was the manager of Wigan Athletic from December 2013 to November 2014 On 14 June 2013, Dave Whelan revealed that a deal had been agreed with
Owen Coyle to become the new Wigan manager. He won his first game away at
Barnsley before being defeated by
Manchester United in the
Community Shield. On 19 September, the club played their first game in European competition: a 0–0 away draw to
Zulte Waregem in the
UEFA Europa League group stage. Coyle left the club by mutual agreement on 2 December 2013 having won seven games out of twenty-three. On 7 December,
Uwe Rösler, who had been managing
Brentford, was appointed as Coyle's replacement. His first match, on 12 December, was a 2–1 defeat away to
Maribor in the
UEFA Europa League, which saw the club eliminated after finishing last in their group. On 9 March 2014 Wigan beat
Manchester City in the 6th round of the
FA Cup to reach the semi-final at
Wembley for the second successive year, where they played
Arsenal, and lost 2–4 on penalties after normal time and
extra time resulted in a 1–1 draw. After finishing 5th in the 2013–14 Championship, Wigan qualified for the play-offs. Despite a 0–0 home draw in the first leg, they lost 2–1 after extra-time in the semi-finals to the eventual champions
Queens Park Rangers. Rösler was sacked in November 2014 with the club in the relegation places, having previously blamed a "hangover effect" from the previous season as the cause of Wigan's poor form. He was replaced by
Malky Mackay, a controversial appointment due to an ongoing investigation into allegations of racist text messaging at his former club,
Cardiff City. The remarks of Wigan chairman
Dave Whelan to the controversy brought disciplinary action against him from the FA. Whelan resigned as chairman on 3 March 2015, remaining as owner but handing over the chairmanship to his grandson David Sharpe. The following month, with Wigan in danger of relegation to
League One, Mackay was sacked and replaced by former Wigan captain
Gary Caldwell. Despite a late season fightback including a 2-1 win against
Brighton & Hove Albion in his first game, the team ended the
2014–15 season with relegation. Caldwell oversaw a complete overhaul of the team, with an almost entirely new squad starting the League One season. The
2015–16 season saw success on the field as the club secured an immediate return and the League One title for the second time in their history with summer signing
Will Grigg finishing as the league top scorer. Caldwell was unable to maintain this success and was sacked after a disappointing start to the Championship season and replaced by
Warren Joyce. Joyce was also unable to turn around the team fortunes and was sacked after just 4 months in charge,
Graham Barrow returned as an interim manager but was unable to stave off a second relegation in 3 years. Barrow departed the club and was replaced by
Portsmouth F.C. manager
Paul Cook at the end of the season. In the
2017–18 League One season, Wigan finished top, winning promotion back to the
Championship. Their promotion was sealed by a 4–0 win against
Fleetwood Town. In the
2017–18 FA Cup, Wigan beat
Manchester City in the Fifth Round Proper at home, winning 1–0 after Will Grigg scored in the 79th minute. In the quarterfinals, they were knocked out by
Southampton in a 2–0 loss. At the end of the season it was announced that the Whelan family had agreed a deal to sell the club, stadium and training facilities to the Hong Kong-based International Entertainment Corporation (IEC) in a £22m deal. On 2 November 2018, IEC received shareholder approval to complete the acquisition of the football club, ending 23 years of Whelan family ownership. In the 2018–19 season, Wigan finished 18th in the Championship with 52 points, well clear of the relegation zone.
Administration, relegation, and bouncing back: 2020–2022 On 4 June 2020, IEC sold the majority of Wigan Athletic shareholdings to Hong Kong-based Next Leader Fund; the sale was formally ratified and approved by the shareholders of IEC, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the EFL. On 1 July 2020, the club – standing 14th in the Championship, eight points clear of relegation, in a season delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic – announced it had gone into
administration as Next Leader Fund had refused to invest promised money. Paul Stanley,
Gerald Krasner and Dean Watson from
Begbies Traynor were appointed as joint administrators. The insolvency left Wigan facing a 12-point deduction; the sanction would be applied at the end of the
2019–20 season if the club finished outside the bottom three after 46 games. A private conversation about Wigan's situation involving EFL chairman
Rick Parry was secretly filmed amid talk of betting on Wigan being relegated – described by some as the greatest sporting scandal of modern times.
