Morecambe CEO: Why Hurley Flyer is ideal finishing point for fans' march

The demonstration, organised by the Shrimps Trust supporters’ group, seeks to publicise the Shrimps have been for sale since September 2022 and to show their support for the club.

Starting at the Eric Morecambe statue at 12pm, it sees fans marching along the promenade and down Regent Road, holding ‘For Sale’ signs before it formally ends at the Hurley Flyer.

​A question at the club’s recent fans’ forum asked if there was the possibility of ending the march at the front of the ground.

In response, club CEO Ben Sadler said: “If it comes onto club land, it becomes our responsibility to look after it as a public order consideration.

“That would mean we would have to put more stewarding out there, we’d have to engage with the police around our policing plan.

“I know the police operation doesn’t start until 1pm; that might be formally for them but we’re responsible for any policing associated on the day – we get charged for it and we get charged for it as soon as they come on the footprint.

“We don’t pay for them beyond the end of this road. As soon as they have to come onto our land, we pay for them and they’re on overtime so our position would be it would be preferable that it was to finish formally at the Hurley Flyer.

“We can work together on this. I’m not sitting here and saying ‘no’. We understand and we appreciate the feeling of support from the Trust and we understand why people want to do something – and a march of support, a demonstration of support, seems a fair and practical way of showing exactly what you’re looking for.

“If it can end at the end of the road, it means we don’t have to start risk assessing it, stewarding it, because then we’re in a position where – I’m not saying we’re not understanding where you’re coming from and appreciative of it – we might have a conflict of interest on the day because we’re getting nudged by the police to say ‘move them on’ or whatever it is.

“For me, it’s a lot cleaner if it just formally ends at the Hurley Flyer.”