From Bad to Worse: Chaos Continues to Swirl Around Morecambe FC

We are now less than four weeks away from the National League’s opening day of the season and Morecambe Football Club look nowhere near ready to commence.

Since our last update just two weeks ago, a lot has unfolded in the Lancashire seaside town, as owner Jason Whittingham continues to lead the Shrimps down a corridor of uncertainty.

Staff still remain unpaid, the club is still yet to be sold and nobody truly knows what is going to appear round the corner next. Everyone associated with Morecambe FC are living in a nightmare, and one that they cannot wake up from.

They have constantly been taken back and forth in the saga; this time last week the fans should have finally been celebrating the sale of their club to sporting consortium Panjab Warriors. Instead, Whittingham and Bond Group have thrown yet another spanner in the works.

The club’s most recent statement – five days ago – suggested that a “UK Buyer” has put in a “last-minute bid” for them, leaving Panjab Warriors in distress and Morecambe’s staff and fans in the dark.

How Did This All Unfold?

Morecambe’s ownership drama has not just erupted from nowhere. The chaos surrounding the club has been brewing for almost three years now, with enough evidence to forecast this kind of mess.

My heart really goes out to everyone at Morecambe FC. Their supporters, players and staff don't deserve this sort of treatment.

Do the right thing and sell the club so the fans can keep their club.

— TalkOfTheTeyn (@TalkOfTheTeyn) July 2, 2025

As previously mentioned, our article from two weeks ago breaks down every little detail of Morecambe’s failure in recent years and why that has led to such disaster on the pitch.

In short, the Shrimps’ owners - Bond Group Investments LTD – put the club up for sale all the way back in the September of 2022, after their other business venture Worcester Warriors was put into administration following an unpaid tax bill.

Whilst Bond Group – owned by Jason Whittingham – were adamant that there was no rush to sell Morecambe FC at the time, more and more danger started racking up for the Lancashire side – with Worcester Warriors’ financial issues rebounding onto them.

Just six months after Morecambe were put on the market, the first problem arose when the club were late paying their staff’s wages. Although this issue was sharply rectified, the Shrimps were handed a three-point deduction because of it, which was enforced upon the club’s relegation and return to League Two in 2023.

Full time: Exeter City 3-2 Morecambe

After a valiant effort in recent weeks, today's result confirms our stay in SkyBet League One is over.

Thank you all for your amazing support today pic.twitter.com/yuiVdGS1eq

— Morecambe FC (@MorecambeFC) May 7, 2023

In 2024 - one year after the late wage saga, the English Football League placed Morecambe under a transfer embargo due to them owing money to HMRC. From here on out, the hurtful events continued to snowball. In the April, staff wages were paid late once more and the board of directors urged Whittingham to sell up.

Throughout the next year, there was continuous hearsay about the club being close to selling and Whittingham assuring the fans and media that he is working on different deals. However, none of this was ever represented from what we saw, as the EFL threw another transfer ban at Morecambe in January 2025.

Alongside this ban, the club were severely underachieving on the pitch, as they finished the League Two season in 24th place. This confirmed their exit from the EFL, after the second relegation in two years meant that the Shrimps would be playing National League football for the first time since 2007.

(League Two Table (Bottom Half) 2024/25: FotMob)

When the current summer beckoned, Morecambe’s nightmare finally looked to be over, as the club put out a statement in early June to announce that Panjab Warriors Sports LTD were granted EFL approval to buy the club. Everyone associated with Morecambe were under the assumption that this deal would process within a matter of days.

However, just three weeks later, the deal still had not been completed and they issued another statement to say that staff wages had not been paid again. This was all due to Jason Whittingham seeking other potential buyers, despite agreeing a deal with Panjab Warriors.

What Has Happened Since?

As July kicked off - with only one month until the National League season’s arrival, Morecambe’s board of directors issued another statement in response to Whittingham’s antics. This statement claimed that if Bond Group did not sell the club by the end of that day, they will put the club into administration.

With little hesitation, the board of directors resigned, and the administration process started the following morning. However, Jason Whittingham continued to state that work is being pursued to “complete the sale process and give Morecambe FC the fresh start the club and its community deserve.”

Then on the 4th of July, Bond Group announced that they have agreed the final terms for the transfer of ownership and the sale of Morecambe Football Club LTD to Panjab Warriors, subject to a contract. Whilst this was good news, the deal was not set in stone, as they claimed the deal would be completed on the 7th of the month.

BREAKING: Morecambe's owner Jason Whittingham have announced an agreement to sell the club to Panjab Warriors Sports LTD 🚨 pic.twitter.com/QFR7fjxBJD

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 4, 2025

From this announcement, the board of directors agreed to rejoin in attempt to assist the sale of the club.

As the day of the sale approached, Jason Whittingham’s first comments on the matter were that “there has been a campaign of abuse on social media against my (Whittingham’s) family members” and that the ordeal had been reported to the police.

On top of that, he also revealed that the sale to Panjab Warriors would take a little bit more time, as there were some “final items to get signed off.” However, Whittingham did emphasise his commitment to selling the club amidst the statement.

Just two days later, Morecambe release a very confusing statement, claiming that the club accepted “a last-minute bid from a UK Buyer after learning about the club’s situation.”

Public Statement on Behalf of Jason Whittingham, Bond Group.#UTS 🦐

— Morecambe FC (@MorecambeFC) July 9, 2025

“That buyer has worked over the last 24 hours to turn around a payment to his solicitors for wages to be paid and agreed contracts pending the approval of the sale by the National League.”

“He has already started preparing documentation for the National League to give their approval for the sale and confirmed his financial support for the club this coming season, provided his takeover is approved.”

Despite this news coming as a huge shock, the club once again looked like it may be on the verge of a takeover. Whittingham added to this statement, declaring that there would be more announcements that followed the next day and that the buyer will introduce themselves shortly.

It has now been nearly a week since the statement and Morecambe nor Whittingham have followed up with any response to this announcement, despite giving such clear assurances.

How Have Panjab Warriors Taken This News?

It is fair to say that Panjab Warriors have rightly expressed their frustrations following the latest statement.

The day after Whittingham revealed that a bid had been accepted from a ‘UK Buyer,’ Panjab Warriors issued a message of their own, implying that they are seeking legal advice and exploring avenues to recover the funds that they had been supplying Morecambe for over a year.

Panjab Warriors have released the following statement regarding their proposed takeover of Morecambe Football Club.#uts I #bbcsport I #bbcfootball pic.twitter.com/4NKnO62sx0

— BBC Sport Lancashire (@BBCLancsSport) July 10, 2025

Panjab Warriors also commented that all of the funds they supported Morecambe with throughout the last months were “provided on the basis of the written assurances” (that Bond Group would sell them the club). With this, they are also taking action for misrepresentation as well as the recovery of funds.

To finish off, they now urge Bond Group to fulfil their public agreement, as they completely feel betrayed from the terms which both parties agreed. Bond Group Investments have continued to mess Panjab Warriors around and have not honoured their statements throughout this whole dispute.