Troubling times as Wigan Athletic are placed into administration

Jo Harrison

Championship club Wigan Athletic have been placed into administration, a club statement has confirmed.

The club recorded a net loss of £9.2million in their most recent annual accounts for the year ending June 30, 2019, an increase of £1.5m on the previous year.

Former Leeds United chairman Gerald Krasner is one of the people tasked with trying to save the club, in a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Krasner stated:

“Our immediate objectives are to ensure the club completes all its fixtures this season and to urgently find interested parties to save Wigan Athletic FC and the jobs of the people who work for the club.

“Obviously the suspension of the Championship season due to Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the recent fortunes of the club.

“Wigan Athletic has been a focal point and source of pride for the town since 1932 and anyone who is interested in buying this historic sporting institution should contact the joint administrators directly.”

The Latics were a Premier League side as recently as 2013, the season they famously achieved FA Cup success, beating Manchester City at 1-0 at Wembley. They dropped into League One in 2015 but made an immediate return to the Championship.

Wigan are one of only two Championship sides to have won all three fixtures since the restart, the other being promotion-hunting Brentford, who Paul Cook’s men face next.

The news of administration means a 12-point deduction, which, if brandished now, will send Wigan to the bottom of the table. As per the Daily Mirror, the sanction will only be applied after the final league places have been determined.