More than 1,000 days have passed since Morecambe FC was officially put up for sale by Bond Group.
What has followed is one of the most embarrassing and destabilising ownership sagas in the history of English football, and it shows no signs of ending soon.
The timeline is both astonishing and depressing in equal measure. On 2nd July 2022, Colin Goldring, one of the owners of Bond Group, was banned from the legal profession, forcing him to step down from the Morecambe board. Two months later, the club was officially put up for sale, but what might have been a swift and decisive transaction quickly descended into a slow-moving farce.
Three Years of Chaos and Confusion
The first signs of serious concern came in late September 2022, when Bond Group’s other sports asset, Worcester Warriors RFC, was placed into administration. That same month, Morecambe’s sale was confirmed, but clarity over the club’s direction was sorely lacking. Reports soon emerged linking 20-year-old drinks entrepreneur Sarbjot Johal with a takeover, despite serious doubts over his suitability and financial backing. In January 2023, the Daily Mail suggested Johal was close to completing a deal, but months passed with no confirmation. Although Johal injected money to help with wage payments, his bid ultimately failed to pass the EFL’s Owners and Directors Test.
By February 2023, the delays were affecting the playing side. Morecambe’s relegation from League One followed at the end of that season, the result of off-field distractions, budgetary uncertainty, and a general lack of strategic leadership. Manager Derek Adams, understandably frustrated, left the club, only to return again a year later, symbolising the revolving-door nature of Morecambe’s crisis.
Into the summer of 2023, there were glimmers of hope. A buyer was reportedly still in place, and the club remained functioning, albeit under severe financial strain. However, staff and players suffered repeated delays to wage payments, which ultimately led to a suspended three-point deduction. Directors began issuing increasingly desperate statements, urging Bond Group to complete the sale. Their warnings were stark: the future of the club was in jeopardy.
The 2023/24 season was dominated by ownership silence. No sale materialised, fans grew increasingly disillusioned, and new bids were rumoured but never confirmed. The club was relegated again, this time from League Two, ending an 18-year stay in the Football League. In April 2024, the EFL imposed a three-point deduction and fined Whittingham personally for repeated failures. Morecambe had now become not just an underperforming side, but a club on the brink of collapse.
By the summer of 2024, a new bidder emerged: Panjab Warriors, fronted by Kuljeet Singh Momi. This was seen by many as the most credible offer to date, and the EFL eventually cleared them to proceed with a takeover in June 2025. Optimism returned, but once again the process dragged. On 4th July, Bond Group claimed the deal would be completed by 8th July. That never happened. Just days later, the Panjab Warriors issued a strongly worded statement accusing Whittingham of using the deal for leverage and declared the club was “on life support”. By 9th July, Bond Group announced they were now in talks with an entirely different UK-based buyer.
Legal action is now expected.
Football Cannot Let This Happen Again
It is hard to believe that a football club, with more than a century of history and a loyal fanbase, can be passed around like a neglected asset for over three years without resolution. But this is not just a Morecambe problem. This is an English football problem.
Time and again, we see clubs, especially those outside the top two divisions, placed at the mercy of distant owners, opaque consortiums, and unvetted buyers. Bury were expelled from the league. Southend United flirted with extinction multiple times. Oldham Athletic dropped out of the EFL after years of boardroom turmoil. Morecambe, tragically, have become just another entry on that growing list.
The core issue is clear: there is no effective mechanism in place to protect clubs, staff, and supporters from prolonged or damaging ownership sagas. The EFL’s Owners and Directors Test is slow, passive, and confidential. It allows buyers to remain unvetted for months. It allows owners to stall or sabotage deals with little consequence. It offers no voice to fans and no strict deadlines. In short, it is not fit for purpose.
Football needs an independent regulator, and it needed one years ago. Such a body would be able to step in when owners fail to meet basic obligations. It could impose binding timelines for sales, assess takeovers transparently, and intervene in the event of repeated financial failures. Most importantly, it would give a voice to those most impacted: the fans.
Morecambe’s situation is not an anomaly. It is the logical outcome of a broken system. Clubs are more than businesses; they are civic institutions, woven into the identity of communities. But under current rules, those institutions are left unguarded against mismanagement, greed, and neglect. The EFL can fine owners or deduct points, but that punishes players and fans, not those truly responsible.
In Morecambe’s case, the cost has already been immense. Two relegations. Repeated wage delays. An exodus of players. Staff laid off or left in limbo. Endless uncertainty. And through it all, the people supposed to protect the club, the governing bodies, stood by and watched.
What Morecambe have endured should shame English football. But shame alone won’t fix it. Only systemic reform will. The incoming regulator must be given the powers needed to step in early, act decisively, and prioritise the long-term health of football clubs, not the short-term interests of absentee owners. Until that happens, Morecambe won’t be the last victim.
Just the latest.
