CHARLES GRAHAM: Shock at football club administration

The administration announcement took most people by surprise

There had been murmurings months ago about trouble looming for the Latics as ownership changed hands in the Far East.

But it is fair to say that most people - including the chief executive Jonathan Jackson and former owner Dave Whelan - were caught by surprise when a release came out yesterday lunchtime announcing that the business had gone into administration.

For years it had been reported that the club kept enviably good books and spent within its means - something that had engendered some criticism from the more ambitious fans who wanted Wigan to go for broke in a quest for further success.

But something has gone wrong to get the outfit into millions of pounds of debt.

With Covid-19 part blamed for the problems it may be that the club isn’t docked points. And we can only hope that the administrators’ optimism at finding a new buyer and bringing in new revenue is justified. This is too precious an institution for it to go under.

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