Official Wigan supporters club sends out petition after Leeds sign Gelhardt in cut-price deal
Leeds United announced the signing of Wigan striker Joe Gelhardt on Monday night, for a fee said to be an initial £1m.
That fee has been commented on by, among, others, Peterborough owner Darragh MacAnthony, who said that Leeds had got him for under market value.
Wigan need money in desperately and now face an uncertain future in League One after being docked 12 points and relegated.
We’ve got a huge amount of sympathy for Wigan’s plight. Leeds fans know all too well what this feels like.
Shortly after the signing, the official Wigan Atheltic Supporters Club put out a tweet to Leeds fans.
It said, “We wish Joe Gelhardt all the best at @LUFC. The sad fact is that we need the cash to pay wages. We are asking Leeds fans to support our petition to make a change in football for the future to stop this ever happening again!”
The petition itself reads, “The recent news that Wigan athletic was being put into administration just weeks after new owners were approved by the EFL must lead to a review of the effectiveness of the owners and Directors test and its use by the EFL.”
It had over 25,000 signatures at the time of writing this article.
Leeds have a fanbase like no other and we’re sure that they can get this petition to the 100,000 it needs to get a government response.
It’s the least that we can do after we benefited directly from the unfortunate situation that Wigan find themselves in, and we’re asking for all Leeds fans to sign and retweet.
It’s a problem that affects all football fans and solidarity with Wigan is important.
Plenty of Leeds fans responded to the petition positively and we’re hoping that it continues to get support throughout the coming days.
In other Leeds United news, Massive Bielsa contract hint dropped as Leeds make big announcement