Club Statement

[mrpotatohead]

Not defending whittingham at all here , but given he has nothing to do with the day to day running of the club , has no interest in football or Morecambe ,and he wants to sell, propping up this account every so often because the club loses money may be low on his list of priorities , especially when he knows that other people might pick the tab up, he might not actually have the ready cash to do it.

[Wild Bill]

My interpretation is this separate account is a safety net to pay wages incase the club's main account cannot. With season ticket sales in the bank, you wouldn't expect any issues paying for at least six months. I suspect Jason begrudged having this money sat wasting in this account and decided to call the EFL's bluff. Perhaps he desperately needed it for something else. Either way, I suspect he's to blame and the BoD could do nothing to stop him. Taking money out of the main club account is probably a different issue, and requires BoD sign off. I could be totally wrong though!

[mrpotatohead]

Something the club should perhaps clarify to avoid negative speculation, a simple explanation would maybe stop fans fearing the worst, and avoid the possibility of damaging action like boycotts etc.

[black morse]

My interpretation is this separate account is a safety net to pay wages incase the club's main account cannot. With season ticket sales in the bank, you wouldn't expect any issues paying for at least six months. I suspect Jason begrudged having this money sat wasting in this account and decided to call the EFL's bluff. Perhaps he desperately needed it for something else. Either way, I suspect he's to blame and the BoD could do nothing to stop him. Taking money out of the main club account is probably a different issue, and requires BoD sign off. I could be totally wrong though!

I agree with all this (including the last sentence )

[black morse]

Something the club should perhaps clarify to avoid negative speculation, a simple explanation would maybe stop fans fearing the worst, and avoid the possibility of damaging action like boycotts etc.

In the latest Shrimps podcast Charlie says he can't give more information at this time due to the charges made.

[shrimpsontoast]

Don’t think it would be especially sensible for the club to say anything further before the EFL hearing. Whilst it is understandable that people want to know more, demands for a real time blow by blow running commentary on the ownership saga and related issues must be a source of anxiety for the directors that they could well do without.

[Freez]

Running costs while and having two home games falling to international call ups hasn’t helped I reckon.

[mrpotatohead]

There would be little point having a separate "contingency" account that wasn't accessible by the board for wages , but the owner could use as a piggy bank, so it's unlikely Whittingham removed the money,

He is very unpopular here and is unlikely to ever yo own another football club after he sells this one, so he will probably ignore any penalties the EFL hit him with and it's probably safe to assume the account will be topped up by past or present board members.

[Billy bodger]

There would be little point having a separate "contingency" account that wasn't accessible by the board for wages , but the owner could use as a piggy bank, so it's unlikely Whittingham removed the money,

He is very unpopular here and is unlikely to ever yo own another football club after he sells this one, so he will probably ignore any penalties the EFL hit him with and it's probably safe to assume the account will be topped up by past or present board members.

Time will tell, time will tell let’s see if Sarbjot is here today and the statement after the hearing clears up what went on.

Merry Christmas

[Tubshrimp]

I'm fuming.
We were misled at the Shrimps Trust AGM on 7th September.
I specifically asked at the AGM and was told the 125% of monthly wages was held in a separate account which couldn't be touched until the end of the season at which point it would be released back to the club.
Rod Taylor and Ben Sadler were there and must have known the account had been raided just 3 days before on 4th September.

I'm also fuming because the Trust poo-pooed starting a fund to acquire the club should we go into administration. It feels like we are leaving it too late to act if we need to raise serious cash from fans.

Please note this is myself speaking rather than the trust as a whole

Again it’s the same question - regarding fan ownership, protests, a special fund, etc etc, which all sound like very solid issues until the wheels hit the road. I feel like the protest thread a few weeks ago I covered my own opinions on that one, but I’ll cover where I believe we are on fan ownership and the issues this fund brings,l

1. What is the fund there for - let’s assume it’s owning the club.
- I think it’s safe that we can’t meet Jason’s valuation. Nor would I propose we do.
- I believe there have been sensible offers that he hasn’t taken, and those offers would far exceed what I and the trust believe we could happily raise in even a medium term scenario
- If there were no offers and the club were in administration, the amount required would be a token figure that could be easily raised in the short term. For example the trust has around 35k in the bank
- Therefore if you game it out, we either a) can’t get the money together that we’d need and b) it’s taking money away from people who could spend that money at the club. If you would like the trust to have a fund that would then be donated to the club monthly then we can look into that. We’re sponsoring the game today for example
- Bond group cannot take a penny piece out of the club without director sign off. The way that would happen is he’d need to sack the board and get his own people in. As far as I’m concerned I’m spending money only whilst that board is in situ - I’m sure others are broadly the same

2. Fan ownership. Forgive the actual figures here, but we are around 30% fan owned. Maybe not trust owned, but those owners of shares (last time i checked) are members of the trust, unlike a good few members of shrimpsvoices and loud contributors of Facebook……

