The co-chairmen of Morecambe Football Club told fans they have suffered "sleepless nights refreshing the bank account hoping promised money will come in" during the ongoing sale saga.
Rod Taylor and Graham Howse spoke openly and emotionally about the financial difficulties facing the club at a Fans Forum on Thursday evening.
Mr Taylor and Mr Howse, and their fellow director James Wakefield, answered questions from fans during the meeting in the Local Choice Suite at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium, called as part of the club's drive to improve communication with supporters.
Many of the questions showed the fans' frustrations that the club has been up for sale since September 2022.
During this time, the Shrimps have been through the mill, including reporting a £1.2m loss in its last accounts, suffering a three-point deduction for a financial rules breach last season, a further suspended two-point deduction in December 2024 for failing to report to the EFL (English Football League) the non-payment of amounts owed to HMRC, were under a transfer embargo last year due to a VAT issue and were twice late paying wages to staff and players.
The club is currently second from bottom of the Football League, and faces a battle to avoid relegation back to non-league football for the first time since 2007.
Disgruntled fans have held protests at two League Two games over the past year, including marches through the streets of Morecambe, showing their anger at the delay to the sale, as it has left the club in a financial limbo with little investment coming in.
Club owners Bond Group Investments, run by Jason Whittingham, have reportedly done a deal with businessman Kuljeet Singh Momi to buy Morecambe FC.
But Mr Singh Momi has to pass a number of EFL tests before he can take control at the club.
Mr Howse said the board had been told that paperwork was being sent to the EFL this week.
"Not everything has come through (to the EFL) yet but we were promised this week," he said.
"We've heard promises many many times before."
When asked by fans what Mr Singh Momi's influence is right now at the club, Mr Wakefield said: "There isn't any influence.
"He would like to buy the football club. There has been money come into the football club but it hasn't bought him a seat on the board or the ability to give directions. He has to go through the Owners’ and Directors’ Test. There is no day-to-day influence whatsoever.
"There has been a lot of communication back and forth with (Kuljeet Singh Momi) and his associate. I think it's fair to say that sometimes it lacks consistency.
"But would you put all that money in if you didn't want to buy the football club? That doesn't make sense."
Mr Taylor said: "This is not our deal to do. It's Jason's deal. It's Bond Group's deal. I personally wouldn't like to put a timescale on it.
"There were conversations (with Mr Singh Momi) before and after Christmas with myself and Graham. Meetings here. It's an ongoing process. It is inconsistent at times. That is a bit frustrating."
Mr Howse said that Mr Singh Momi has put "substantial" money into Morecambe FC and it would be used to strengthen the team in the January transfer window.
"The share capital which came in at the end of November is ringfenced for the January budget," he said.
"We have allocated that figure in the last couple of days and (manager) Derek (Adams) has been informed of that. We believe he has a decent sum of money to do well in the market. We are looking at loan (players) predominantly."
Fans asked the board why a statement revealing Mr Singh Momi was a prospective buyer, was released immediately after Morecambe's FA Cup Second Round win over Bradford City on November 30, questioning the timing of the announcement.
"That was a statement they wanted to put out," said Mr Wakefield.
"We advised it wasn't a good idea in terms of timing and content. That advice wasn't taken.
"There have been times in the last couple of years when Jason has directed that things should happen. Sometimes there have been disagreements."
Read more: Potential buyer of Morecambe Football Club is revealed - Beyond Radio
The board was also asked if voluntary administration was an option, to ensure another party took control of the club.
"It's something we want to avoid," said Mr Howse.
"The points deduction would absolutely kill us. I don't see any way of coming back from that.
"We decided a long time ago that everybody gets paid here, or nobody gets paid. We've always managed to find a way.
"There have been times when Rod and I have been sat up at night refreshing the bank account hoping that promised money will come into it.
"There are times when it's been coming up to midnight on payday.
"My son (Oliver) is Head of Medical here. To have your son ring up and ask you how he's going to pay his mortgage if he doesn't get paid, you don't want to be in that situation."
Mr Taylor said: "There was a time when some of us had to put money in to bridge the wages gap.
"If we hadn't done that, that Friday night, wages wouldn't have been paid on that Monday, and it would have all kicked off again.
"You don't realise what goes on.
"We could say we've had enough, we can't do this any more. I sit across the dinner table from my Mrs, and she says 'what are you doing this for?' It's because we love the club. It's for days like (the recent win over Tranmere).
"We are all on the same side."
There were also questions from fans about the issues that led to the points deduction last season, the threat of further points being deducted this season, and last season's transfer embargo - with some saying the issues had been "downplayed" and "brushed under the carpet".
Pictured below, supporters at the Fans Forum on Thursday.
The EFL placed the club under a transfer embargo in March 2024, over a matter relating to VAT payments.
