'Genuine people' interested in buying Morecambe

He issued an update during last Friday’s fans’ forum at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium, when asked how the sale of the club was proceeding.

It’s approaching the 18-month mark since the owner, Bond Group’s Jason Whittingham, prepared the club for sale but, in that time, no deal has come close to completion.

Sarbjot Johal was linked with a possible takeover, having purchased equity in the club, but the EFL subsequently said he had failed to provide all the information required.

The club also had an issue with the late payment of wages in March 2023 before the board of directors issued a statement in December, saying it had no confidence in Bond Group’s management of the sale process and asked potential buyers to contact them.

Howse said: “We’ve had various people come into the football club and we’ve been unpaid estate agents, showing them around the ground.

“One (Johal) has put money in and bought shares but he won’t be buying the football club.

“There’s other people I believe, when they talk to us, they believe they can buy the football club but they can’t.

“I think one of the talking points was the board put out a vote of no confidence. Now we have genuine people interested in the football club.

“Ben (Sadler, CEO) and Charlie (Appleyard, director) have been working behind the scenes to get credible people who will potentially buy the club.

“It’s dragged on too long, we’re looking for a credible buyer. In the meantime, Jason is still putting funds into the club; he has to do that to protect his asset – he can’t afford for this to go wrong.

“That gives us some comfort. There’s been some horrible moments but we continue to strive to sell the football club and there’s a lot of work going on.

“Our friend who tried to buy it? That’s not happening.”

Howse’s fellow co-chairman, Rod Taylor, considered the board statement a ‘watershed moment’, adding: “Since then, all of us have been able to get involved in that process.

“We’ve been in meetings with prospective buyers. We’ve heard first-hand and we can filter out who we think is credible and not credible.

“That’s been a major move forward. We can judge the prospective purchasers and look at them whereas, before, we were pretty distant.

“From a sale point of view, it’s an ongoing process. We want a swift conclusion and I’m sure Jason does, so let’s move forward with the strength this football club deserves.

“There have been sleepless nights. All I can say is over the past 12 months, we’ve had to work really hard to ensure wages were paid – that includes all of us and really good friends of the club out there who have helped us.

“We didn’t want to put this football club in a position where (there was) the possibility of more points deductions.”

One of the great unknowns in the sale process is the fee Bond Group wants for relinquishing control of the club.

A figure of £5m has been mooted though, when Johal was named as the frontrunner in January 2023, one national newspaper said the club was valued in the region of £20m.

A week on Saturday sees the Morecambe fans marching from the Eric Morecambe statue to the Mazuma Mobile Stadium, prior to their game with Wrexham.

It’s a way of trying to draw increased attention to the club’s position, as well as supporting those running the club on a day-to-day basis.

Howse added: “Something Charlie and I were discussing last Saturday – he made the point there’s clamours from supporters to get Jason out but he wants out as well.

“If he was up here at this proposed march, he’d be on it!

“He’s got a price in his head – we don’t necessarily agree – but as I know from my own experience, it comes down to a willing buyer and a willing seller.

“You start high, come to a compromise, and that’s where we are.”

Ben Sadler, the club CEO, added: “I’m working with parties to get to the stage where they are going through due diligence.

“They know what he (Whittingham) wants, so they are saying ‘let’s carry on talking’. It’s not what you see in the Daily Mail, but it’s getting it over the line.

“We all want it as much as you. We aren’t a million miles away but that’s not to say anything’s happening.

“People aren’t shutting the door because he wants £20m, that’s not true. What I’m seeing is much more encouraging compared to where we were two months ago.

“We didn’t have a clue what was going on but now we’re in the loop.”

It was put to club officials that the march had come about through Whittingham’s ‘radio silence’ with a question of why he was unable to say publicly that he wanted to sell the club.

In response, Howse reiterated that Whittingham wanted to sell up – but urged supporters using social media to exercise restraint in terms of their targets.

He said: “With Jason, it’s been difficult to communicate facts and figures because of legal restraints; I was piggy in the middle between the board and Jason.

“As far as Jason coming out and saying something, he rarely comes, he does want to sell the football club and I don’t see what else can change about the situation.

“Fans have put pressure on him through social media. They have done it in a dignified fashion but some people haven’t done so which is unacceptable.

“I know, from speaking to Jason, his wife and daughter have been targeted directly. He’s big and ugly enough to stand up for himself, his family aren’t and that’s not right.”