Morecambe owner sacks club board ‘to avoid administration’

The club’s board was fired one day after Morecambe owner Jason Whittingham announced that the club would go into administration if it wasn’t sold.

The board of the troubled Lancashire club issued two statements on Tuesday that gave Whittingham’s Bond Group Investments until 18:00 BST to complete the lengthy sale of Panjab Warriors.

However, the agreement was not finalized, and Whittingham has now stated that he has “started the process with immediate effect” so that we can “take control of the situation.”

He added that this would allow the Bond Group to spend “the necessary additional time to ensure that the club has the best chance of avoiding administration.”

After being demoted from League Two, the Shrimps will return to the National League next year.

Lizzi Collinge, a MP for Morecambe, said Bond Group should “get on with” the sale of the 105-year-old club on Monday.

The directors initially stated on Tuesday that they would allow Whittingham until 16:00 BST, before giving an additional two hours once “new information came to light.”

The board stated in a third statement of the day that they would be contacting administrators “at the earliest opportunity” on Wednesday that this second deadline did not result in the sale being completed.

The club, which qualified for League One in 2021 after that, will now play in the National League for the first time since 2007, which means they will play in the National League next season.

The EFL earlier in June approved the sale of the club to the Panjab Warriors.

The Panjab Warriors announced last week that they had already paid Bond Group £3.8 million and a separate £630, 000 payment to clear club outstanding loans.