- We are fan run. The only person on the board who takes a salary is Ben Sadler, and if you bear in mind he’s the CEO, and that statement meant he ran the very real chance of losing his job the month before Christmas, I think it’s fair to say he’s a man of integrity.
- So let’s say we do own the club. How are we going to fund a loss? The average loss is in the hundreds of thousands per year. Who decides how much we can lose? Do we contract people to contribute in a credit agreement as you need proof of funding to the efl? It’s all incredibly messy, and if you bear in mind the earlier points where we assume we already have sensible people who will fund it and it’s already fan run - in the event of an administrative event, what’s it for?
- Also - what rights do people have to their money? You’re basically asking for donations for a charity to buy a football club, and you don’t know how much they’ll need or whether they’ll see their money again. It’s not a great offering.
3. Who’s going to run it. As a board, despite me advertising and twisting a lot of arms, we can’t get someone to be in charge of away travel. What chance of running the whole thing?

Since the AGM, we have been looking at a few projects that are more ambitious that will be capital projects that produce revenue for the club, making us more self sufficient as a club increasing the budget. These take time and we will make them available to the wider fanbase when we know what it looks like and how much money we’d need.

We are not in the same plight as Worcester due to being run at a moderate loss season on season with little debt. In meetings with the BOD, every route appears to be covered to protect the club.

We are in constant contact with the BOD and of course have our regular monthly meeting that we report back.

I am easily found at most games, and anyone that wants to ring me can. Please do get in touch, I’ll have a chat with anyone - barking on the internet rarely gets anyone anywhere.

As I repeatedly say, we’re all angry, we all need to do something, but it’s making sure that what we do is something that achieves the goal of getting the club back in the hands of a benevolent owner moving forward on and off the pitch.

At the moment, if you have spare money, the club needs it, remember Jason doesn’t get it. Putting something between people’s money and the club for me at the moment is not what we need.

Enjoy the imminent 6 nil victory today folks

Rich

[Keith]

There may be some value to arranging a protest, simply to allow people a way of expressing frustration, and a feeling of doing 'something'. If it results in some coverage on local TV news, Radio Lancs etc, that can't be harmful. A march from the town hall to the Mazuma for example, with clear understanding that the protest does not continue inside the ground.

A large part of the frustration is not knowing, coupled with being powerless to do anything. What is likely to happen if this goes on, is fewer fans renew season tickets for next season, and stop coming to games. A protest march may be a way to help galvanise fans.

It will make zero difference to Whittingham, but we know that.

[Billy bodger]

I'm fuming.
We were misled at the Shrimps Trust AGM on 7th September.
I specifically asked at the AGM and was told the 125% of monthly wages was held in a separate account which couldn't be touched until the end of the season at which point it would be released back to the club.
Rod Taylor and Ben Sadler were there and must have known the account had been raided just 3 days before on 4th September.

I'm also fuming because the Trust poo-pooed starting a fund to acquire the club should we go into administration. It feels like we are leaving it too late to act if we need to raise serious cash from fans.

Please note this is myself speaking rather than the trust as a whole

Again it’s the same question - regarding fan ownership, protests, a special fund, etc etc, which all sound like very solid issues until the wheels hit the road. I feel like the protest thread a few weeks ago I covered my own opinions on that one, but I’ll cover where I believe we are on fan ownership and the issues this fund brings,l

1. What is the fund there for - let’s assume it’s owning the club.
- I think it’s safe that we can’t meet Jason’s valuation. Nor would I propose we do.
- I believe there have been sensible offers that he hasn’t taken, and those offers would far exceed what I and the trust believe we could happily raise in even a medium term scenario
- If there were no offers and the club were in administration, the amount required would be a token figure that could be easily raised in the short term. For example the trust has around 35k in the bank
- Therefore if you game it out, we either a) can’t get the money together that we’d need and b) it’s taking money away from people who could spend that money at the club. If you would like the trust to have a fund that would then be donated to the club monthly then we can look into that. We’re sponsoring the game today for example
- Bond group cannot take a penny piece out of the club without director sign off. The way that would happen is he’d need to sack the board and get his own people in. As far as I’m concerned I’m spending money only whilst that board is in situ - I’m sure others are broadly the same

2. Fan ownership. Forgive the actual figures here, but we are around 30% fan owned. Maybe not trust owned, but those owners of shares (last time i checked) are members of the trust, unlike a good few members of shrimpsvoices and loud contributors of Facebook……

- We are fan run. The only person on the board who takes a salary is Ben Sadler, and if you bear in mind he’s the CEO, and that statement meant he ran the very real chance of losing his job the month before Christmas, I think it’s fair to say he’s a man of integrity.
- So let’s say we do own the club. How are we going to fund a loss? The average loss is in the hundreds of thousands per year. Who decides how much we can lose? Do we contract people to contribute in a credit agreement as you need proof of funding to the efl? It’s all incredibly messy, and if you bear in mind the earlier points where we assume we already have sensible people who will fund it and it’s already fan run - in the event of an administrative event, what’s it for?
- Also - what rights do people have to their money? You’re basically asking for donations for a charity to buy a football club, and you don’t know how much they’ll need or whether they’ll see their money again. It’s not a great offering.
3. Who’s going to run it. As a board, despite me advertising and twisting a lot of arms, we can’t get someone to be in charge of away travel. What chance of running the whole thing?

