Wow ,
Uncle Mo was cleverer than i thought , he realized that if the club overspent and had to sell the ground then once it was renting if a Corona virus ever occurred the overheads would not be as great .

He was always forward thinking

Imagine how bitter big fat Garry Schofield (copyright Andy Farrell) would be if we took his Yaaarkshire Cup medals as well

it was even cleverer as he wasnt at wigan then

<Brian Potter>Sweet baby Jesus and the oprhans!!!</Brian Potter>

The original cost of the new stand was estimated at £1.1 million and Whitbreads were to pay £700,000, but the actual cost was £1.7 million with Whitbreads paying the original estimated cost of £1.1 million with Wigan having to find the balance of £600,000.

I think you will find that Leeds have no worries as the rugby ground is part of the Headingley complex which is owned by the Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

And so would Wigan without the ownerships of the Gang of Four, Whelan and Lenaghan over the past forty years or so!

Exactly, a town which claims to be the most famous club in rugby league has now ended up in a rented white elephant stadium for which it has to pay £200,000 per year to a Chinese Company.

And you say "so what"

What you going to do about bad decisions made 25 years ago?

so a 600k loss in them days, thats what hit them hard and they never recovered from thats 1.2 million now, plus Robinson and Whitbread selling the ground although the board voted against it, brown envelope squad

Its not all regarding the ground is it though as despite all the claims that are made that it was the building of the stand that was the problem , the other major problem was the wages paid to the players that were massive and not sustainable , hence the reason why Leeds nearly went bust buying the best players that were left after you had the elite . Trouble is you guys think that everybody else does not respect everything you won in that era (and you are right ) because there was nobody to compete against you . What it does not take away is the fact that Wigan had world class players who would have been just that in any era.

What do you want me to do about it, throw a paddy, spit my dummy out? What’s happened was 22yrs ago or thereabouts. Get a grip FFS

All the clubs had the chance to go to the next level, but only one had the bollox to do it

This

That's like listening to a West Brom fan moaning that Manchester United bought all their trophies. If it makes you feel better, go for it.

so Leeds were full time spent a fortune yet werent able to compete? Saints competed and spend a fortune also look at their squads in the 90's plenty of money spent

Agreed. The top teams in SL should be thanking us.

Back in the early nineties Wigan were the only time a RL team has ever had a number of household names (Hanley, Edwards, Offiah, Tuigamala, Robinson) it was Wigan who dragged the game kicking and screaming out of the semi pro/train three times a week then go to the pub era.

The 82 Aussie invincibles (and subsequently 86 team) changed all that for us. Ultra, ultra professional. To play like them, you had to be like them.

Wigan are lucky, anyone can throw cash at a club and expect success.... Leeds laughably tried and failed on many occasions (John Gallagher and Slammin Sam Backo anyone, massive wages).

For Wigan, every big signing we had a young lad coming through (even better fir us these days).

For every Hanley and Offiah, we had an Edwards and Hampson. We had a Betts, Clarke, Dermott, Preston.....

All local lads and all special.

Leeds paid more for Hanley off us that we bought him for. Turned local lad Robinson down. Laughable.

There was nobody to compete with us but we won the league by 2 points, 1 point and on PD. We were out the cup 3 or 4 times during the run and pulled it out the bag. Hull away for example. We lost finals, semi finals, and never went unbeaten.

Either sides weren't as bad as everyone makes out, or we weren't actually that good.

What the hell has all this got to do with the fitness of players then and now?

Weeds were the first full-time team and spent more than anyone else .. they just had a terrible youth system and bought a load of duds!!

This

What happened 22 years ago was the darkest time in the clubs history, but it appears that some today cannot face up to the reality of the then situation which was created as a result of the club paying out massive players contracts which it could not afford. A situation which resulted in a salary cap being introduced so that clubs could only spend on players contracts in relation to the income of the club and a more even playing field for all clubs to win trophies.

As a result of Wigan being the only club who had the "bollox" (as you put it) to do it, it resulted in the club ending up with no new stadium of its own and near possibility of being made bankrupt.

The irony is that some of the players who were getting the massive contracts were the first to jump ship when Union became fully professional.

We may have been good, but it led to the crowds starting to go down as some supporters got fed up of watching one sided games!

really? thats not true crowds have been pretty consistent weather we win something or not filling the away ends at grounds we go to similar to crowds at CP