Please sign the wiganer.net petition with regard to this issue. We do not want any fan to miss a game and believe that Wigan Athletic Football Club are right in their stance against these costs.
Click here to sign and view the petition.
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The matter is likely to be settled in the courts and it is very unlikely that Wigan Athletic would have to play any matches behind closed doors. This would cause the police too many problems and it would be seen as a follish move to take things that far.
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At no time has Mr Whelan said he is unhappy with the policing of the stadium it is just the prices he and the club are being charged for services similar to those of other clubs who are paying upto a third of the amount the Latics are.
It does seem however the the club are in the stronger position with many fans signing our petition (click here to sign it) backing the club and Mr Whlean's stance on the matter.
It is believed that a number of other lower league clubs are upset with the case and are watching closely as they could not afford to be policed so extortionatly.
The money owed is available to pay should that outcome arise and has been put into a holding account ahead of a meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning, when the matter will hopefully be resolved.
Dave Whelan today told the clubs official website: "I was very down ahead of Saturday's match when I was informed of the course of action that the Police had decided to take regarding the withdrawal of our Safety Certificate. However, the performance of the team and the heart and desire shown gave me just the lift I needed and I will now take this dispute as far as I can. We are having an emergency meeting in the morning and will see where we stand after that. Hopefully something will be resolved.
"My legal advice tells me that we are in a very strong position and I have been advised to put the money I allegedly owe the Police into a holding account for now. We will then apply for a judicial review and take the matter into the courts to try and get it settled that way. If we lose then we will pay the money without question, but if we win, then we will take the money back ourselves.
"I am pleased to say that two of our local MP's are now backing us on this issue, as well at the Sports Minister himself. I am very grateful for their support as I feel that if we pay this bill then it could cause major problems throughout the Football League. How many clubs could afford to pay bills invoiced at the tariff that we get them? Not many I would say and clubs would be in danger of going under I would think."Whatever happens though, I will not walk away from this club - the only way that they'll get me out is by carrying me out."
A statement on the Greater Manchester Police website today read:
Greater Manchester Police have regretfully made the decision to withdraw the special policing service they offer to Wigan Athletic.
Speaking today on the issue of the service provided to Wigan Athletic by Greater Manchester Police, Assistant Chief Constable Stephen THOMAS from Greater Manchester Police said:
"GMP have made the decision to withdraw the special policing service we provide to Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium from the 2nd of April 2005.
We will report this decision to Wigan Council's Safety Advisory Group tomorrow, Tuesday 8 March 2005. This group will then decide whether they should withdraw the safety certificate for the JJB Stadium and if this certificate is withdrawn it is likely that future football matches will be played without spectators.
We deeply regret that we have had to take this course of action and I must stress that we do it reluctantly but we are left with few options as the Force is now owed a large sum of money which Wigan Athletic are refusing to pay.
We determine policing requirements on a match by match basis and each game is given a specific grading in line with intelligence we have about it.
We have never received any complaints from Wigan Athletic about the level of officers we provide to police games and the grading we give matches based on the intelligence we have of potential disorder.
We do not make a profit out of policing football matches at Wigan. We only charge the football club for the cost of paying the officers who are on duty inside the ground or on land owned by the club. However we also need to have officers in town centres and at major transport links to ensure the safety of the public before, during and after the match.
So far this season the club has played seven matches where our intelligence has suggested that we didn't need to provide policing at the ground. As a result of this we didn't deploy officers at the Stadium during these games so the club incurred no cost. However we still had to provide policing in the town centre and other areas to ensure the safety of the general public.
I must stress again that we take this action reluctantly but faced with a refusal to pay the outstanding money owed to us we have little choice. We only charge them for the officers that provide the policing service on their land. We cannot continue to provide this service for the JJB Stadium whilst we are uncertain as to whether Wigan Athletic will pay for it. It is unfair to ask the taxpayer to pay the bill for Wigan Athletic's policing costs.
To police football games we use officers who would normally be on rest days to ensure we are not taking police officers away from their general duties. We couldn't justify taking officers from front line police duties to support Wigan Athletic trading as a commercial company.
Our main priority in policing any football match is to offer an effective service so we provide a safe environment for football supporters, members of the public in the town centre and local residents. Their health and safety is of paramount importance to us."