'A lot of lies were being told': Ex-West Ham and Lincoln man revelling in Portsmouth stability after Wigan financial woes

The 24-year-old ended a difficult nine-month stay at the DW Stadium after a summer switch to Fratton Park for an undisclosed fee.

During worrying times for the Latics, owners Phoenix 2021 Limited failed to pay their players on time on five separate occasions, while were last month served a winding-up petition by HMRC over unpaid tax bills.

In addition, they had been placed under a transfer embargo, were docked three points last season, and will begin 2023-24 in League One on minus-eight points.

It proved to be a hugely frustrated maiden campaign on and off the pitch for Scully, whose September 2022 move from Lincoln swiftly turned sour.

Thankfully Wigan have since been rescued by local billionaire Mike Danson – while the winger is revelling in life on the south coast.

Scully, who featured five times for Wigan last season, told The News: ‘It’s great being at a stable club.

‘Wigan was such a strange situation in the last year with the money side of things, which shouldn’t really be an issue in any job.

‘When near enough every month you are not getting paid on time, that’s difficult for everyone, even footballers.

‘Most of the time a lot of lies were being told in terms of being promised we’re getting paid – then you wake up one morning and it hasn’t happened.

‘There was also talk of liquidation, but to be fair to the boys they handled it brilliantly.

‘For the majority of last season, more times than not we weren’t paid on time, yet the boys were still in for training every day, still playing matches, as we should be.

‘At the end of the day, we play for the football club and the fans. Regardless of what the owners were doing at the time, the players felt they wanted to play for the supporters – and they did. I think the fans respected that.

‘It’s very difficult to go through and luckily enough that’s completely in the past and I am pretty sure it won’t be an issue again. You don’t want to lose a football club.

‘I’m delighted for the Wigan fans that new owners have come in and hopefully they can be a bit more sustainable.

‘The supporters pay their money to come and watch every week, so it’s not nice for them to worry about losing their football club. I’m so happy for them now, they didn’t deserve that.’

In recent years, there have been plenty of links between Pompey and Wigan, including Paul Cook, Leam Richardson, Jamal Lowe, Tom Naylor and Kal Naismith.

In addition, Jack Whatmough was Scully’s team-mate with the Latics last season – and the source of good advice once the Fratton Park switch had been made public.

Scully added: ‘They wanted the move kept a bit quiet, so I couldn’t really speak to any of the boys about it.

‘But once it came out, I spoke to Jack a fair bit and he was really complimentary about the club and couldn't speak highly enough.

‘A few of those I talked to mentioned how the people at the club are all really nice, which is so important, and I have definitely seen that since I came in.’