Morecambe FC‘s crisis continues to deepen amid claims that players are now refusing to play until the club’s ownership situation is resolved.
The Shrimps Trust fans group says that is the reason for the cancellation of the club’s only planned pre-season friendly against Barrow.
A brief club statement at the weekend announced the cancellation, without giving any reason as to why. Now the trust says that the players have effectively gone on strike until the ownership situation is resolved, with the National League club’s players and staff having allegedly not been paid for nearly four weeks.
The club remains in limbo amid an ongoing takeover saga and calls from fans for owner Jason Whittingham and the Bond Group to sell up.
It has already been widely reported that the Panjab Warriors consortium (pictured outside the ground) has completed its proposed takeover of the club. The Warriors themselves confirmed in a statement that the “milestone” of first Sikh group ownership in EFL history had been achieved on June 6, and that that the EFL had cleared the acquisition.
However, following a statement last Friday from current owner Whittingham that said the takeover to a competely different consortium, led by a Jonny Cato, would soon be completed, the Warriors have now confirmed they have started legal proceedings.
“Recently our solicitors at Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP served formal legal notices of claim to both Mr Jason Whittingham and Bond Group,” PW’s statement began.
“The National League remains updated and engaged with PW. These actions have been taken following grounds to investigate:
• Repeated breaches of what has been agreed.
• A clear breakdown in process, transparency, and good faith. We have invited Bond Group to meet with us to resolve matters. While we expect some matters to be still contested, we await Mr Whittingham’s and the Bond Group’s full response once they have sought legal advice. We strongly recommend that Mr Cato or any party acting on his behalf to seek immediate independent legal advice and full disclosure before engaging further with Bond Group. Any attempt to acquire the club without proper diligence may carry significant legal and reputational risk.”
The Shrimps Trust issued a statement on Monday after a promised update from Whittingham on the takeover deal involving Cato failed to materialise.
“Having made some enquiries we understand that the fixture on Tuesday has been cancelled as the players as a group have decided not to play until the current ownership position is resolved,” the trust said.
“The players along with club staff have not been paid for nearly four weeks. We support their decision.”
The Barrow game was originally set to be open to fans before being switched to a behind-closed-doors match.
The trust added that the club is “slowly dying” through the continued delays in securing a new owner, and added that they are set to meet the National League and are also working with local MP Lizzie Collinge.
Whittingham has issued a series of statements through the club in recent weeks as the saga has unfolded.
His most recent, last Friday, said that Jonny Cato and “an impressive group” were set to take the club over, subject to National League approval.
Whittingham said “sales agreements” would also be completed last Friday, including “a generous payment from the buyer to pay staff and players while the National League approval process is completed. We are grateful for this gesture of goodwill when the club and its stakeholders needed it most.”
He added that the buyers would soon “share their exciting plans for the club.”
However, the claim that a “further announcement” would follow on the same day has so far not come to fruition.
There is now less than three weeks before Morecambe are due to start their National League campaign following last season’s relagation with an opening-day game at Boston United on Saturday, August 9.
