MORECAMBE are on the brink of going out of business.
As it stands, the National League club will cease to operate as of Monday.
A joint-statement from the club’s minority shareholders and prospective buyers Panjab Warriors has lifted the lid on the extent of the club’s crisis.
Morecambe’s academy ceased operations today.
With no insurance in place, the Shrimps’ youth teams can no longer operate.
Players and staff are unable to pay for travel, while “parents and player agents are requesting releases to leave the club immediately”.
As it currently stands, the 105-year-old outfit will follow suit on Monday.
The statement revealed: “As of Monday, 4th August: The Club is officially shut. £0 in the bank and no cash on site means operations cannot continue.
“Senior staff have taken the heart-breaking decision to stop working after months of holding the Club together under impossible circumstances.”
Panjab Warriors have been trying to buy the Shrimps from Jason Whittingham’s Bond Group for more than a year.
Today’s press release concluded: “Without an agreement today: The Club will rapidly disintegrate. Staff and players are leaving – soon there will be nothing left to sell.
“Jason Whittingham your legacy is in your hands.
“You will be remembered in Morecambe not for your intentions, but for the outcome of today. Do the right thing, stop the suffering.”
Earlier this week, a separate statement by Whittingham via Morecambe’s website claimed: “Bond Group had agreed to an offer, made by a Sikh representative of, and on behalf of, the Panjab Warriors, and are ready to sell on that basis.
“Despite numerous attempts over the past week to contact Panjab Warriors regarding their offer, and our willingness to complete, we have not heard from them.”
But the prospective buyers today countered: “Panjab Warriors are ready and have reached out daily to complete this acquisition.
“The fans, the minority shareholders, the community, and your own stakeholders all want the same thing: for this Club to survive.
“Sign the Deal. Save the Club. Today.
“We implore Jason to sign the deal immediately so that this proud Club can be saved and its 105-year legacy preserved.”
Morecambe were relegated from League Two last season following an 18-year spell in the EFL.
Earlier this week they were suspended by the National League until August 20, in addition to being kicked out of the National League Cup, for failing “to meet its financial obligations for the 2025/2026 season”.
The Panjab Warriors had their takeover bid approved by the EFL back in June.
Whittingham subsequently sacked all members of the club’s board after they threatened to place the club into administration in order to force through a sale.
The Bond Group chief then invited the axed board members back in order to help oversee the final stages of the takeover… only for them to resign after the sale still did not go through.
Whittingham was also at the helm of rugby club Worcester Warriors when they went into liquidation in 2022.
‘THEY DON’T HAVE A PLAN’
Shrimps boss Derek Adams, who took the club into League One just four years ago, lamented the club’s owners following their relegation.
The Scot told the BBC in April: “This is where the problem lies. The board of directors and the owner need to start planning.
“They don’t have a plan. Until they get a plan, then we’ve got a problem.
“They are the ones that are the custodians of this football club.”
Read the full article here