Welcome back to a new season here at The Brick, with the first home league game against Leyton Orient.

Over the close season here at the Supporters Club, we have been keeping an eye on business at the football club, and last week we met with Lucas Danson for an update.

 The Supporters Club has found itself in a position of dubious privilege on a number of occasions over recent years. At different times when Wigan Athletic has needed support - and sometimes saviours to be found - we have seen much of the inner workings across the football industry, and most importantly within the football club we love so much.

 That privilege though, has brought with it a huge amount of pain at times too.

 With the massive amounts of investment, glamour and potential reward at the very top of the game, over-spending throughout the leagues is putting almost every professional club in financial danger. Wigan Athletic has seen the horrible consequences of that first hand - not once, but twice under previous owners. And clubs far larger than ours continue to find themselves in perilous situations.

 With that in mind, from a business point of view, many of the recent decisions at the club are ones that should perhaps be easy for us to understand. Cutting our costs. Closer operational links with the rugby club. Ceasing the pursuit of short-term glamour, and instead streamlining and creating a truly ’sustainable’ football club for the community.

 That all sounds sensible to us.

 Rather than relying on the search for another wealthy benefactor, we would love for Wigan Athletic to be an example of how football clubs SHOULD be run. We would love our club to stand up and show that football clubs should be interwoven with their local community. They should reflect the values of the towns and cities they represent - and they should do that whilst operating ethically and within their means.

 We would love for Wigan to lead the way in creating a truly ’sustainable’ professional football club that brings our town together and represents our working-class community with pride.

 We even understand that, given our current limitations in terms of fan-base and commercial revenue, any sustainable model may well need to operate at a different level of the footballing pyramid than we have been lucky enough to see over the most recent generations.

 In short, we absolutely agree that the history and future of Wigan Athletic should never be risked again - and certainly not just for the outside chance of short-term success that couldn’t be sustained by the town in years to come.

 The Danson family saved our club when it was genuinely within hours of liquidation - an act for which we will always be hugely grateful. But our club needs to be run with the values that its community stands for, and our supporters need more communication about the vision that the owners have for the next phase in the life of Wigan Athletic

 During our meeting with Lucas, we put our concerns to him, regarding what has appeared to be an ongoing cycle of budget cuts and redundancies. We were clear that without proper communication such an approach will clearly have a negative impact on the wellbeing of the staff and supporters who remain. It’s an approach that makes us feel increasingly detached from how our football club is being run.

 As part of our discussions we asked for more communication and demonstration of the commitment that would help to restore some of the faith which has been so badly damaged over recent years. This is something that Lucas agreed with, and has said that he is committed to actioning.

 The ownership has made no secret of the fact that they wish Wigan Athletic to be as self-sufficient as possible, and this was reiterated by Lucas to us. We understand that a sustainable model will inevitably mean that difficult decisions must be made. After everything our fans have experienced, our hopes and ambitions are surely more realistic than most - and we should never be afraid of painful truths if they help to safeguard the future. An increase in revenue is needed, and we are fully behind the incoming CEO in his plans to deliver this.

 Keeping the faith is a part of our culture - but any successful vision needs to run from the top down, and we have been assured by Lucas that the board wish to do more to communicate that vision, and ensure that we move forward positively.

 We welcome the appointment of a new CEO in Anthony Cole-Johnson and we look forward to hearing his plans at the recently announced fan forum which is due to take place in September. It is a pivotal role, and pivotal time for Wigan Athletic.

 Turning to our first league start at home this weekend, we will start our renewal of memberships in the South Stand Supporters  bar. Once again, memberships are priced at £6 per person for the whole season.

 This season we are looking to bring more guest interviews pre-match into the Bar, including our manager Gary Caldwell who will be coming across to speak to fans on a regular basis. We will have our usual match day draw, and any monies made by the Supporters Club go straight back into our club and community.

 Here's to a winning start and a positive season for 2026-27!

Up the Tics.