Employee support

[Zippy]

I suppose this post is mainly directed at the club staff members who are actively posting here

Can you suggest a way that we can contribute some non refundable funds for distribution within the club family on an equitable basis that takes into account any hardships brought on by this awful mess.

I suppose I'd see it something like this, but there may be better ideas
1. A destination bank account or giving page (set up by staff reps)
2. A ad-hoc employee team to oversee the process.
3. A strategy to prioritise & disseminate the cash
4. An idea what to do with residual funds if the salaries land Whilst contributions in hand
5. let us know where to direct contributions

It just seems that the employees are the people best positioned to know how to utilize any contributions and many of us are really anxious to help alleviate impacts on staff from this extraordinary and extreme situation

i would be happy to get on board with some funds as soon as a way to contribute is available, as it's beginning to look this could drag on

[JPH]

A Just Giving page for the clubs wages, even if it is minimal relatively, now this looks likely to drag on, is the sort of token positivity we need... would be a great idea I would certainly back.

[Shrimps Trust]

In the statement yesterday we said.

"We’re also determined to make sure that every member of staff at Morecambe FC is paid what is owed to them. There is very little we can do as it is the duty of others to pay them and we have no legal means to pay or loan money currently. However, we say to every member of staff that you are not forgotten in this awful sorry mess and should the worst come to the worst then we will be there for you and we will attempt to find the means to ensure that you are paid."


We're all desperate to help the staff affected as a result of not being paid. However, the legal duty to pay wages is the responsibility of the directors of Morecambe Football Club. They are doing what they can to find money and our understanding is that directors have contributed to the wages personally over the last couple of months. They need to find that money from whoever owns Morecambe Football Club and ensure that is paid promptly. We would urge Abdullah Al-Hashemi and Graham Burnard (and anyone else who believes they own the club) to duty their duty and pay the staff now.

We need to continue to monitor the situation. If they remain unpaid and the staff wish to setup a hardship fund then we would be supportive of that. Plymouth Argyle staff and players weren't paid for four months and the Argyle Trust supported the staff through this method http://www.greentaverners.co.uk/2011/04 ... th-argyle/.

[Shrimpy]

From what I can gather, Burnard is now using the Cala excuse (if you can even call it that) that he can't do anything in terms of paying the wages until he has been cleared by the EFL. Abdul has been cleared though so no reason why he can't pay.

[P/T Indie]

We need to continue to monitor the situation. If they remain unpaid and the staff wish to setup a hardship fund then we would be supportive of that. Plymouth Argyle staff and players weren't paid for four months and the Argyle Trust supported the staff through this method http://www.greentaverners.co.uk/2011/04 ... th-argyle/.[/quote]

I think the staff should look into this as the court case has been adjourned to the 13th so I can't see anything happening before then.

Unless someone knows otherwise and can tell the staff to hold back as they are trying to work on something with G50/Abdul.

[Seasider9601]

From what I can gather, Burnard is now using the Cala excuse (if you can even call it that) that he can't do anything in terms of paying the wages until he has been cleared by the EFL. Abdul has been cleared though so no reason why he can't pay.

Get your hand in your pocket Abdul, fcuking quickly. Or your fathers. One or the other.

[BoroRedShrimp]

From what I can gather, Burnard is now using the Cala excuse (if you can even call it that) that he can't do anything in terms of paying the wages until he has been cleared by the EFL. Abdul has been cleared though so no reason why he can't pay.

Get your hand in your pocket Abdul, fcuking quickly. Or your fathers. One or the other.

Or is it Diego now he says he owns the shares. Either way they should both pay up.

[fulwoodshrimp]

We need someone to show some integrity and pay staff what they are due. Whoever it is- Burnard, Abdullah, Cala none of them emerge with any credit and are not fit in my opinion to be involved with our club.

[Seasider9601]

From what I can gather, Burnard is now using the Cala excuse (if you can even call it that) that he can't do anything in terms of paying the wages until he has been cleared by the EFL. Abdul has been cleared though so no reason why he can't pay.

Get your hand in your pocket Abdul, fcuking quickly. Or your fathers. One or the other.

Or is it Diego now he says he owns the shares. Either way they should both pay up.

Diego that "owned" the club from September to December but nobody saw sight nor hair of and "couldn't" contact?? That Diego???

[Gone_Shrimping]

We need someone to show some integrity and pay staff what they are due. Whoever it is- Burnard, Abdullah, Cala none of them emerge with any credit and are not fit in my opinion to be involved with our club.

I am sorry to say that our directors who vetted Diego are also not going to emerge with much credit from this fiasco either.

[Gnasher]

If Cala has no claim on the shares, G50 or the club then his recent actions, allegedly giving people notice to quit, could be a criminal case of harassment. Staff need to take proper legal advice on all of this.

[BoroRedShrimp]

Ahh well, having warmed to Cala, the only thing I'd warm to now is a bonfire with a guy fawkes. If Cala has no claim on the shares, G50 or the club then his recent actions, allegedly giving people notice to quit, could be a criminal case of harassment. Staff need to take proper legal advice on all of this.

I agree, especially when most of them have not been paid this week then he comes along to make matters even worse. The mans an idiot. The horrible part of it is we don't know which way it is going to turn after this mess.

[Joel Ninety]

Might invite myself round to Abdul's for a cup of tea. Should only take me 15 mins to get there on the tube.

