The Owner
Jason Whittingham – the nasty troll who lives under the bridge who won’t let anyone pass to gain the keys for his football club that he’s left to rot. Well that’s certainly how I’ve visioned the Bond Group to come across as.
Maybe now is the time for the owners to pack it in? The same ones who’ve put Morecambe into absolute turmoil in the last couple of months. Or more specifically, Jason Whittingham has. He’s the one who’s been reluctant to just simply let go of this 105-year old football club. This could’ve been wrapped up ages ago. Perhaps in a week from now, things will be a lot different and Shrimp fans will have a footballing season ahead of them to actually look forward to.
Morecambe’s Destiny
We will certainly all know what the destiny holds for this football club by then as the deadline for the club to prove they can pay-off outstanding items and actually function as one in this competition, is coming up in the next week (Wednesday 20th August). Fortunately, there’s a buyer at the table who wants in. They’ve been sitting there for quite a while now though…
Yes, a company who are known for buying sport entities – Panjab Warriors could be the answer for the newly National League side. It was mid-2024 when they first showed interest in buying Morecambe.
A year has gone and they still haven’t been able to call it theirs yet, despite having a bid and an ownership test accepted by the English Football League. The terms for a takeover had been accepted by Whittingham at the start of last month. Morecambe fans will then question why it got to the 18th July, with the terms still not finalised, and another spanner thrown into the works with a contested takeover bid submitted by a consortium leader who goes by the name of Jonny Cato.
Your guess is as good as ours with who Cato is. There’s no record of him. If you search the name up on LinkedIn, you will get a Swedish MP. Was it Jason Whittingham behind the creation of this mystery buyer, in order to get a bigger bid from Panjab? We can theorise that all day long. What we did see was the takeover come to a halt annoyingly, despite Panjab already investing £1.7million to ensure the clubs safety and meet their working capital needs, in the past 16 months.
It’s quite clear and obvious: The light and attention should be on Panjab. Not Cato, not the boxer with a lot of money who lives in the area and certainly not the Bond Group. It could be a real promising relationship between this professional sports-entity buying company, who according to their website claim they “create lasting value across mature asset”. That word ‘lasting’ will fulfill Morecambe fans with joy and optimism, as that’s all they want right now. For this club to last.
Panjab Warriors Purchase
As of the 14th August, a club statement came out from Morecambe announcing the Bond Group had come to an agreement to swap roles with Panjab Warriors, who will now become the new majority-shareholders at the football club. Morecambe’s new owners will now have to prove to the governing bodies of the football league that they have the financial means to cover the outstanding debts, to prevent the club becoming insolvent.
That’ll now be the next question from Morecambe fans – can the new owners foresee the next few days and cover any outstanding debts left to be paid against Morecambe Football Club. If they can and the football league are confident too, then football returns for the Lancashire town. However, if it doesn’t, then Morecambe will cease to exist.
Of course, I speak for not just Morecambe fans but for fans of football, that we hope the club will come out on the better side when they attend the meeting with the league this Wednesday. They could possibly have a new payment to account for, being a bond payment to the National League. Ultimately, this is a pre-determined safety net to cover potential shortfalls. It was issued to Southend United last year, who had similar issues to Morecambe. The club had to pay a bond payment of £1million.
It’s hard to know how much it could be for Morecambe, but they’re in a more severe problematic amount of debt than what Southend were. It could be more than £1million if they were to have a bond payment to pay to the league.
All eyes really are set for the 20th. A week of relief and party? Or a week where we see the departure of Morecambe Football Club from their place at the English Footballing Pyramid? Let’s see if Panjab Warriors have the financial means to cover up the cracks of Jason Whittingham’s mistakes.
When Will Their Season Resume?
If they succeed in doing so, then Morecambe fans can get ready for their first game of the season at long last, against Altrincham on Saturday 23rd, which is also surprisingly live on DAZN, who hold the television rights to show National League football. I wonder who chose that game to be on TV?
The Morecambe crisis may raise questions from the outside: Am I safe with the ownership at my football club? The independent football regulator is coming to English Football and should hopefully see a rise of strength in keeping clubs glued together. It’ll now mean owners have to prove they have the funds to run a club sustainably. This’ll hopefully prevent previous tragedies that happened to Macclesfield, that happened to Bury, and whatever fate awaits for Morecambe Football Club…
It’s now or never for this Seaside Football Club. Let this be a warning: Keep the Bond Group far away from your club if they ever cross your path in the future. Any Morecambe fan could tell you that…
