Wigan Athletic 'not for sale' despite 'a number of approaches'

The Latics chief executive took the unusual step of issuing a statement to address a damning report in a national newspaper on Tuesday evening.

While acknowledging the October wages for playing and non-playing staff had again been received late – as reported by Wigan Today - Brannigan refuted claims in the Daily Mail that 'third parties have been approached and asked to find potential buyers' for the club.

He wrote: "The primary message that I want to convey is to assure the club’s staff, its supporters and its business partners that, despite the recent media opinion, the current and future financial health of Wigan Athletic is strong and very secure, and I can confirm that the club is not up for sale.

"Speculation over clubs being for sale is always rife and, while some potential purchasers have approached the ownership group on a number of occasions since its acquisition of Wigan Athletic in March 2021, no approaches have ever been entertained.

"It is only natural that the club would attract interest given the positive journey it has been on in the last 19 months, but we remain committed in returning the club to where we believe it belongs in the football pyramid.

"Football is a business that is very much in the public eye and at times, brings a level of scrutiny not experienced by many other industries.

"Where appropriate, I am extremely mindful of our duty to inform and notify as many of our stakeholders of club matters in a timely manner.

"But there are times where such scrutiny impacts on those who work within the club on a personal level; discussing pay and payroll is one such topic.

"I can assure you that funding has never been the reason for any previous delay, and this is still the position in this situation.

"We are aware of what needs to be done to make sure a late payment situation doesn’t happen again under our tenure, especially as they have recently been as a consequence of a banking process that took much longer than it should have done, once the funds were in the system."

Brannigan pointed to the new three-year contract signed by manager Leam Richardson last night as proof of the owners' ongoing and 'unwavering' support.

"The commitment to our club from Mr Al Jasmi and Talal Al Hammad is unwavering, and the very recent announcement on extending Leam Richardson’s contract for a further three years only goes to underline their support," added Brannigan, who has been over in Bahrain this week with the manager to catch up Talal and Mr Al Jasmi.

Brannigan also made joking reference to a photograph tweeted by Talal along with the Richardson news, which bizarrely featured a desktop planner showing the date as June 2021.

"We are all delighted that Leam has committed his future to the club and that he wants to continue to develop his career at the DW Stadium.

"While the terms have been agreed for a while now - although not as far back as June 2021 - everyone concerned wanted to wait and officially announce the news during a short visit to Bahrain this week, to discuss a number of club matters with Mr Al Jasmi and Talal.

"Leam has their full support and everyone is aligned on what the short, medium and long term goals are for the football operation.

"Delivering a championship-winning team less than 12 months after avoiding relegation, while instilling a culture and spirit of togetherness, reflects Leam’s character, and those of his staff, and there is a determined resolve to continue to build on the foundations already in place."

Brannigan also addressed criticism from some supporters of a lack of communication before Wednesday's 6.30pm statement.

"It may be argued by some that this statement is a little overdue," he recognised. "But I feel it better to occasionally let the dust settle on some matters and ignore those issues that are much more of a speculative nature.

"I hope that the above has given assurance and answered some of the questions that may have been raised as a consequence of both factual and speculative information over the past couple of days."