Last week in League Express we reported that Wigan Chairman Ian Lenagan was on the verge of selling his interest in the club to Mike Danson, a multi-millionaire who, like Lenagan himself, was born in Wigan but made a fortune when he left the town to become one of the richest men in Britain.
On Monday afternoon Wigan issued the following statement in response to the article.
Wigan Warriors chairman Ian Lenagan has confirmed today the inaccuracy of the article published in League Express today that he is “on the verge of selling his ownership of the Wigan club”.
Lenagan said: “This report is false. I am surprised that the editor of League Express, who has my personal mobile number and has phoned me many times previously for comments, did not check with me the accuracy of it before publishing.”
Lenagan continued: “It is well known that Mike Danson and Darryl Eales are shareholders in Lenagan Investments, the company which controls ownership of Wigan.
“This is a very strong position for Wigan Rugby League Club Ltd and its supporters. There are no current plans for the Lenagan family to relinquish control of Lenagan Investments and, hence, Wigan Warriors.”
Of course if our report was false I would hold my hands up. But on Thursday I emailed Ian to explain why I had published the story.
So far Ian hasn’t replied to my email, so I am happy to publish the contents of that email here.
Of course only time will tell what eventually happens.
Ian,
After the story we ran this week about you selling the club to Michael Danson I thought it advisable if I emailed you to tell you how I became aware of and wrote the story.
I had two separate sources who told me independently on Sunday that you had agreed to sell the club to Michael for £10 million.
Both sources, who would in normal circumstances both be highly credible, suggested that you, at the age of 75, were planning your succession.
Unfortunately the story came in late in the day and I was so pressed for time that I was unable to try to make contact with you. Printing deadlines are the bane of the traditional media.
As you may know I’ve recently lost Matthew Shaw as our chief news correspondent and in the short term I was having to take over his role until his replacement starts work with us which placed me under additional pressure on that day.
But, given my sources and the clear likelihood that you would want to ensure the viability of the future ownership of the club, the story certainly looked credible.
And given that you are reputed to have put several millions of your own money into the club since you bought it in 2007, but were now apparently being offered the opportunity to recoup those losses and perhaps even make a profit on your ownership, that also added credibility, at least in my eyes. The last twelve months must have been particularly expensive for you and I can’t imagine that you would look a gift horse in the mouth if one were available.
And the other point worth making is that, from the outside, the obvious reason for bringing Michael Danson into your company is for him to eventually take over the club, which would give it tremendous long term stability.
What other reason would he have come on board for?
And the statement you put out on Monday refuting the story did state that: “It is well known that Mike Danson and Darryl Eales are shareholders in Lenagan Investments, the company which controls ownership of Wigan.
“This is a very strong position for Wigan Rugby League Club Ltd and its supporters. There are no current plans for the Lenagan family to relinquish control of Lenagan Investments and, hence, Wigan Warriors.”
If the presence of Michael Danson is a “very strong position” for the Wigan club, it is surely because you view him as a future owner of the club.
I have actually been told that you have sold the club with a quarter of the price as a down payment and the remaining 75% to be paid in 18 months time.
Given that you are now in your fourteenth year of ownership, and knowing that you are clearly someone who plans ahead in your business life, I can easily believe that you would want to secure your legacy at Wigan with a move of this sort.
Apologies if all that is totally wrong.
But it certainly didn’t strike me as wrong on Sunday, although I do wish my sources had told me this a few days earlier, so that I could have made contact with you.
Unfortunately I’ve had such a busy week this week that I’ve only now had the time to email you.
Can I wish you the best of luck, whatever your plans are for the immediate future.
Martyn Sadler
League Express
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