If the club enters administration..

[fulwoodshrimp]

If the club enters administration does Diego lose the money he has used to buy the club? If so what on earth has he been playing at throwing his money away? If he can't afford to own the club why has he bought it? If he hasn't paid for his shares the club surely is still owned by PMG- is he going to let us go into administration? All questions that wouldn't need asking if we had an ounce of communication from the club.

[Seasider9601]

Your last line sir sums up the past few months perfectly.

Or not so, as the case may be.

Shocking state of affairs we find ourselves in and it's heartbreaking.

[KenH]

No one knows how much was agreed between PMG and Diego. It could have been a very small sum. Just look at the old Comet group - wasn't the entire group sold for £1? We're all assuming PMG was greedy and wanted a fair whack for his shares, but perhaps he didn't? Perhaps he was happy to sell for a small sum just to get it off his hands in the knowledge that he couldn't keep bank-rolling the £500K average losses and that selling to someone else was the best option? Realistically, the agreed price could be anywhere between a single £1 and £4m (full return of share investments and loans). Few people will know the detail which may never be made public.

[Shrimpy]

We're all assuming PMG was greedy and wanted a fair whack for his shares, but perhaps he didn't? Perhaps he was happy to sell for a small sum just to get it off his hands in the knowledge that he couldn't keep bank-rolling the £500K average losses and that selling to someone else was the best option?

If that was the case the club would have been sold years ago.

[Christies Child]

Can't be sure but I suspect that its the financial backers in Qatar who have pulled out and left all parties high and dry.

Whatever the reasoning I wouldn't be surprised if those remaining Directors pull out as well so that they are not liable if administaration is the final act.

I feel betrayed by Diego and my worst fears of the entire deal in which I had little faith from day one look as though they are coming true unfortunately.

I'm probably in the minority but i feel bad for PMcG who could well see the club he built along with numerous other dedicated Directors now very close to administration which after 60 years of continues support is very hard to take....

[steve mfc]

No one knows how much was agreed between PMG and Diego. It could have been a very small sum. Just look at the old Comet group - wasn't the entire group sold for £1? We're all assuming PMG was greedy and wanted a fair whack for his shares, but perhaps he didn't? Perhaps he was happy to sell for a small sum just to get it off his hands in the knowledge that he couldn't keep bank-rolling the £500K average losses and that selling to someone else was the best option? Realistically, the agreed price could be anywhere between a single £1 and £4m (full return of share investments and loans). Few people will know the detail which may never be made public.

Rangers were sold to Craig Whyte for £1 then went into administration a year latter and ended up starting again in the fourth tier of Scottish football, as a Morecambe and Rangers supporter I have often remarked to my son how often both clubs fortunes on the pitch have mirrored each other having good and bad spells at the same time little did I realise that the same could apply to what is happening of the pitch.

[mrpotatohead]

Really CC?, you are quick to heap blame on Diego, but quicker to defend ''poor Peter'', without knowing any of the facts, most people are starting to think PMG has ''sold us down the river'', and it's not difficult to see why, if we never see Diego again, peter has got rid of a big drain on his finances, something amiss is upon us as promised by ''the spirit of JBC''.

[George Dawes]

.

[Christies Child]

Really CC?, you are quick to heap blame on Diego, but quicker to defend ''poor Peter'', without knowing any of the facts, most people are starting to think PMG has ''sold us down the river'', and it's not difficult to see why, if we never see Diego again, peter has got rid of a big drain on his finances, something amiss is upon us as promised by ''the spirit of JBC''.

You talk of us all being united in one post and yet you continue to blame PMcG without (like us all) knowing the true facts.

I could be wrong about PMcG just as you could be too.

And are we sure that PMcG has got rid of a big drain on his finances

It could well be that no money has actually changed hands....

However as your mystic seems to know what is in store so let's wait and see should we....

[steve mfc]

If the situation is as bad as it appears then the big question is will it be administration or liquidation, if its the former then it could be the conference if its the latter it will mean starting from scratch possibly in the 10th tier of the football pyramid the North West Counties League that's if we have a ground to play on. Its daunting to say the least.

[Seasider9601]

if its the latter it will mean starting from scratch possibly in the 10th tier of the football pyramid the North West Counties League that's if we have a ground to play on. Its daunting to say the least.

If that's the case then we'd better be bloody quick.

Applications for membership of the North West Counties League for season 2017/18 season (next season) close on 31st December 2016.

I researched it only this morning........

[KenH]

If the situation is as bad as it appears then the big question is will it be administration or liquidation,

Indeed, and something I can't get my head around. Usually, companies go tits up because of debt, i.e. liabilities exceeding assets. They go into receivership so that the assets can be sold for as higher price as possible and the proceeds distributed among the creditors. That situation doesn't apply to MFC, it's lack of cash flow to plug the ~£50k per month losses. Compared to the open market value of the land and some of the buildings, the proceeds of any property sale should be far higher than what little debt there is. Trouble is, the buildings are only worth something if a) if they could be demolished and built upon (ie more houses) or b) as a going concern football club.

It would be a very interesting case for the receiver to explore the options.

If there is some kind of covenant/restriction over the stadium/land having to be used for sports/recreation, then that more or less preserves the core pitch & stands. It could then be that a receiver sells off the other parts which aren't restricted, i.e. car park, all weather pitches, community/academy buildings etc for housing all around the stadium itself, leaving a much smaller/leaner football club. They could even lease out the function room, boxes and bar to third party operators, thus receiving regular rents without having to actually run those areas. You could end up with a basic/simple football club that does nothing except have a team, and without the distractions of hospitality, academy, community etc which may well be the drain on the resources keeping the club in trouble over the last few years.

[steve mfc]

if its the latter it will mean starting from scratch possibly in the 10th tier of the football pyramid the North West Counties League that's if we have a ground to play on. Its daunting to say the least.

If that's the case then we'd better be bloody quick.

Applications for membership of the North West Counties League for season 2017/18 season (next season) close on 31st December 2016.

I researched it only this morning........

There must allowances made for special circumstances because Chester fc were formed in march 2010 and played in the 2010-2011 season in the Northern Premier League Division 1 North. Lets just hope it doesn't come to that.

[Gone_Shrimping]

Your last line sir sums up the past few months perfectly.

Or not so, as the case may be.

Shocking state of affairs we find ourselves in and it's heartbreaking.

You do have to wonder what sort of due diligence our directors did when they thought Diego was the right man to buy PMG's shareholding. Did they know he was dependant on forming a consortium for financing everything or did they think he had the means himself to undertake it ?

[John L]

As co-chairman (http://www.morecambefc.com/club/whos-who/), PMcG is the man who should be giving us answers as soon as possible and explaining the whole sale situation in due course.