Morecambe FC on the brink

[danumdon]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/16/morecambe-fc-football-club-takeover-crisis-fans-supporters

Sad to see, Tyson Fury, this is your moment big fella!

[BobG]

All hail the mighty Football Association. All hail the mighty Football League....

The worst managed business in Britain. And it has been for 50 years.

We should all be ashamed of them.

Cast your minds back: how many clubs can you think of that the FA and the FL have allowed to be raped? Off the top of my head:

Charlton Athletic
Chesterfield
Brighton
Doncaster Rovers
Sheffield Wednesday
Morecombe
Southend Utd
Bolton Wanderers
Wigan Athletic
Bury
Portsmouth
Macclesfield Town
Blackpool (remember Oyston?!)

That list took me no more than 2 minutes. There will be more. That's 13 clubs, over years and years, that have been grievously wounded. Yet the FA, the FL, and latterly Sky continue, to this day, to do f**k all except window dressing.

Incompetent doesn't begin to describe the performance of the FA and the FL. Given the huge duration over which they have failed to address the underlying issues, you have to ask, 'Why not?'  I have a suggestion, but given I can't prove it,  I shall simply suggest you ask yourself in what class did members of the FA travel overseas and in what class did their players and managers travel? It's  not true today, but the answer gives you a very clear idea of the priorities of the useless stuffed shirts who continue to lead Football in this country despite decades of utter failure.

And don't  forget that the situation is even worse in none league. The FA, charged with ensuring the welfare of the game "at all levels" in this country  continue to allow owners to rampage through land that was once a community  asset. Enfield Town and Chester City, for example, would love even a half way competent FA

BobG

Later: I forgot Reading!

[Barmby Rover]

Quite right Bob, and how many of the suits have extended the depth of their pockets to cope with what is given to them from PL clubs? Quite a few, at the top end of the sport it is the most corrupt organisation in the UK, possibly even more than our two major political parties.

[Donnywolf]

Don't know if you would count Wimbledon and Sam Hamam

[drfchound]

You can add Scunny to the list as well.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Not sure really what we're expecting the FA to do. If memory serves, had this present owner hadn't come along, Morecambe could have folded anyway.

At what point do fans of clubs who are losing money, say hang on a minute, can we afford this? Can the owner sustain the losses etc. The geezer has probably put good money in over time but of course, there's always going to be issues over selling clubs and to whom. Buyers want to pay the minimum and sellers don't want to get ripped off. Not entirely different at Owls, with Chansiri. He maybe a fruit loop but he's put alot of money in.

Not sure what point we expect the FA/EFL to step in other than when players don't get paid. Surely we don't expect them to force the owner to sell and find a buyer?

It's complicated.

[Ryaldinhio]

Scunthorpe
Scarborough
Hartlepool
Darlington

Sure there is plenty more

[les@donr]

Halifax
Telford
Rushden & Diamonds
Etc

[Spilsby Red]

Boston United

[DonnyBazR0ver]

But isn't it the football food chain? How do you determine who should be saved and who shouldn't?

Even if the distribution of TV money is more equitable, we will still get poorly run clubs.

[Ryaldinhio]

But isn't it the football food chain? How do you determine who should be saved and who shouldn't?

Even if the distribution of TV money is more equitable, we will still get poorly run clubs.

To be fair when you look at that you can throw loads into the pot
Leeds
Hull
Birmingham (-3yrs)
Bolton
Wrexham(-3yrs)
Luton (falling through the leagues)
Manu - shambles

[DMnumber4]

Naively thought Bury would be the tipping point for football club ownership and how they were run...

[BobG]

DBR: nobody has ever suggested that ANY football club has a God given right to continue to exist, nor that the FA and FL are obliged to assist them in that continuance. Nobody has suggested poorly run clubs should have their hand held.

No. Just read the article that DanumDon linked in the OP. Right there you will see the issue - down towards the foot of the article. Yet another devious owner who's house of cards is collapsing amidst threats of litigation from the party to whom he had agreed 2 years ago to sell the club - and from whom he has taken £6 million to boot. The prospective buyer is now publicly accusing the owner of "misrepresentation... (and) bad faith dealing". The bigger problem is the FA and FL's long term refusal to address the quality of person they continue to allow into football, and the depth of resource these people possess.