The Shrimps failed to comply with EFL regulation 17.3 – relating specifically to amounts due to HMRC.
At the time, Morecambe said the situation was a ‘highly unusual matter and that the club had done nothing wrong".
The sum was later settled in full, allowing the embargo to be lifted.
Relief as Morecambe FC EFL embargo finally lifted - Beyond Radio
In April 2024, Morecambe was deducted three points from the 2023/24 League Two table for failing to adhere to the terms of an Agreed Decision.
The club had previously received a three-point deduction, to be suspended until June 30 2024, after admitting a breach of EFL regulations for failing to pay its player wages on or around March 28 2023. The owner was also required to deposit an amount equal to 125 per cent of the forecast monthly wage bill in a designated club account.
The points deduction was activated following the failure to keep the account at the required levels and Jason Whittingham was also fined.
Read more: Morecambe FC deducted three points after EFL financial rule breach - Beyond Radio
Then in December, Morecambe was given a suspended two-point deduction after failing to report to the EFL on five separate occasions, non-payment of amounts owed to HMRC within the required two working days.
The deduction will be activated if they fail to notify the EFL of any future HMRC defaults before the end of June 2026.
Read more: Morecambe FC receive suspended points deduction by English Football League - Beyond Radio
Mr Howse, who is also company secretary and an experienced accountant, gave a detailed explanation about the VAT issue.
"We couldn't afford to pay it all in one go," he said.
"HMRC said we'd done nothing wrong in our paperwork. We made a Time to Pay Agreement and stuck to that agreement. But the EFL said there had to be a transfer embargo. We provided evidence to Sporting Sanctions. That particular issue has now gone away completely.
"We don't expect to not pay our VAT on time again, unless there is an unusual circumstance.
"It is a fact that we were late reporting (amounts to HMRC).
"We have put things in place where if we don't have the funds to pay PAYE or VAT we will immediately report that to the EFL.
"We feel the (latest) points deduction will not come into place."
Read more: Morecambe FC under embargo from EFL over unpaid tax bill - Beyond Radio
Relief as Morecambe FC EFL embargo finally lifted - Beyond Radio
Mr Taylor also defended Mr Howse against fan complaints on social media over these issues, saying: "This guy has saved this club, I would say, £200,000 in that time.
"People go on social media and slate him. It's absolutely abhorrent.
"You don't know what you've got with this guy. Without him, we would have been sinking over the past few months.
"We did due diligence (on the sponsorship deal that led to the VAT issue). We do have a legal case in place at the moment."
Mr Wakefield said: "It's a mess. I acknowledge what it looks like to people and how ridiculous it sounds.
Pictured below, the panel at the Fans Forum with host Derek Quinn (right). Left to right, Martin Thomas, Graham Howse, Rod Taylor, James Wakefield and Rob Smith.
"We all understand an awful lot of the frustrations that exist. People have every right to criticise us. I think it is fair to point to the fact that the ongoing sale process drains the energy out of us on a daily basis. We make the best decisions we can. If we get them right, great. If we don't, we're sorry about that. We do everything with the best interests of the club at heart.
"We acknowledge we don't get everything right. If trust has eroded, I absolutely understand."
Rod Taylor: "We don't get everything right. But (fans) can come in and have a brew (and talk to us). I am more than happy to sit down with people at any time. But I can't break confidentiality.
"We have not brushed anything under the carpet and I take exception to that."
Also during the Fans Forum, the board said that money coming into the club is going towards day-to-day costs of running Morecambe FC, and not the owner.
Mr Wakefield also said that Sarbjot Johal, the businessman linked with buying the Shrimps prior to Mr Singh Momi, never got to the point where he passed or failed the EFL Owners and Directors Test.
He also said that communication with Mr Whittingham had improved since the board issued a statement in May 2024 urging him to sell the club or there would be a "catastrophic outcome".
"He has been responding," said Mr Wakefield.
"He has provided information when we've asked for it. We're not at the same point we were.
"We were being totally ignored. Things have moved on. More constructive, more of a dialogue.
"Back then it was Sarb, which was nonsense."
When asked about other potential buyers, Mr Howse said: "We get a lot of 'tyre-kickers' trying to get information out of the football club.
"Some have made offers that are ridiculous, high or low. There has been a lot of time-wasting from people who don't have the wherewithal to buy the club."
Morecambe FC owner hopes to 'agree terms' on sale of club within next two weeks - Beyond Radio
The Shrimps' new general manager Rob Smith, commercial manager Martin Thomas, and Stuart Glover, CEO of the Morecambe FC Community Foundation, were also on the panel at the Fans Forum, which was hosted by local journalist and broadcaster Derek Quinn.
Following the Fans Forum, Beyond Radio spoke to Rod Taylor, and Tarnia Elsworth, chair of the Shrimps Trust.
ROD TAYLOR
TARNIA ELSWORTH
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