It’s with a heavy heart and great disappointment that I write this, but something has to be said. I originally sent this letter to the local press but unsurprisingly it wasn’t published. Anyone daring to say anything negative about Dave Whelan in Wigan is refused a public forum to express their thoughts, even when their grievance has validity. I know it’s a little late to be sending this but I hope Mirror readers have some empathy with the story I’m about to tell.
I was fortunate enough to be in attendance at the Wigan Athletic v Manchester City game on Sunday 18th October, which was a fantastic spectacle. Well done to all those inside the DW stadium for making an electric atmosphere. The banter between both sets of fans was good humoured and far removed from the bad old days of 1980’s crowd violence.
However, one thing troubled me. Whilst making my way over the River Douglas and toward the stadium I stopped dead in my tracks. What I witnessed next shocked and dismayed me. At the end of bridge I could see two Cancer Research volunteers who were collecting for their charity. They were being asked to move on by two of the DW Stadium stewards. Apparently they were on private property and didn’t have a license to be there.
As I moved on I got talking to a couple of lads who were selling a Wigan Athletic fanzine. Apparently they had been told to move too. It comes to light that a new “Official Programme” kiosk had been implemented at the end of the bridge and “others” were getting in the way of selling the programme. It’s not like you can get it in the stadium is it??
Is this really what football has become? Is it nothing more than an excuse to suffocate charity workers and independent writers?
I’m a rare breed, a season ticket holder at both the towns clubs, and I love them equally. I’m a big fan of what Dave Whelan has done for this town and its sporting heritage, but come on Mr Whelan have a heart.
Can it really be the right thing to do when people are being harassed off a bridge that was there long before the JJB Stadium was built? Premiership football is awash with money and anyone who wants a programme will get one regardless of a moped size kiosk.
Leave the volunteers and writers alone eh Dave, what threat to the millions that is poured into football can a couple of people on a bridge be to you?
Dominic Oldman
