Skip to main content

Shrimps lack serious buyers

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.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...
1 comment
Read more

Spurs to sell minority stake

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale. Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium. The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...
Post a Comment
Read more