Wigan MP
Lisa Nandy and
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham wrote a joint letter to Parry calling for an investigation into the club's takeover. Players had not been paid and there was talk of club staff being made redundant and of players being offered for sale, they said. Wigan's supporters club also called for an investigation and for financial support from the EFL; supporters, backed by Nandy, later launched an online petition to try to trigger a parliamentary debate around the EFL's owners' and directors' test. On 4 July, Wigan, previously unbeaten in nine games, lost 3–0 at
Brentford. Three days later, 75 (approximately half) of the club's non-playing staff were made redundant by the administrators, and
Wigan Warriors expressed interest in buying the football club (a move later supported by
Wigan council). On 10 July, midfielder
Jensen Weir was set to be sold to
Brighton & Hove Albion for £500,000 plus add-ons to help alleviate Wigan's financial problems; England Under-16 international midfielder
Alfie Devine was later sold to Tottenham. Bids were due by 21 July; However, on 24 July, talks with the preferred bidder broke down and administrators began negotiations with other parties, which continued into early August. Meanwhile, on 7 July 2020 the club had appealed against the 12-point deduction imposed by the EFL for entering administration. This, combined with other results, meant Wigan would not finish in the relegation places, so the 12-point deduction would be applied at the end of the current season. Wigan's appeal against the points deduction, heard on 31 July, was set to cost the club between £400,000 and £500,000. On 4 August, the club's relegation was confirmed and, following the resignation of manager Paul Cook,
Leam Richardson was appointed caretaker manager. On 17 August 2020, it was reported that Au Yeung Wai Kay, the club's owner, had, on 23 June, asked Begbies Traynor about putting it into administration before completing his takeover. Begbies Traynor disputed the account, produced by an independent commission, saying administration was one of several scenarios discussed. The commission said Kay was "not open" with Wigan officials about his conversation with Begbies Traynor, and subsequently gave "either false or knowingly misleading" assurances about future funding. On 20 August, Kay was reported to be waiving a £36m debt owed to him by the club in an effort to expedite its sale. Wigan supporters began a fund-raising effort, initially raising £500,000 to help secure the club's future, and then raising £200,000 more. but later revised their opinion. They appointed
John Sheridan as the club's new manager, who was in charge as Wigan lost their first League game of the season 2–0 at
Ipswich Town. On 21 September, the administrators reported that bids would need to top £3m to secure the sale as the club had a "considerable liability" to
HM Revenue and Customs, owed wages to players, and also had to pay for August's unsuccessful appeal against the points deduction. On 30 September, the administrators said they had reached an agreement with an unnamed bidder from Spain to purchase the club, and were working on paperwork to gain EFL approval. In early November, former Wigan manager Roberto Martinez was reported to assisting with the Spanish bid. On 13 November, after three wins in 15 Wigan games, manager Sheridan left to become
Swindon Town's new manager. On 20 November, additional time was granted to the prospective new owners to complete their purchase. In early December, with the club bottom of League One, it emerged that a member of the Spanish consortium had a disqualifying condition, so Wigan's administrators had to make a fresh application to the EFL on behalf of Felipe Moreno, owner of Spanish
LaLiga 2 side
Leganés. However, on 5 January 2021, the Moreno take-over bid fell through; administrators began talking to other bidders, with, on 15 January 11 parties said to be interested in buying the club. By early March 2021, the administrators were in advanced talks with a consortium, Phoenix 2021 Ltd, led by
Bahrain businessmen Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi and
Talal Mubarak al-Hammad, and a takeover was agreed on 15 March, subject to EFL approval and finalisation of paperwork. Under the proposed deal, Al-Hammad would become chairman, and Mal Brannigan (previously involved with
Dundalk and
Dundee United) would be chief executive. EFL approval for the takeover was confirmed on 30 March 2021. In May, the former administrators repaid £171,000 raised by supporters to keep the club going when it first went into administration. The club finished the
2020–21 season in 20th position, one point above the relegation places. A year later, Wigan Athletic won the League One title in
2021–22, earning promotion back to the Championship after a final day 3–0 victory at
Shrewsbury Town.
2023: Financial issues, relegation and a new owner On 7 March 2023, Wigan reported a £7.7m loss for the financial year to June 2022. Four days later, Wigan released a statement saying there would be a temporary delay in meeting wage obligations due to liquidity issues; the EFL was aware of the situation and on 20 March 2023, bottom-of-the-table Wigan were docked three points for failing to pay players, having had a previous EFL sanction for non-payment suspended. The club and its owner, Al-Jasmi, also faced new charges. Player
Steven Caulker accused the club's leadership of lying and "absolutely scandalous" behaviour regarding four late wages payments, and team-mates did not train on 24 March in protest at the club's financial crisis. Later that day, Wigan chairman Talal Al-Hammad announced players had been paid, and said CEO Mal Brannigan had left the club. On 29 April 2023, Wigan were relegated from the Championship. Several players' April wages were again paid late - the fifth time this had happened during the season - and the delays continued into mid-May with the
Professional Footballers' Association helping "frustrated and angry" players. On 16 May 2023, the club's owners paid a "substantial" seven-figure amount, with proof shown to the EFL, to keep the club going and ensure all wages were paid. In late May 2023, Wigan were hit with two further deductions of points ahead of the
2023–24 League One season. First, on 19 May, the EFL announced Wigan would be deducted four points for failing to pay players' wages. A further four-point deduction was suspended until 30 June 2024, but would be triggered if wages are again paid late before then. The EFL also retrospectively deducted three points from
the club's 2022–23 season total; Wigan therefore finished the season on 39 points, 10 points from safety. Owner Al-Jasmi was also required to deposit an amount covering 125% of the club's forecast monthly wage bill by 24 May 2023 or face further sanctions. Second, on 26 May, a further four-point deduction was made after Al-Jasmi missed that deadline despite being given extra time. The club would therefore start its next season with minus eight points. Club chairman Talal Al-Hammad said an imminent "eight-figure sum" would ensure "financial stability" until the end of the 2023–24 season, and outlined plans including a 65% reduction in Wigan's wage bill after an "unsustainable" Championship relegation campaign. However, the expected payment had not been made by 2 June 2023 and some players were again unpaid, risking further EFL sanctions, and prompting fans groups to urge a sale of the club. Two of Wigan's three directors resigned on 4 June 2023 as fears of a possible winding-up order from HMRC grew, before the owners said they had agreed to sell the club to "a new buyer" who had "committed to resolving all outstanding liabilities at the earliest opportunity", with any deal "subject to EFL approval". However, the potential buyer, Sarbjot Johal, was also involved in negotiations to buy
Morecambe and had not provided proof of sufficient funding. On 9 June 2023, Wigan Athletic were placed under a transfer embargo for contravening EFL tax payment rules, and, three days later, HMRC lodged a winding-up petition over unpaid tax, with a hearing date of 26 July. Also on 12 June 2023, it was reported that Wigan Warriors RLFC co-owner Mike Danson had renewed his interest in buying Wigan Athletic, with the takeover confirmed on 14 June. On 27 July 2023, defender
Jack Whatmough and midfielder
Jamie McGrath terminated their contracts with the club following repeated contractual breaches by the previous ownership. ==References==