Rumours have been circulating again that John Wardle was set to invest in the Latics but the club were quick to quash them. Simon Corney told fans at an open meeting last week that he had held a meeting with the former Manchester City chairman but also confirmed that Mr. Wardle had declined the offer of stepping on to the board. 
Corney (pictured) said, “We have spoken with John Wardle but he has no interest in coming. We sat down and had a chat when Joe Royle was here. But John said to me, 'you are mad! Why would I want to be as mad as you?' I think a combination of the proposed move to Failsworth and the team not doing as well as last year, though the budget is the same, has led to this sort of speculation. But as an example, when Dave Penney came here he asked us to provide breakfast and lunch for the players every day. For 30 players, it costs us £1500 a week and £60,000 a year. We don’t need to do that, but we do it because it will hopefully make players stronger, fitter and less injury-prone. We have had no approaches but at the same time, if the right guy comes along, we would sell part or all our shares if it was the right thing to do for the club.”