Shrimps Trust column: A tough month on and off the pitch

March saw a run of fixtures from which it would be vital to accrue points going into the final run-in, and would have put us in a strong position to retain our League One status.

Despite a hugely positive performance against Bolton Wanderers to kick off the month, results were not as hoped and the month went by without a win, leaving our chances of staying up on something of a knife edge.

There is certainly still hope, but it would take a monumental turnaround from the team and a bit of luck in other fixtures for things to go our way.

What has not helped the situation on the pitch all season is the protracted takeover saga, which reached a new low in the last week of March as players and staff saw a delay in the payment of their wages.

This was a hugely disappointing turn of events and, as a Trust, we were deeply concerned not only by the nature of the issue, but also for the welfare of the players and staff who weren’t paid on time.

While we were relieved to see the money paid eventually, the delay may well have caused issues for those on the payroll and we hope that anybody affected has not struggled too much off the back of it.

The lengthy takeover saga has undoubtedly been detrimental to this season, with restricted transfer operations in the January transfer window hampering our chances of staying up: made worse by the incredibly unfortunate injury to Kieran Phillips.

While club sales are inevitably complex processes, it is disappointing how long this has gone on.

A positive conclusion must be reached soon so we can adequately prepare for next season, whatever division we may be in.

It seems apparent that Sarb Capital have been unable to satisfy the EFL owners test as of yet.

Following the troubles of clubs such as Bury in recent years, the EFL appears to be applying a level of due diligence that fans across the country have been repeatedly asking for – and it’s something that we are pleased to see.

Given how long this has been going on, we would urge Bond Group to consider other options on the table should it continue to appear that Sarb Capital are unable to gain approval from the EFL.

To slightly merrier topics now, and we would like to thank all those who attended our race night on Good Friday following the Plymouth game.

It’s been a while getting things going after Covid shut down events, but we’re happy to be running a few different events once again this season.

A thanks must also go to trustee Paul Carter, who orchestrated the night.

Finally, it’s important to stress how much we all need to get behind Derek Adams and the team.

Things have not gone as we all would have wanted on the pitch, but they have given their all in what has been a hugely challenging season.

Let’s keep backing them all and show everyone what a unique club Morecambe FC really is.