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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Jon Robinson

Wigan Athletic hail progress after escaping administration and gaining promotion despite near £8m losses

Wigan Athletic have hailed the process the football club have made since being bought out of administration and earning promotion to the Championship.

In newly-filed accounts for The Latics, chairman Talal Al Hammad said their future is now "more assured and stable" since the takeover.

The club fell into administration in the summer of 2020 after being hit hard by the coronavirus shutdown.

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In March 2021 a deal was agreed for them to be taken over over by a consortium led by Bahraini businessman Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi.

According to the accounts, for the year to June 30, 2022, Wigan's turnover totalled £8.3m while they made a pre-tax loss of £7.6m.

The club received £2.2m through match day and season ticket sales while £1.1m was generated from commercial and sponsorship activities. Salary costs for staff and players totalled £13m.

During the year Wigan generated a £2.8m profit from selling players.

In a statement signed off by the board, chairman Talal Al Hammad said: "In contract to the strategic reports of the past couple of years, the future of the club is certainly more assured and stable since Phoenix 2021 Limited gained ownership from the administrators less than two years ago.

"It has allowed the club to be structured on a more solid footing, although as with all businesses, operating in a near start-up environment and following Covid, some decisions made have not always delivered the anticipated outcomes.

"I hope that all supporters and staff can see though any decision made, in the past and in the future, will continue to be made with the club's best intentions at its core."

The chairman added: "All revenue streams have remained strong and in most instances they have improved, when compared to pre-pandemic numbers, especially on season tickets and match day hospitality.

"The directors are committed to maintaining costs at stable levels to ensure that losses remain within the parameters of EFL financial regulations and the requirements set by the ownership group, even if this is as a result of investing in the stadium to reduce costs in the medium to long term."

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