Shrimps Trust responds to Morecambe's suspension as Lancaster City friendly is cancelled

That decision was announced on Monday afternoon, with the league’s compliance and licensing committee set to meet again on August 20 to consider if outstanding terms have been satisfied – as well as Morecambe’s future membership.

It means Tuesday night’s scheduled friendly at Lancaster City has been cancelled, another consequence of the ownership crisis engulfing the club.

A Trust statement said: “If this situation is rectified, we will rejoin the league and our missed fixtures will be rearranged.

“We see this as the club now surviving on a pulse rather than a heartbeat. The club needs to sell to someone before that date (August 20) or we will be expelled.

“If the club is expelled, the company which controls the club will be a worthless asset and, given the debt that company holds, the only solution will be to reform as a phoenix club. The club must be sold by the 20th of August.”

Morecambe’s owner, Bond Group Investments, put the club up for sale in September 2022.

It finally appeared as if a takeover would be completed when Panjab Warriors received EFL clearance last month.

No deal has been done however, with Bond Group’s Jason Whittingham having claimed a completion was due before saying another potential buyer had come forward.

That was claimed to be a consortium led by Jonny Cato, though Morecambe fans met that announcement with responses ranging from cynicism to incredulity to outright anger.

A group of minority shareholders also sought court action, forcing Whittingham to sell to Panjab Warriors; a move which hit a setback earlier on Monday amid an apparent lack of communication from owner and would-be buyer.

The Trust added: “The Shrimps Trust believe that the only comfortable way out of this position is if Bond Group manage to sell to Panjab Warriors, or if a new robust buyer comes forward now.

“The other consortium clearly was and is a non-starter and we believe was just a mechanism for Bond Group to try and extract more funds from PW (Panjab Warriors), which has backfired and led to PW retreating from a deal.”

Sunday saw the first communication in nine days from Whittingham, who said ‘continual negative press statements’ had given the Cato-led consortium ‘cause for concern and pause’ with their reported buyout.

He also claimed that Panjab Warriors hadn’t been heard from over the past week and urged them to make contact for a sale to be completed.

“We strongly condemn Bond Group blaming these current delays on anyone but themselves, they are in a mess of their own making,” the Trust responded.

“We also publicly ask Panjab Warriors to contact any involved party, so that we understand their current position in relation to purchase of Morecambe FC.

“For full transparency, the Trust have not had communication from Panjab Warriors since our last update last week, despite numerous attempts to contact them.

“We appreciate that PW have been through an ordeal with the purchase of Morecambe FC and Bond Group have behaved appallingly towards them.

“However, at this very critical juncture, we politely ask PW to make contact in order that Shrimps fans understand their current position.”

Morecambe and Lunesdale MP Lizzi Collinge, a strong critic of Whittingham, has again called on him to complete a sale.

While the Trust said the introduction of football’s new regulator has come too late for Morecambe, a new phoenix club could be on its way.

It said: “While the Trust hope for the best, we are preparing for the worst and should be expelled from the National League, we will use the strong footing we are on as a trust, both regulatory and financially, to take steps to form a phoenix club in Morecambe.

“We will rely on members for support with this.”

Lancaster announced the cancellation of the midweek friendly, which Morecambe boss Derek Adams had said the club aimed to fulfil, along with last Saturday’s game at AFC Fylde.

A Lancaster statement said: “After the National League ruling suspending Morecambe Football Club from the division, we can confirm the friendly which was due to be played tomorrow (Tuesday 29th July) has been cancelled.

“The club had been in discussions with various clubs to get a replacement opponent, however we haven’t been able to secure one.

“Our next and final pre-season friendly will be against National League North side AFC Fylde on Saturday 2nd August at 3pm.

“Details on refunds will be released in due course.”