Ben Goodburn reveals 'realignment' aims for Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors

The two clubs were brought back under one ownership on December 1 last year, when Mike Danson took control of the Warriors, six months after doing the same with Latics.

There have already been moves to bring both clubs closer together for mutual benefit, which include the moving of all Latics staff from the Brick Community Stadium to the Warriors' base at Robin Park.

Goodburn - who is combining his role as Latics chairman with that of interim CEO, while also on the Warriors board - says having all staff in one building is another logical step towards becoming 'the best employer in the town'.

"The aim for that is so staff can work more coherently and cooperatively, and we've got all of our best people under one roof," says Goodburn, speaking exclusively to Wigan Today.

"This re-alignment of the two clubs will bring the biggest benefits to the clubs commercially, but also ensure we have the biggest impact in the communities we serve.

"In order for both clubs to pack the biggest punch, why not have your best people working together in the same office space.

"We have already introduced the alignment across some functions, such as the ticket office, group retail, human resources...there's a lot of scope for crossover.

"In bringing together both sets of staff under one roof, not only does it bring alignment across the clubs, but it also allows us to showcase our clubs, both in the community and further afield.

"One of our objectives is to be the best employer in the town...we want to be the go-to place for youngsters coming out of school or higher education."

Goodburn also confirmed joint season-tickets - which have long been mooted, going back to the days when the Whelan family owned both clubs - is also now a viable option thanks to a revamp of the infrastructure.

"For the first time, we have a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system and a ticketing system that actually talk to each other," he said. "We've just recruited a new CRM manager who will be working across both clubs for the first time.

"The underlying problem has been that neither club has had the data to actually work through that as a possibility. We have that now, so we're working through all kinds of different and exciting possibilities in terms of bringing the fanbases together.

"We'd love nothing more than having rugby fans coming to watch the football, and vice versa. There is a small cohort already that are season-ticket holders across both clubs, and it's definitely something we're looking to build on.

"The fundamental point is we're trying to build a better picture of the fanbases on both sides. When we took over, we didn't even know what our fanbase was, the data was so poor.

"It wasn't digital, we didn't have addresses or email addresses for people, it was in a real state. But we've fixed that and we're in a much better position now.

"We're also looking at building that link with fans on non-matchdays, to ensure there is that connection throughout the week."