Statement: Worcester co-owners put Morecambe FC up for sale
The precarious financial situation at Worcester has spilt over from the Gallagher Premiership into football’s League One in England as Morecambe FC. Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham, the co-owners of the top-flight Warriors, have now stepped back from their board positions at the football club which will now be put up for sale.
When the financial drama originally erupted at Worcester in August after HMRC issued a winding-up petition against the rugby club for unpaid taxes, a statement from Morecambe distanced itself from the Sixways cash shortage.
An August 23 statement read: “The Morecambe Football Club board of directors, including the owners, would like to reassure supporters that this has no impact on Morecambe FC. Our finances are independent, as are our budgets.
“We do not owe Worcester Warriors any monies and the only shared position is that we have owners in common. We continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the club maintains a healthy position and will continue to do so moving forwards. We wish Worcester Warriors and all associated the very best.”
However, that perspective has now changed ten days later. With Worcester in even deeper financial trouble after the promised August 31 payroll for players and staff failed to materialise, the issues surrounding Goldring and Whittingham have now impacted the football club.
A club statement read: “Morecambe Football Club can confirm that the clubs’ owners, Bond Group, are now preparing the club for sale, part of which involves Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring stepping back from their positions on the board of directors. “Bond Group Investments Ltd will continue their support of the board and the club as the majority shareholder until such a time as a new owner is found and can take the club forwards.”
A further statement from Bond Group on behalf of Goldring and Whittingham explained: “We are today [Friday] announcing that we will be stepping down from the board of directors at Morecambe Football Club. This is being done while we prepare the club for sale and want to ensure that the club is ready for the transition from our time as owners.
“We have absolute trust in the current board of directors to run the club, with Bond Group still supporting the board as majority shareholder. Our attentions have been elsewhere and the board have more than proven their ability and dedication to the club.
“The board has evolved significantly during our period of ownership, particularly the appointment of Rod Taylor and Graham Howse to co-chairmen. They, along with the rest of the board of directors we have appointed, have worked better than we could have hoped for, including the valuable, dedicated and ongoing efforts of Mick Horton, Charlie Appleyard, James Wakefield and more recently Ben Sadler.
“The board functions exceptionally well, almost independently of Bond Group as the owner of the club after the Covid-19 lockdown, and they have our absolute trust. We look back with pride at what the club has become in the years of our ownership.
“It doesn’t feel like four and a half years since when we took over with one game left of the season and the club’s future in the EFL uncertain. Everyone said we were mad for buying before that decider match, but we had already bought into the club’s culture and could see the passion that everyone in Morecambe had for the club.
“Now the club is sustainable in League One, having done a great job of staying up last season with Derek Adams back at the helm. The club is self-funding and is well-managed thanks to the great work of the staff and the exceptional support of the fans, who are the lifeblood and beating heart of any club.
“We have made some amazing memories along the way, from banging the drums with the fans away at Crawley, to getting promoted at Wembley, with everything in between, not forgetting the draw against Coventry that secured our EFL status and started this journey.
“We have also had the pleasure of the FA Cup games against Premier League clubs and seeing our young players come through the academy and develop into quality footballers and people. It is now the right time for us to move on and hand over the club to the next owner that we know can take the club to the next level.
“Bond Group will continue to own and support the board as the majority shareholder until the club is sold. We aren’t in a rush to sell and will make sure we take the time to find the right buyer with the right ambition for the future of the club.”
This development that Morecambe FC is now up for sale emerged a few hours after Worcester rugby players and staff launched a social media video campaign outlining their plight after the latest promise to pay their August 31 wages fell by the wayside.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments