Morecambe FC has been up for sale by the Bond Group for over a year.
The Bond Group is owned by Jason Whittingham who involved with Worcester Warriors. The Group purchased Morecambe in May 2018.
At a court case in October 2022 Whittingham was disqualified from being a company director for twelve months.
Today the Morecambe board of directors issued the following statement:
The Board of Directors of Morecambe Football Club wishes to make the following unanimous statement:
Firstly, the Board assures staff, players, supporters, and everyone associated with Morecambe Football Club that it is doing everything within its powers to enable the Club to continue to meet all its ongoing obligations.
Secondly, the Board wishes to make clear to supporters that no funds can be taken out of Morecambe Football Club by Bond Group without the Board’s approval. No such withdrawals will be authorised by the Board, and therefore all fans can be certain that their hard-earned money spent at the Football Club will be used in the best interests of the Club. Anyone considering a stay away protest should understand that this will only harm Morecambe FC, not the Owner.
Thirdly, the Board of Directors is placing on record that it has no confidence in Bond Group’s management of the process of selling the Club. This process has now run for 15 months, but in that time no potential new owners have gone through the EFL’s Owners & Directors Test, a number of apparently credible buyers have stepped away the process following initial conversations with Bond Group, and Bond Group’s communication with the Board regarding negotiations with their apparently preferred buyers has become a stuck record of assurances not being met and deadlines missed.
On Saturday 16 September 2023, the Board of Directors wrote to Bond Group to formally request that they directly involve the Board in the process of selling the Club, and considerable efforts were made to re-establish the constructive working relationship between all Directors and Owner necessary to make this possible. Unfortunately, nothing has changed in the 2 ½ months since, and the Board is therefore now calling upon all potential buyers, including any that may already be involved in conversations with Bond Group, to engage directly with the Board of Directors so that it can help facilitate a more professional and efficient sale process.
The largely voluntary Board of Directors,
most of whom are staunch fans of the Club, is making this statement
because a significant change of approach is required by Bond Group.
Without it, nothing at Morecambe Football Club can move forwards and the
Directors risk finding themselves in an untenable position, which puts
the Club and the wonderful community that it sits at the heart of at
serious risk.
Fair Game has commented on the situation.
To allow a club to descend into a governance and ownership situation where the board feels it necessary to publicly call on the owner to change his approach to finding a new owner, cannot be considered to be acceptable.