[Gnasher]

Don't think you can blame Cala for not paying, in fact I can understand why no one would pay the wages with all the current arguments going on. If someone paid the wages then it turned out they weren't the owner, the legal costs of recovering the money from whoever does own it wouldn't be worth it.

Very sorry state of affairs, something the EFL should consider when reviewing their fit & proper process. Maybe there should be a special process that swings into place when a club is in dire straits and the ownership process extends over a pay day. EFL pay the wages which legally is a loan to the prospective owner?

[BoroRedShrimp]

Don't think you can blame Cala for not paying, in fact I can understand why no one would pay the wages with all the current arguments going on. If someone paid the wages then it turned out they weren't the owner, the legal costs of recovering the money from whoever does own it wouldn't be worth it.

Very sorry state of affairs, something the EFL should consider when reviewing their fit & proper process. Maybe there should be a special process that swings into place when a club is in dire straits and the ownership process extends over a pay day. EFL pay the wages which legally is a loan to the prospective owner?

Yes I agree the wages should come from the previous owner. Diego now either pay the club what is owed or sod off.

[Ntini]

Firstly, I really feel for the staff who have not been paid and for whom this very real nightmare trundles on each day.

Let's get some perspective on things here, as the finger pointing needs to stop before someone oversteps the line and ends up with legal action against them (hoping I'm not going to be that one, as the below observations are based on currently accessible public records and statements made by relevant parties in the media - not media reports I might add):

PMG - rightly or wrongly, a transaction went through on 22 Sep whereby PMG's shares were sold. Payment or non-payment it has since been legally proven that G50 Holdings owns the share to that company. PMG is therefore not the owner, and hasn't been since September, and PMG's only responsibility to the club going forwards is as a director (see below).

Mr Cala - as much as I don't really rate the guy based on previous events, he has no stake in the club (at the moment), and no stake in the holding company, G50, therefore he can't be blamed for not paying the January wages.

Board of Directors - there is a distinction to be made between the owners, and the directors. It is the directors' responsibility to manage the club both strategically and operationally. However, they have no say over who the 'owners' of the club sell their shares to. In this respect, they could do nothing about who PMG sold his shares to, other than tell him to his face that they weren't impressed; a few resigned by the looks of it because of where things were heading.
If the club's benefactors have ceased putting money in and there is no cash left to pay staff and creditors then administrators should be brought in. I'm confident that, knowing a few of the directors, they are doing everything in their power to make sure the club can continue to trade and avoid administration, possible relegation and a probable worse fate. My only hope is that they are not delaying the inevitable at the expense of those staff who no doubt desperately need their pay packages on the hope that the ownership situation is sorted sooner rather than later.

G50 Holdings - whichever way you look at it, and whatever the legal wranglings, this company owns the club. Of what is available publicly, G50 is owned by Graham Burnard and he is the current sole director. The recent court order that has been released to the press looks like he has to consult Diego Lemos before he sells his shares in G50 (and subsequent ownership rights to Morecambe Football Club) but it still looks like he is the outright owner of the club.

Graham Burnard - as an accountant I find it hard to believe his recent comment that he just one day woke up and appeared to be the owner of a football club because Diego was out of the country. I've never known someone unexpectedly become the owner of a company before. G50 went from having 1 share (owned by Lemos), to 100 shares (99 to Burnard and Lemos keeping his one). That doesn't happen by accident, and neither does the resignation of a director. It all smells a bit of the North Sea air rolling in over Whitley Bay...

Mr Lemos - So many questions, so few answers. What's happened with his shares in G50? Did he actually 'resign' as a director of that company? Does he actually own that company? Has he ever been the owner of Morecambe football club? What was his arrangement with Mr Al-Hashemi for supposedly putting money into the club? Did he actually have a credible plan to bring investors on board but was thwarted by some wrongdoing whilst out of the country?

And if he's a man of mystery, then we come onto:

Mr Abdul Al-Hashemi - The enigma. At no point has he ever (given documents available publicly) had any ownership stakes in Morecambe Football Club or it's holding company. Yet he has been quoted as 'selling his interest' in the club to Mr Cala and has supposedly been the one who stumped up the initial cash to buy the club on behalf of Mr Lemos and inject funds for staff wages. As far as I can see he has only been a director at the club. Why would he therefore put money into a club? The statement made by the club would suggest that there is some documentation somewhere that shows he had a credible stake in the club.


So who should be responsible for paying the wages? If the club has a viable option of trading, then it comes down to the owner (who on the face of it appears to be Graham Burnard) under the stewardship of the Directors (note they can only deal with the funds at their disposal). If it has no current viable option to trade unless a new buyer is found, then in my opinion that should be the job of administrators, as all current attempts to bring in investment have failed.

However, I can't help feeling that all roads lead to Abdul. He's the one person that keeps cropping up in all of this - the one with cash, Diego's backer, 'advising' the board when Diego was AWOL, an 'interest' in G50 'owned' by Burnard, and the one to get Cala involved in buying his 'interest'.

Whatever happens, I hope that first and foremost it is remembered that the people being hit the hardest in this, the unpaid staff, aren't just a creditor, they are real people with real lives who have to pay real bills in order to survive. Morecambe Football Club has always been a family, and it pains me to see people who have served the club so well suffering at the hands of those playing football club monopoly.