The FA and FL have NEVER addressed in good faith closing the door to charlatans wanting to take over football clubs. Such a process will never succeed entirely, but it could, and should, have resulted in a huge reduction in the 23 obvious FL and ex FL clubs we have named above. That is exactly a quarter of all league clubs. Excluding the Prem 32% of FL clubs have been shafted within the last 35 years or so. If you added in the Leeds Utd of Peter Ridsdale or Ken Bates the numbers would be even bigger.

Doesn't that make you want to question the acts, omissions, motives and behaviours of those alleged to be managing the game "for the good of all"? Can you not see a pattern??

It's the job of leadership to see patterns and to act in advance of trouble occurring. Nobody, nobody, can say that either the FA or the FL have ever managed to do that in the last 40 or 50 years. Their clients, both clubs and supporters, really should be demanding to know why they have not acted to resolve such an obvious and long standing problem.

It may be "complicated" DBR. But so is going to the Moon. Are you suggesting we can go to the Moon but we can't even attempt to resolve the crisis in football club ownership? I'm sorry, honestly, but that is an utterly pathetic attitude to take.

BobG

[roversdude]

The owner had history of doing this previously with Worcester Warriors Rugby team. He also has a long history of winding companies up that he is a director of and selling them to himself. The consortium that had agreed a sale had put money into the club only for Jason Whittingham to claim he had another buyer on the eve of the agreed sale. He seems a crook in the mould of the fire starter

[BobG]

A perfect example of the sort of person who should not be allowed anywhere near any football club.

But 35 years after Charlton Athletic, he was.

BobG

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I don't think there's a simple answer to questioning the integrity of prospective owners and then monitoring the financial activities of all clubs, making sure bills are paid etc. Sometimes, owners may take on clubs in good faith until things get difficult. Then there's the other end of the spectrum with the Glazers etc, who have saddled Man U with debt and are making a mint out of the repayments.

Until the football World accepts spending controls, living within their means, with owners as backstops rather than major funders, then the list of clubs being close to the brink will just continue.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

DBR: nobody has ever suggested that ANY football club has a God given right to continue to exist, nor that the FA and FL are obliged to assist them in that continuance. Nobody has suggested poorly run clubs should have their hand held.

No. Just read the article that DanumDon linked in the OP. Right there you will see the issue - down towards the foot of the article. Yet another devious owner who's house of cards is collapsing amidst threats of litigation from the party to whom he had agreed 2 years ago to sell the club - and from whom he has taken £6 million to boot. The prospective buyer is now publicly accusing the owner of "misrepresentation... (and) bad faith dealing". The bigger problem is the FA and FL's long term refusal to address the quality of person they continue to allow into football, and the depth of resource these people possess.

The FA and FL have NEVER addressed in good faith closing the door to charlatans wanting to take over football clubs. Such a process will never succeed entirely, but it could, and should, have resulted in a huge reduction in the 23 obvious FL and ex FL clubs we have named above. That is exactly a quarter of all league clubs. Excluding the Prem 32% of FL clubs have been shafted within the last 35 years or so. If you added in the Leeds Utd of Peter Ridsdale or Ken Bates the numbers would be even bigger.

Doesn't that make you want to question the acts, omissions, motives and behaviours of those alleged to be managing the game "for the good of all"? Can you not see a pattern??

It's the job of leadership to see patterns and to act in advance of trouble occurring. Nobody, nobody, can say that either the FA or the FL have ever managed to do that in the last 40 or 50 years. Their clients, both clubs and supporters, really should be demanding to know why they have not acted to resolve such an obvious and long standing problem.

It may be "complicated" DBR. But so is going to the Moon. Are you suggesting we can go to the Moon but we can't even attempt to resolve the crisis in football club ownership? I'm sorry, honestly, but that is an utterly pathetic attitude to take.

BobG

Maybe a step the EFL could impose on clubs when red flags start, such as non payment of wages, HMRC etc, is to appoint a temporary administrator/insolvency specialist to work with the owners to a) get through the initial crisis if it's cash flow problems etc, with a view to getting the owner and club back on track or b) if the crisis is much deeper (like Wednesdays) to oversee the sale of the club, valuing the assets independently and making sure there are no last minute shenanigans during the sale process (as with Morecambe) of course this would include all the relevant owners & directors tests, proof of funding etc.

It seems at the moment, the EFL issue the sanctions, but leave it to the owner to sort out.