Wigan Athletic rocked by departure of duo from the board

But the duo say they would 'reverse this decision immediately' if - and hopefully when - the ownership group produces the promised 'eight-figure sum' that would 'safeguard the club through next season.

Markham, who had been the chief operating officer, had also been filling the role of acting chief executive following the recent departure of Mal Brannigan.

Gottmann had been a non-executive director, compromising two-thirds of the board along with chairman Talal Al Hammad.

As it stands, Al Hammad is the only figure left at boardroom level, underlining the utter shambles the club has been reduced to in recent weeks and months.

The news of Markham and Gottmann's departure was announced in a lengthy statement released on the former's Twitter account.

On March 22, 2023, a revised board compromising of Talal Al Hammad, Tom Markham and Oliver Gottmann was installed by Phoenix 2021 Limited to oversee day-to-day operations at Wigan Athletic," the statement read.

"At this time, the players were overdue payment of their wages by 12 days and HMRC PAYE payments were two months in arrears.

"At 5pm on March 24, 2023, no funds had arrived into the club's bank account and there were genuine concerns the club was heading towards administration.

"By 5.05pm, all creditors had been paid following an injection of £2.3million by the ownership group.

"The board's next immediate objective was to regain stability within the football club after this period of extreme turbulence.

"Over the following month, stability did return to the organisation.

"Staff were excited about the future of a modern, transparent and more sustainable football club that empowered its employees.

"These strategic objectives were underpinned by Shaun Maloney's five-year on-field vision focused on player development.

"It was agreed that a sporting director would be appointed, and data would play a significant part in recruitment going forward.

"On May 4, 2023, players and staff were due to be paid.

"Unfortunately, despite numerous promises, no funds arrived from ownership to cover the circa £500k deficit, meaning the club did not have sufficient funds to pay player wages.

"This was hugely deflating, after a very positive six-week period.

"At the same time, the club was in the midst of dealing with previous EFL charges in relation to non-payment of players and the EFL wage bond.

"The non-payment of players in May meant the club would start the 2023-24 season with a four-point deduction, which would not have happened had the players been paid on time.

"Between May 4, 2023 and June 2, 2023, the ownership group promised nine different funding amounts to the club ranging from £700k to over £20million.

"The EFL (who have been kept informed of proceedings throughout), HMRC and other stakeholders were provided with documentation in relation to two of these amounts.

"In the case of the second of these amounts (the eight-figure sum mentioned by the chairman in his public statement on the club website on May 26, 2023), we were assured that this would provide the club with all the necessary funding for the remainder of the 2022/23 season and the entirety of the 2023/24 season.

"It would also allow for the plans outlined above to be implemented. None of these funds ever arrived.

"The lack of funds meant the club was not in a position to pay the £2.35milllion into the EFL Wage Bond by May 24, 2023, resulting in a further four-point deduction for the 2023/24 season.

"We were promised by the ownership group that funds would be in plce by June 2, 2023.

"With these funds not arriving, and with no visibility of when funds will arrive, it makes our position untenable.

"So it is with great regret, we have both resigned from our roles at the club with immediate effect.

"We remain passionate about Wigan Athletic, and would reverse this decision immediately if funds appropriate to implement the aforementioned plans were injected into the club.

"We would strongly encourage the ownership group to put the necessary funds in to pay creditirs and preserve the future of this proud football club."