Championship news: Wigan Athletic release strong 528-word response to late wages and club sale reports

On Tuesday night, the Daily Mail reported several members of Leam Richardson's squad are now considering their futures after the third late payment of wages – which are reported to have now been paid.

In the bombshell report, it was also stated that third parties have been approached and asked to find potential buyers for Wigan Athletic. The club came very close came to liquidation only two seasons ago before being bought by Al Hammad. The Latics have since been promoted to the Championship from League One.

Regarding the wages issue, Wigan Today revealed the wages have now been paid. They reported: “The club has been contacted for comment, with the supporters desperate for answers and reassurances.

“But Wigan Today understands from a cast-iron source the situation has now been resolved and the wages have been paid. In the meantime, though, chairman Talal Al Hammad took to social media to announce Richardson had agreed a long-term extension to his contract,” added the report on Tuesday evening.

However, Wigan Athletic chief executive, Malachy Brannigan, responded to the conflicting media reports with a strong 528-word statement on Wednesday evening. The Wigan boss assured staff and supporters that the financial health of the club was “strong and very secure.”

“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.

“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.

“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.

“It may be argued by some that this statement is a little overdue, 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.

Former Sunderland players Charlie Wyke, Max Power, Ashley Fletcher and James McClean all have permanent contracts with Wigan Athletic. Ex-Black Cats loanee Nathan Broadhead is on loan at the DW Stadium from Everton.

Jordan Jones – who enjoyed a spell on Wearside two seasons ago – is also a Wigan Athletic player but is out on loan in Scotland currently.

Wigan Athletic are next in action in just three days time against Watford this Saturday in the Championship. Sunderland face Luton Town at 3pm at Kenilworth Road with the Black Cats looking to bounce back from last weekend’s 4-2 loss to Burnley.

First-half goals from Amad and Dan Neil gave Mowbray’s side a commanding two-goal lead at the interval before the Clarets’ second-half comeback handed Vincent Kompany’s men the points.