Lessons must be learned from Wigan Athletic crisis, insists Leam Richardson

After almost nine months of agony for everyone connected to the club, it finally looks as though there’ll be a happy ending with Phoenix 2021 Limited hoping to tie up the formalities of a deal by the end of March at the latest.

Richardson, though, says the whole unsavoury episode – which saw Latics almost pay the ultimate price through no fault of their own – should be looked at closely to avoid other clubs suffering in the same way.

“I think in any adversity, there’s lessons to be learned, there’s challenges there to be set and met,” the Latics boss said.

“The EFL are constantly moulding and changing throughout the years and the decades to try and manage the competition and the group of teams within it.

“I’ve said it before, but certainly I’ve learned a lot from the situation.

“You see the word ‘administration’ on the Sky Sports ticker, and you think it’s a part and parcel of what rolls into a football club and what rolls out again.

“But there’s certainly a lot to digest, and a lot of challenges to be met, and going forward I’ll have a lot more empathy and humility for any other football club or person that experiences something like this.”

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