Dave Whelan worth more than Neymar and nearly bought Man Utd for £12m

You might remember former Wigan Athletic owner Dave Whelan – the cheerful chairman that helped oversee their drastic rise to the Premier League back in 2005 following the £30million construction of the JJB Stadium – now known as the DW Stadium, named after the 86-year-old ex-footballer turned businessman. While Whelan is no longer involved with the Championship club, who famously stunned Manchester City to win the FA Cup in 2013 under his reign, following his resignation in 2015 – he is still a figure of huge wealth in British sporting circles.

Back in 2011 when David Beckham was playing for LA Galaxy, Whelan was actually recognised as the richest British figure still involved with football, ahead of the former England captain.

According to The Sunday Times Sport Rich List, he boasted an eye-watering net-worth estimated in the region of £190m.

Beckham’s own personal fortune had risen to around £135m meaning Whelan, who played for the Latics and Blackburn Rovers during his playing career, was way out in front by some considerable distance as he continued to fund Wigan’s Premier League exciting adventure alongside other business ventures.

The Latics are now fighting for Championship survival under Shaun Maloney having previously bounced back from relegation to League One following Whelan’s resignation nearly eight years ago after 20 years at the helm.

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But things could have been very different for the former Latics owner, who nearly bought Manchester United for a mere £11.5m before being talked out of a deal by his wife.

Back in the 1980s, Whelan is understood to have had a broad agreement in place with Old Trafford official Martin Edwards over a potential purchase following talks with the Red Devils hierarchy.

“I made the wrong decision in regards to Manchester United, because it is interesting to see what has happened since,” Whelan has since declared.

“The purchase of Manchester United was all sorted with Martin Edwards and was going to be sealed within 28 days.

“Later I went home and said to my wife Patricia that I’d pulled off a good deal to buy Manchester United – £11.5m was a lot of money then. She said ‘what?’

“I was in JJB and expanding so she said, ‘do you think all the people in London, Liverpool, Birmingham will come and shop at your stores when you own Manchester United – the greatest enemy the teams they support have?'”

He later added: “I said ‘you might have a point!’ So instead I went back to Martin Edwards and Manchester United and said the deal is done but told him that if he floated Manchester United on the stock market, he would get a lot more than £11.5m.”

Manchester United is now valued at a whopping £6bn by the Glazer family, although according to latest figures from the New York Stock Exchange, it’s worth closer to £3bn.