Shrimps Trust column: Hopeful - but cautious - that a sale might go through

It really is unbelievable to think that just four years ago, in 2021, we were experiencing promotion to League One for the first time in our history with the future looking bright.

Sadly, the management of the sale process by Bond Group over the last few years has been catastrophic, and most fans would probably agree that this has been the main reason for our eventual relegation from League Two.

We appreciate the updates that co-chairmen Rod Taylor and Graham Howse have given us in recent weeks. It sounds like things genuinely are closer than they had been previously.

We are hopeful but, naturally, we remain cautious until we get that long-awaited ‘official announcement’.

Recently, our chair and vice-chair – Tarnia Elsworth and Pat Stoyles – met with Panjab Warriors. We thank them for their time, with which they set out their plans to progress the club and engage with fans.

While the sale process is ongoing, there’s unfortunately not much more detail we can flesh out other than the plans are progressive and ambitious – and fan engagement is at the heart of them.

Should the sale be completed, we look forward to Panjab Warriors being able to share these plans more widely so we can all understand and discuss them further.

We very much hope that this matter is concluded soon, so that focus can turn to on-pitch matters as Derek Adams looks to put together a squad for next season.

We were glad to see a core of players retained, in contrast to last season, including some fan favourites and players who will no doubt offer a good starting point to building a squad in the National League.

We also understand a budget has been agreed with the owner. This, along with the core of retained players, should hopefully stand us in better stead going into this summer’s transfer window.

On to Trust matters. We are currently gathering information on the potential effects of a NAPM campaign and hope to share a document with fans and members soon.

While this is not a stance the Trust supports – and a recent survey of members did not show enough support for NAPM to change this – we appreciate that there are a portion of fans who feel this is the right course of action.

As such, we are working to ensure that fans and members are well informed about the situation so that they can properly weigh up the pros and cons.

Moving on, a reminder that the Trust AGM and elections are coming up this summer.

The AGM will take place on July 31 at the Mazuma and there will be some spaces available on the board, so please do get in touch if you are interested in potentially becoming a trustee.

Finally, a huge thank you to everybody for their support this year. The Trust is run by volunteers and supported further by members and fans who have pitched in and helped out.

Thank you to everyone who has done this. We are proud of the things we have done over the past season and dearly hope that the off-pitch situation at the club can be resolved imminently, so Morecambe can soon be back on an upward trajectory.

Hopefully there will be better times around the corner.