Morecambe fans get set to march: The Big Interview with Shrimps Trust chair Tarnia Elsworth

However, matters on the pitch are set to play second fiddle to events off it as Shrimps fans prepare to protest against the club owner, Bond Group Investments’ Jason Whittingham.

It was announced on September 2, 2022, that the club was being prepared for sale but, 26 months, 118 competitive first-team matches and four Prime Ministers later, nothing has changed.

That wait has also encompassed relegation back to the fourth tier, two late wage payments, a points deduction and an EFL embargo.

Sarbjot Johal had been heavily linked with a takeover, having bought equity in the club, but nothing came of it.

The Shrimps Trust fans group said over the summer that a bid was rejected in 2023, co-chairman Graham Howse told supporters in February that ‘genuine people’ were interested in a buyout and a statement in July claimed talks over a takeover were at an advanced stage.

Part of the problem is Whittingham’s lack of public comment, either through the media, the club itself or via the Trust.

In September, the Trust’s trustees committed to providing a fortnightly update to members in relation to a club sale by way of contacting all relevant parties.

Three weeks ago, Whittingham told the Trust the sale was progressing, ‘albeit slowly’, and the EFL had clarified what was required from the would-be buyer.

Then, before last Friday’s members meeting at Morecambe Cricket Club, Whittingham said he hoped to provide an update that day.

No such update came, much to the frustration of Trust chair Tarnia Elsworth.

She said: “We’ve asked for transparent communication but he gets in touch as and when he feels like it.

“Most of what he says is nonsense. He’s been in touch, saying he will have an update – like he did last Friday morning, when he said he would have an update for the meeting but I didn’t hear anything.”

Over the summer, Whittingham claimed there were four parties interested in a takeover at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium.

Then, in early June – on the same day Derek Adams met the media after being reappointed as Shrimps boss – Whittingham told TalkSPORT he hoped to agree terms on – and announce – a sale within 10 days to two weeks.

Nothing has happened five-and-a-half-months later, meaning outsiders might understand Morecambe fans taking any new sale updates with the proverbial pinch of salt.

It’s a position with which Elsworth agrees.

She said: “One hundred per cent. We’re at a point where we can’t trust the communication we do get.

“I get an email saying we could have progress and that should be news that fans can start to feel jubilant about.

“Then, as it turns out, there’s no meat in what he’s saying. Everything he’s saying is stalling.

“I can’t take him at his word and I’ve no confidence that everything is progressing.

“The prospective buyer has known for three months what they need to do but, the longer it goes on, the more they are coming into a situation of mistrust.

“The longer it takes, the more questions there are – like why is it taking longer than three months to provide the paperwork that’s required?”

Saturday’s protest starts with a meeting at The Exchange before a slow march to the ground, where balloons and banners will be handed out.

Supporters will also turn their backs on the match in the 26th minute, symbolising how many months the club has been up for sale.

The protest was dreamed up by the 1920 Union, formerly known as the ‘Shrimps Protest Group’.

Working independently from the Trust, they have placed banners advertising the club’s plight across the area as well as organised a mailshot across Whittingham’s home town, containing a poster and a timeline of events at the club during the last two years.

Both organisations are discouraging forms of protest that would interrupt Saturday’s game, given the risk of further punishment the club may not be able to afford.

The inevitable question is, if the current situation persists, what kind of protest happens next?

In January, also against Port Vale, Reading’s fans threw tennis balls onto the pitch before invading the playing surface in protest against their owner, Dai Yongge.

Blackpool fans, famously, opted for the ‘Not A Penny More’ strategy in response to the Oyston family’s ownership.

“That (NAPM) has to be the worst case scenario for us,” Elsworth said.

“It’s starting to enter the conversation among some fans with everything that has gone on.

“If we boycott games, that’s people in our community and their wages aren’t being paid that month.

“If there’s no movement in six months or so, then what other option is there to force administration – or whatever else it might be – so Jason has to sell the club?

“If they (a prospective purchaser) can’t get through the EFL’s fit and proper person test, are we going to have to force his hand?

“If we look like being relegated, from speaking to groups of our fans, I think more ‘nuclear options’ could come.

“For now, it’s first things first but I feel if nothing has happened after Christmas, fans and members are going to be calling for stronger action.”

There may be supporters who are still undecided as to whether they will take part in any kind of protest on Saturday.

With that in mind, what is the Trust’s message to them?

“We’re stronger together and a protest is more effective if all of us are taking part and we stay strong,” Elsworth said.

“This won’t affect anything on the pitch, this is to keep the pressure on the seller.

“We’re hoping, as a Morecambe fans group, that we can come together and unite against Jason; our club is amazing and that’s the one thing we have to bear in mind.”