Morecambe: Shrimps Trust blasts “false promise” as ownership crisis continues to drag on

The Shrimps Trust has once again condemned the ongoing ownership saga at Morecambe FC, calling out repeated “false promises” as the crisis drags on with no resolution in sight.

A takeover by Panjab Warriors had seemed imminent a few weeks ago, but the deal fell through, prompting the global sports investment group to begin looking into legal proceedings.

The Bond Group claimed a new buyer had emerged with a last-minute bid to save the club.

Most recently, owner Jason Whittingham revealed the prospective new owners as a consortium led by investor Jonny Cato.

Tomorrow never comes

In response to the statement made by him, the Shrimps Trust has released another statement providing its latest updates.

It read: “The Shrimps Trust understand that ‘Jonny Cato’ and consortium haven’t been introduced to the National League.

“And evidently due to lack of update from Bond Group, a deal wasn’t signed as promised, yet again.

“Tomorrow never comes with this man, it is always false promise, at convenient moments, to cause more delay, whilst our club slowly dies.

“Every tomorrow that goes by, is another unpaid bill for our club staff. It’s another reminder letter from someone they owe money to, through no fault of their own.

“The only person to blame for that is Jason Whittingham. The knock-on effects of this for the staff at the club are huge.

“No more nonsense statements for the benefit of Sky. No more dangling wages being paid in the cruel way you have over the past 3 weeks. Sell the club, Jason.”

Regulators

The statement went on to discuss various other topics, starting with the Shrimps Trust’s contact with such regulators: “We have been in touch with the EFL, NL & FA over the weekend.

“We urge all parties to move on matters as quickly as possible, especially after the Panjab Warriors statement over the weekend.

“We are meeting with the NL on Tuesday and will provide an update – we have worked with Lizzi Collinge MP over the weekend to urge the need for expedience from the regulating bodies.”

The Trust welcomed the recent statement from Panjab Warriors and confirmed ongoing support: “We were pleased to see PW statement yesterday.

“As per our previous statements, we have been working with PW in relation to their legal action and will continue to support their needs in these matters.”

Following enquiries, the Trust revealed the truth behind Tuesday’s cancelled fixture: “Having made some enquiries, we understand that the fixture on Tuesday has been cancelled as the players as a group have decided not to play until the current ownership position is resolved.

“The players along with club staff have not been paid for nearly 4 weeks. We support their decision.”

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Pressure

The Trust went on to thank media outlets for their continued coverage and announced further exposure ahead: “Thank you to all the media outlets for their support.

“We remain in touch with all contacts made and hope our story will continue to get more coverage, as is deserved, and to keep the pressure on Bond Group.

“We also have an interview with the Price of Football on Tuesday.”

The statement concluded with a commitment to continue efforts: “We are pursuing all lines of action/pressure that we can at present.

“We will update when is practicably possible.”

READ MORE: Morecambe: We’ll believe it when we see it!