he will be at Wembley and fair play to him.
 
springy-park said:

Mike Danson 'honoured' to take over as Wigan Warriors owner following Ian Lenagan decision.​

The local businessman Mike Danson will take 100 percent ownership of the club on December 1, following Ian Lenagan’s decision to stand down chairman and shareholder.

www.wigantoday.net

Mike Danson 'honoured' to take over as Wigan Warriors owner following Ian Lenagan decision

Mike Danson says it is an honour to have the responsibility of becoming Wigan Warriors’ new custodian.
www.wigantoday.net www.wigantoday.net
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Is december 1st after the season ends or something?
 
C_Latic said:
I disagree. It’s not just any home game, it’s the first competitive home game under his ownership. Even Mr Al Jasmi himself showed up for that one, the only game he ever attended if I remember correctly? He doesn’t own Wigan Warriors as of yet, Ian Lenegan does and when they get to Wembley, he’ll get the spotlight.

Not that I’m arsed in the slightest, but if I was then the above would be my opinion. I know he’s a massive rugby fan though so I’m sure he will be at Wembley and fair play to him.
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What does it matter anyway ?... he bought us and saved us and can do whatever he likes in my opinion. If we were at Wembley and warriors had a home game I'd expect he'd be down south for that annall. But for some it seems us bagging a Wigan born billionaire still isn't good enough...maybe we should start looking around for another .
 
For some, nobody would be good enough unless they came in with the sole intention of kicking the warriors out on day one, then spending £15m a season propping up the losses made on overpaid knackers.

The Bahraini Bullshitters tried that approach, kicked anything warriors-related out of the DW, hiked their rent and funded massive losses on the football front. That went well, didnt it. The simple truth is that both clubs need each other to survive and flourish, and if that means combining resources to cut costs, then so be it.

Danson owned 49% of the Warriors when he saved the latics. He will own 100% of the Warriors within the next 18 weeks. If anyone thinks that agreement to buy the remaining 51% hadnt been made well before he bought the latics, then you are a bigger fool than I gave you credit for being.

Everyone who follows either team in Wigan now has two options - Fit In or Fuck Off. Nobody's forcing anyone to be there. The attendance yesterday shows that there are plenty of folk who clearly are happy with the new ownership, so losing the odd bigot wont be a problem.
 
pie eater said:
For some, nobody would be good enough unless they came in with the sole intention of kicking the warriors out on day one, then spending £15m a season propping up the losses made on overpaid knackers.

The Bahraini Bullshitters tried that approach, kicked anything warriors-related out of the DW, hiked their rent and funded massive losses on the football front. That went well, didnt it. The simple truth is that both clubs need each other to survive and flourish, and if that means combining resources to cut costs, then so be it.

Danson owned 49% of the Warriors when he saved the latics. He will own 100% of the Warriors within the next 18 weeks. If anyone thinks that agreement to buy the remaining 51% hadnt been made well before he bought the latics, then you are a bigger fool than I gave you credit for being.

Everyone who follows either team in Wigan now has two options - Fit In or Fuck Off. Nobody's forcing anyone to be there. The attendance yesterday shows that there are plenty of folk who clearly are happy with the new ownership, so losing the odd bigot wont be a problem.
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I think you might be wrong about Dansons plan to buy 100% of the rugby before buying Latics.
Lenegans son Simon tweeted Paul Kendrick recently on Paul suggesting what you have. Saying it wasn't the case and hinted that it was a recent decision by Lenegan senior to sell.
Simon didn't elaborate but offered to DM Kendrick with the details.
 
pie eater said:
For some, nobody would be good enough unless they came in with the sole intention of kicking the warriors out on day one, then spending £15m a season propping up the losses made on overpaid knackers.

The Bahraini Bullshitters tried that approach, kicked anything warriors-related out of the DW, hiked their rent and funded massive losses on the football front. That went well, didnt it. The simple truth is that both clubs need each other to survive and flourish, and if that means combining resources to cut costs, then so be it.

Danson owned 49% of the Warriors when he saved the latics. He will own 100% of the Warriors within the next 18 weeks. If anyone thinks that agreement to buy the remaining 51% hadnt been made well before he bought the latics, then you are a bigger fool than I gave you credit for being.

