Morecambe

Football clubs in crisis like Sheffield Wednesday and Morecambe can “absolutely” be saved from the brink of collapse, says Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

The future of both clubs remains uncertain after a torrid summer of issues including delayed wage payments for players and staff, registration embargoes and in the case of Morecambe, suspension from the National League.

In July, a bill to establish an independent football regulator became law, granting it powers to oversee the men’s game in England’s top five divisions. However, the regulator will not be launched until later this year.

When it is operational, Nandy says the regulator will be able to make a difference.

“These clubs belong to their fans. They are nothing without their fans and we are on their side and we will always fight for them,” Nandy told BBC Breakfast.

“Nobody should have to go through this. When Bury collapsed, we were absolutely clear that that had to be the last time that ever happened to anyone again. It’s happened to far too many people since.”

Bury were expelled by the English Football League in 2019 while in League One after a takeover bid collapsed.

“Owners need to recognise that they have a responsibility to be the custodians of a club and hand it on in good shape to the next generation,” she added.

“They’re hugely important to the economic life of a town, which I know from my own experience.”

Nandy highlighted Wigan Athletic, the team she supports, as a club who were saved from the brink of collapse in 2021, but have experienced further financial challenges.

“Wigan went right to the wire, we were within hours of HMRC pulling the plug because taxes haven’t been paid, players were about to walk, the wages haven’t been paid and at the final hour we managed to achieve a resolution.

“So I’ve absolutely said that to the fans groups and to the local MPs do not give up.”

“We’ll still gather together and talk about the old times, what we’ve done and where we’ve been. But we should still be able to do it here, every week,” adds Barker.

“Inside I’m being absolutely torn apart.”

Where once on the town’s seafront there were multiple fairgrounds, theatres, piers and miniature zoos, there are now a smattering of bars and restaurants, many of which are funded by matchday income and travelling away supporters.

The club’s peril means local businesses are now at risk.

“The winter months are the hardest here, because it’s the seaside,” says Chris Donaldson, owner the The Royal Hotel on the seafront. “The football season sees us through that.

“I’ve got 19 bedrooms here and away fans are coming from all over fully booking them weeks in advance. The whole town can be full.

“It’ll cost us tens of thousands, easily. It’s crazy what it’ll do to the town to lose that kind of money. Everyone will feel the effect of it.”

For staff at the fans’ matchday pub, the difference in demeanour is already stark.

“We get around 400, 500 people on a matchday,” says Michael Woolworth, manager of the Hurley Flyer opposite the stadium. “It feels like everyone in Morecambe is in here.

“It’s a ritual every weekend. In here we see that football really brings people together.

“But in the last few months we’ve seen the happiness taken away from them. We have regulars who have come in visibly upset.”

Morecambe FC has been one of the area’s biggest employers in recent times. But the club’s financial issues mean that salaries paid to staff and players have been delayed or not paid at all in some months. Dewhirst was last paid in May.

“I’m eating into my savings now,” he says. “Some people aren’t lucky enough to have savings – some are going to food banks because they can’t afford to buy their shopping.

“It’s been hard watching players leave. There was another one gone yesterday. I’ve known lots of them for years.

“I feel broken. Numbness has set in.”

Current majority shareholders Bond Group, led by businessman Whittingham, purchased Morecambe in May 2018. By September 2022, Whittingham had put the club up for sale.

The club has since been relegated twice, and no takeover has been completed in that time.

Whittingham has been a director at 25 companies during his career, according to Companies House. Of those 25 companies, 18 have been either dissolved, voluntarily dissolved, put into administration, put into liquidation, or put into receiver action (the precursor stage to liquidation).

Two of Whittingham’s companies had been dissolved by compulsory strike-off prior to his takeover of Morecambe – but he still passed the EFL’s owners’ and directors’ test.

At 21 of the companies, Whittingham was joint director with business partner Colin Goldring – a legal worker turned entrepreneur – including at Morecambe until Goldring’s resignation in August 2022.

Whittingham and Goldring were disqualified as company directors for 12 months following a court hearing in 2022.

Goldring has also been barred by the Solicitors Regulation Authority from working for any law firm without clearance.

The pair also ran Worcester Warriors rugby club, which went into liquidation in 2022.