Legendary Latics manager Joe Royle is no longer a director at Wigan Athletic after the club recently went into administration. At the tender age of 71, he still thinks he can find a position in football to suit his skills. Royle said, “I have retired three times, but am not very good at it. It would have to be a good offer and not financially driven because it would not be about money. It is because I love the game and have been involved from making my first-team debut aged 16 for Everton to still being so aged 71.”
Speaking of his time at Wigan he explained, “They wanted to use my experience to work with manager Paul Cook on recruitment which is still the most important thing in football. There is nothing that beats playing – management and being a director was always second best. Luckily I had that thrill as a player. I have good experience of being in boardrooms from 1982 when I became Oldham Athletic manager. When I arrived at Oldham, I was the youngest manager in the Football League."
"Later it was a similar case at Everton, Manchester City and Ipswich Town when, at each, I got to know how the club was run. I was always one for leaving the expertise to the experts. I knew relatively little and did not consider myself a jack of all trades. I looked on it as you don’t tell a tailor how to make a suit. The last time football had such a bad time was in 1939 when it was suspended because of the Second World War. We know that 10 to 15 clubs could find themselves in the same position [as Wigan]. It would be tragic if a club that has been in existence for nearly 90 years is forced to the wall.”