Everyone who follows either team in Wigan now has two options - Fit In or Fuck Off. Nobody's forcing anyone to be there. The attendance yesterday shows that there are plenty of folk who clearly are happy with the new ownership, so losing the odd bigot wont be a problem.
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Well in relation to that shower then at least the Bahrainian Bullshitters got one thing right. Such a shame they ran out of money to replenish those seats.
 
pie eater said:
For some, nobody would be good enough unless they came in with the sole intention of kicking the warriors out on day one, then spending £15m a season propping up the losses made on overpaid knackers.

The Bahraini Bullshitters tried that approach, kicked anything warriors-related out of the DW, hiked their rent and funded massive losses on the football front. That went well, didnt it. The simple truth is that both clubs need each other to survive and flourish, and if that means combining resources to cut costs, then so be it.

Danson owned 49% of the Warriors when he saved the latics. He will own 100% of the Warriors within the next 18 weeks. If anyone thinks that agreement to buy the remaining 51% hadnt been made well before he bought the latics, then you are a bigger fool than I gave you credit for being.

Everyone who follows either team in Wigan now has two options - Fit In or Fuck Off. Nobody's forcing anyone to be there. The attendance yesterday shows that there are plenty of folk who clearly are happy with the new ownership, so losing the odd bigot wont be a problem.
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"...hiked their rent..." Negotiated a more reasonable rate.
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Yon Mon said:
I think you might be wrong about Dansons plan to buy 100% of the rugby before buying Latics.
Lenegans son Simon tweeted Paul Kendrick recently on Paul suggesting what you have. Saying it wasn't the case and hinted that it was a recent decision by Lenegan senior to sell.
Simon didn't elaborate but offered to DM Kendrick with the details.
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After the bull**** he posted when Ian Lenegan came out with that "Wigan Sports" stuff, when he just wanted the stadium, Simon Lenegan got his backside well and truly handed to him on a silver platter on Twitter, loads of us showed him up for the liar he was....wouldn't believe SL if he told me tomorrow was Monday
 
AbramLatic1 said:
There was absolutely no chance, Nat Lofthouse would never had agreed to it, know people who he actually said that to and he was held in that high esteem at Bolton, if he said something wasn't happening, it didn't happen. By all accounts he was an absolute gent, seems if you weren't aware, you'd never know he was a proper, proper legend of English football
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Indeed he was a perfect gent, met him once at Burnden Park when I went there to watch Latics in the early 80’s as a guest of a former Wigan Rugby player and coach who to his shame was a lifelong Bolton fan!

Nonetheless we had met through work/business and became quite friendly which is how he took me to Bolton/Latics.
He knew Nat L quite well and consequently Nat was a frequent visitor to Central Park. Nat Lofthouse therefore had a soft spot for Wigan Rugby. That of itself doesn’t mean he wasn’t opposed to a ground share, he might well have been I’ve no idea, my brief chat with him was around 15 years prior to any firm plans for a new stadium in Wigan.

Nonetheless, the probability that he was opposed to the idea doesn’t alter the fact that idea or intent was in the heads of the Wigan Board at the time.

Third Avenue’s timeline and summary of events is spot on as far as I know, and certain segments of it I was fully aware of from first hand knowledge.
 
The article is probably 10, maybe 15 years old and 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. I don’t think that website exists any longer.
The source would rule out any suggestion there is a Latics bias involved in the piece.

I’ve used it a few times to correct two frequently stated claims that (a) Whelan was involved in the demise of Central Park and (b) that the building of the stadium would never have happened without the rugby being part of the plan, with some even suggesting the stadium was built for them.

Rugby fans unable to come to terms with the fact the club in its desire to dominate the sport had bankrupted itself needed a scapegoat and Whelan was the obvious target.
 
Third Avenue said:
The article is probably 10, maybe 15 years old and 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. I don’t think that website exists any longer.
The source would rule out any suggestion there is a Latics bias involved in the piece.

I’ve used it a few times to correct two frequently stated claims that (a) Whelan was involved in the demise of Central Park and (b) that the building of the stadium would never have happened without the rugby being part of the plan, with some even suggesting the stadium was built for them.

Rugby fans unable to come to terms with the fact the club in its desire to dominate the sport had bankrupted itself needed a scapegoat and Whelan was the obvious target.
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Their hatred towards Latics is and always has been greater than any hatred we have toward them, especially when our owners buy them out.
It wouldn't surprise me if they turned on Mike Danson like they did against Dave Whelan.
 
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