Wigan Athletic boss on survival 'title' and 'massive thanks to new owners'

That's Leam Richardson’s assessment of Wigan Athletic’s feat in securing League One safety with a game to spare – completing THE greatest of all ‘Great Escapes’.

No-one outside the borough gave Latics a chance of avoiding back-to-back relegations with all the off-field carnage over the last 10 months.

But Richardson, his staff and players – a squad largely made up of freebies, loans and untried youngsters – did the club and the town proud, to make the impossible possible.

And the captain of the ship – who’d previously said survival would eclipse anything he’d achieved in the game, including promotions and titles – could not hide his huge pride.

“We saw first hand the Hull celebrations on Saturday, which they wanted to share with their own fans outside the ground, and it’s fantastic,” he said.

“And what we’ve achieved, in my opinion, is something very similar, if not even greater, because of what we’ve been through as a football club and as individuals, personally and professionally.

“I’d also like to say a massive thanks to the new owners who came in at a very difficult time. They could have easily waited, they could have easily just accepted a points deduction (by not paying the non-football creditors 25p in the pound).

“To take it when it was still to-ing and fro-ing, still very much up in the air, takes bravery, belief and commitment.

“But they were determined to do it right, and the chairman and the chief executive have been very, very supportive.

“They’ve wanted to help so much, and haven’t been able to do up to as yet. But now the future is bright.”

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