What’s going on at crisis club Morecambe?

Relegation from the English Football League, two proposed takeovers uncompleted, wages partly unpaid, and massive doubt over their future existence.

Financial uncertainty has weighed heavily on Morecambe’s preparations for their first non-league campaign in almost 20 years.

With the 2020-21 League Two play-offs at a Covid-restricted Wembley Stadium, Morecambe made it four years their first-ever promotion to League One.

Manager Derek Adams left that summer but returned the following season to help them stay in the third tier, finishing two points above the drop zone in 19th place. Adams is currently in his third spell as the Shrimps boss.

It was no mean feat for a club of Morecambe’s size and stature, with wins against Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic providing the points to keep them in a division filled with comparative giants.

However, things have quickly changed for the Lancashire club since then.

Owners Bond Group offered the Shrimps for sale in September 2022, but a deal has not yet been finalized, and the club has since fallen into the National League for the first time since 2007. Due to two relegations in three seasons, the club has been in the National League for the first time since 2007.

Late payment of wages, transfer embargoes and points deductions have all overshadowed matters on the field.

After failing to adhere to an agreed decision imposed on them for failing to pay players’ wages on time the previous August, the club was late in the 2023-24 League Two season, receiving three points.

For failing to report to HMRC on five separate occasions the non-payment of amounts owed to them within the stipulated two working days, they were then given a suspended two-point deduction last season.

Whittingham was also part-owner of rugby union club Worcester Warriors, who eventually lost their place in the Premiership in 2022 having gone into administration.

Worcester’s demise was followed by Whittingham’s subsequent sale of Morecambe.

A takeover has not yet been completed, almost three years after.

Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire in January, Whittingham said he “could not wait” to get out of the club.

The Shrimps were only allowed to play 19 games in the transfer window after the Shrimps’ contract expired that month until they provided the EFL with sufficient funds to continue operations until the end of the season.

They finished the season with a six-game losing streak as they dropped to the bottom of League Two and were relegated despite beginning that run with a victory over Lancashire rivals Fleetwood on February 1st.

At the beginning of June, it appeared to be good that a consortium known as Panjab Warriors had their takeover offer approved.

Local MP Lizzi Collinge said the businessman “needed to get on” with the sale after the club’s board claimed Whittingham appeared to be “considering reneging” on the deal and raised concerns about the Shrimps’ future existence.

On 1 July, the board said they would begin the process of putting the club into administration if Whittingham did not sell the club, claiming “Bond Group do not have the required funds to meet the club’s full payroll commitment”.

Whittingham allegedly fired the board to give Bond Group the time it needed to avoid administration by sacking the board in response.

Whittingham stated on July 4 that terms with Panjab Warriors had been reached, and that he had invited the club’s former directors to join him to supervise the closing stages of the sale, which he claimed would take place on July 7.

When that did not happen, the board stepped down, with Whittingham insisting he was still committed to a sale.

Unnamed party made a “last minute bid” for the club on July 9 that was later confirmed by Whittingham as being from a consortium led by an investor he claimed is Jonny Cato.

Morecambe has been attempted by Panjab Warriors, who are reportedly a group of Sikh businessmen, for more than a year, and claim to have contributed significant funds to the club’s operation since then.

They previously said they had already paid £3.8m to Bond Group alongside a separate payment of £630, 000 to clear outstanding loans against the club.

The group claims to have loaned the club an additional $1.7 million over the past 14 months “to ensure its ongoing survival.”

In a statement released on July 19, Panjab Warriors claimed that their attorneys had emailed Whittingham and Bond Group legal notices for “repeated breaches of what has been agreed”

As for Cato, not much is known about his identity but in a statement last week, Whittingham claimed Cato did not have a connection to himself or Bond Group.

The Shrimps Trust, a group of supporters, claimed in a statement earlier this week that the club’s players would not play until the ownership situation was fixed.

Players and staff were only paid a third of their most recent wages, and Tuesday’s pre-season friendly against Barrow was postponed.

However, in a statement given to BBC Radio Lancashire on Tuesday, boss Adams said his players were not on strike.

The players have all trained at the training facility today, according to Adams, and they are not on strike.

Former co-chairman Rod Taylor said he was fearful for the club’s existence last week, and fellow former board member James Wakefield painted a similarly bleak picture, saying he was “amazed the club was still alive”.

The landmark Football Governance Act, which established a regulator to regulate the men’s game in England’s top five divisions, received Royal Assent on Monday, continuing Morecambe’s problems.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the bill would impact clubs like Morecambe and “can’t come soon enough” and that it gives a body more authority than the government and football officials.

Speaking to BBC sports editor Dan Roan, Nandy said: “I’m horrified by what is happening at Morecambe.

It’s a scenario that too many football fans will recognize across the nation, including my own in Wigan, and it’s heartbreaking for the Wigan supporters who don’t know whether their club will be present or not.

On August 9, Morecambe will play Boston United to officially launch their 2025-26 National League campaign.

Derek Quinn, who has covered the club for the BBC for 30 years, fears they might not even make it to that stage as things stand.

He declared, “The club is definitely on the verge of collapse,” which is heartbreaking to see.

“Players and staff have been unable to make payments for more than three weeks, and community events at the stadium, such as proms at school and private events for weddings, funerals, and parties have had to be canceled at the last minute,” according to the statement.

” The sight of one fan, who has supported the club with her family for more than 50 years, breaking down in tears while being interviewed was heartbreaking.

This is about their families and their community, according to these fans and thousands of others.