The end of May will mark 1,000 days since Morecambe were put up for sale by Bond Street Investments, a company set up by Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham.
The pair previously owned Worecster Warriors, a rugby union Premiership side who were wound up in 2022 over an unpaid tax bill.
Whittingham, now in sole charge of the Shrimps, told the BBC in January that he can't wait to get out of Morecambe.
The problem is that no one wants to get in, notes Chris Dunlavy in The Non-League Paper. Fizzy drink entrepreneur Sarbjot Gorbal had plenty of bling (Givemchy track suits) but was set packing by the EFL when he could not show proof of funds.
Punjab Warriors are the latest hopefuls and have been interested for ten months. Frontman Kuljeet Singh Momi claims to have provided interest free loans to the club since October 2023. A so-called 'positive' meeting with the EFL in March seems to have led to no progress.
The underlying point is that the financial landscape in football has changed since Morecambe were promoted to the EFL in 2006. Back then a local businessman of reasonable means, or at least a consortium of them, could afford to run a lower league club.
Today even League Two has a smattering of clubs owned by hedge funds or US tycoons: Colchester United looks like being the latest recruit. A club in the prosperous south like Wycombe Wanderers can attract a Kazakh billionaire.
Morecambe is a seaside resort which, like most of them, faces economic and social challenges. The potential for growing a relatively small fanbase is not great.
At Accrington Stanley, Andy Holt knows that he lacks the funds to make Accrington Stanley competitive but cannot find a buyer.
It's not going to be easy for Morecambe in the National League.
It may not suit the Premier League, but football needs a regulator.
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