‘We have only days left’ before potential collapse or expulsion for Morecambe, who are now having pre-season matches behind closed doors.
The Shrimps are in a dire financial and ownership crisis, leading to the resignation of its board, including lifelong fans Rod Taylor and James Wakefield, who stepped down twice in a month.
They have spoken to Martin Calladine (aka @uglygame), read his piece here, with the former directors of the club, who resigned last week, claiming that Morecambe face being thrown out of the football pyramid.
The crisis stems from owner Jason Whittingham’s erratic behaviour, including threatening to sack the board for considering administration and pulling out of a potential sale to Panjab Warriors at the last minute, claiming a new, unidentified buyer.
The club, relegated to the National League, faces unpaid wages, a transfer embargo, and an overdue VAT bill, with only days left before potential collapse or expulsion.
Whittingham’s withdrawal of financial support, coupled with a failed bid by Sarbjot Johal and a troubled takeover attempt by Kuljeet Singh Momi, has left the club in chaos.
The community is deeply affected, with cancelled events and unpaid staff, and fears grow that Morecambe could face the same fate as Bury.
Fans and former board members urge unity and public pressure to save the 105-year-old club.
Morecambe FC: “We have only days left, literally days.” @uglygame @MorecambeFChttps://t.co/1OrwDAFJMS
— Sanny Rudravajhala (@Sanny_Rudra) July 16, 2025
James: “I wake up at four o’clock in the morning with nightmares of the pitch overgrown with weeds. It’s been happening for the last six months, the terror that what happened to Bury could happen to us.”
Rod: “Just walking through the town on Saturday, I was stopped by five or six people. One guy who I’ve seen round the club for 50-odd years had tears in his eyes. People are genuinely frightened.
“In all my years as a Morecambe fan, it’s as bad as it’s ever been.
“It’s been my passion my whole life. here have been amazing highs – getting promoted from the Northern Premier League into the then Vauxhall conference, getting from the conference to the Football League via the playoffs, then ultimately being promoted to League One, going to places like Portman Road, you know, Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County. It’s been a pinch yourself kind of dream. I could never have imagined it back then.”
“And you know, the passion for the football club in the town and the surrounding area is just enormous. I live locally, so just walking down the street, it’s on everybody’s lips. Everybody’s stopping you all the time. People are angry, frustrated and worried.
“You have to understand how big a part of the community this club is. There’s 200 people employed in the club on various levels. We have a vibrant Foundation that plays a major part in local in local life. From post-cancer rehabilitation sessions to sessions for older people, to going into schools, going to care homes. It’s all at risk.
“The support for has been tremendous.
“There’s a togetherness of this football club. It’s a family club – the staff, the supporters, everybody together.”
At the time of Jason Whittingham putting a stop to talk of administration plans and said he’d sack the board, Rod was at the stadium. He recalled: “The senior staff were there, shoulder-to-shoulder with us. People were asking me if I was alright, giving me a hug. Never mind, am I alright, are they alright? They haven’t been paid. They’ve had a third of their wages; they’ve got responsibilities.”
One Morecambe footballer also had to cancel his weekend plans as he didn’t know “if that was £100 he might need to pay bills. They’re not multi-million earners at this level,” Rod continued to say. “They’ve got mortgages and families and all the rest, and the clock’s ticking for them to get another club.”
Last week, cash was so short at the club that one of the directors had give the catering team money out of his own pocket to pay for supplies, or else there would’ve been no food to feed the players.
James: “Morecambe’s only a town of about 40,000. But it’s the major sporting organisation in an area that probably has about 175,000 people living in it. We’ve had to cancel school parties, teenagers’ proms, birthday parties, wedding receptions. We’ve had to cancel funeral wakes. It’s dire.”
“I don’t really remember a time before Morecambe. I’ve been a fan of the club since I was six or seven, going to Christie Park when it was just five or six hundred fans.” But now he and Rod are having to face up to the possibility that the worst-case scenario may happen: administration or even liquidation.
“It would rip the heart out the town,” says James. “I’ve had people in tears on the phone to me two or three times over the course of the last few days.”
James, when asked by Martin about how close the club are to being kicked out or face extinction, he replied: “It’s impossible to say. I’m amazed, frankly, it’s still in this position. It can’t be long. I mean, we are talking days now.”
Rod: “We have only days left, literally days.”
James: “Why is Jason doing this? I can’t think of a rational reason. I cannot fathom or begin to understand why he’s operating as he is.”
Rod: We’ve got to bear in mind that the prospective buyers have put millions of pounds into the football club,” he says. “And yet we’re not like the situation at Worcester Warriors. There’s nothing to sell at Morecambe.
“So I just don’t understand what he’s trying to achieve. Sometimes part of me thinks, is it just for whatever reason having to go back at us? But that doesn’t make any financial sense at all.”
Martin asked ‘if they feel Morecambe has been let down.’
James: “Yes. This isn’t an isolated incident. This is a thing that repeats every two or three years, or, sadly, even more often than that, up and down the country, always affecting clubs somewhere between the National League and the Championship, never in the Premier League. And the fact that there is no regulator, the fact that there is no governance of this incredibly huge, multi-billion-pound industry, means that we are going to have this situation recurring again and again.
“We’ve had huge amounts of support. From our MP, from other football clubs, from fans up and down the country. The support has been pretty much unanimous, and it’s been very much appreciated.”
Martin: “What happens now?”
James: “Will the club be sold? Honestly, I just don’t know. Because I can’t make sense of Whittingham’s behaviour, I can’t place any percentage likelihood on it.”
“All I can do is to encourage everyone who cares about this club to keep pursuing all legitimate means to keep this in the public eye and to call on those who might be able to bring their influence to bear to help resolve it as quickly as possible.”
“Don’t give up. Stay united, act together and support each other. We can’t allow this wonderful, 105-year-old institution, the heart of our community, to be destroyed.”
The @MorecambeFCFeed wrote a post which is doing the rounds on Twitter, it read: “Morecambe FC has zero directors, less than 10 senior players and staff & players still haven’t received their full June wages.
“Two former directors of the club, who resigned last week, say that we are “days” away from being thrown out of the football pyramid.
“Please share our current issues and check the replies below for a deeper look into our situation.
“There’s a good chance you haven’t heard anything about this. We are not being covered in the national media. We have loved the support from other fanbases so far, but we need more.”
Morecambe FC has zero directors, less than 10 senior players and staff & players still haven’t received their full June wages.
Two former directors of the club, who resigned last week, say that we are “days” away from being thrown out of the football pyramid.
Please share our… pic.twitter.com/BymAqvNjbj
— Morecambe FC is DAYS away from extinction (@MorecambeFCFeed) July 15, 2025