Since the AGM, we have been looking at a few projects that are more ambitious that will be capital projects that produce revenue for the club, making us more self sufficient as a club increasing the budget. These take time and we will make them available to the wider fanbase when we know what it looks like and how much money we’d need.

We are not in the same plight as Worcester due to being run at a moderate loss season on season with little debt. In meetings with the BOD, every route appears to be covered to protect the club.

We are in constant contact with the BOD and of course have our regular monthly meeting that we report back.

I am easily found at most games, and anyone that wants to ring me can. Please do get in touch, I’ll have a chat with anyone - barking on the internet rarely gets anyone anywhere.

As I repeatedly say, we’re all angry, we all need to do something, but it’s making sure that what we do is something that achieves the goal of getting the club back in the hands of a benevolent owner moving forward on and off the pitch.

At the moment, if you have spare money, the club needs it, remember Jason doesn’t get it. Putting something between people’s money and the club for me at the moment is not what we need.

Enjoy the imminent 6 nil victory today folks

Rich

So did Rod Taylor and Sadler know or not?

The way I read the EFL statement the account could not be touched to pay the wages, but seeing the wages had been paid at the end of Aug, why was money taken out on Sept 4th? Obviously one charge is for not replenishing the money into the account by Mr Whittingham, who the EFL wrote and asked him to do.

It could all be down to interpretation of the ruling in place when we missed paying the wages by 3 days. Even if it was an agreed statement by all parties it surely is up to the EFL to draft the agreement and if it was ambiguous which led to a misunderstanding, that is down to the EFL and neither Morecambe football club or Jason should have the other two charges against them.

[Gone_Shrimping]

Were any potential owners attending today ?

[BerlinWaller]

Were any potential owners attending today ?

I noticed 3 fellas in suits sat just a couple of seats along from the Chairmen in the Directors box. No sign of Sarb and his buddies.

[Born again Bill]

Were any potential owners attending today ?

I noticed 3 fellas in suits sat just a couple of seats along from the Chairmen in the Directors box. No sign of Sarb and his buddies.

Same three lads were in the Hurley prior to the game

[BerlinWaller]

Were any potential owners attending today ?

I noticed 3 fellas in suits sat just a couple of seats along from the Chairmen in the Directors box. No sign of Sarb and his buddies.

Same three lads were in the Hurley prior to the game

Recognise them?

[redrobo]

Could they have been the same ones who I noticed taking a keen interest what was happening both on and off the field and arrived in a black new number plated Merc SUV and a black private number plated Range Rover who had to find alternative parking as the Hurley Flyer park was full....

Both looked business like and to be worth a bob or two.

[black morse]

Could they have been the same ones who I noticed taking a keen interest what was happening both on and off the field and arrived in a black new number plated Merc SUV and a black private number plated Range Rover who had to find alternative parking as the Hurley Flyer park was full....

Both looked business like and to be worth a bob or two.

Might have been impressed by the crowd considering the weather but not sure whether they would have been impressed with the game!

[redrobo]

Could they have been the same ones who I noticed taking a keen interest what was happening both on and off the field and arrived in a black new number plated Merc SUV and a black private number plated Range Rover who had to find alternative parking as the Hurley Flyer park was full....

Both looked business like and to be worth a bob or two.

Might have been impressed by the crowd considering the weather but not sure whether they would have been impressed with the game!

Wasn't that bad of a game considering some of the negative performances this season.

GB is certainly trying to inject more attack into our game but it will take time for his players to play his way.....

There are still concerns about certain positions for me but as long as we stay clear of a relegation battle then considering all that has gone on since our relegation, then this will have been a successful season.

As for promotion....we are not ready to have another go until we get players on 2 year contracts and the problems off the field our resolved. I don't want to go up...to come straight back down again.

Carlisle are finding life in EFL1 a struggle....but with new owners putting money into the club to enable them to sign a club record deal for the Harrogate player originally destined for Wrexham shows ambition to move their new club forward.

Imagine our progression if we could get a buyer prepared to invest in our club who are free of all debts and are managed day by day by an excellent BoDs....

[black morse]

Could they have been the same ones who I noticed taking a keen interest what was happening both on and off the field and arrived in a black new number plated Merc SUV and a black private number plated Range Rover who had to find alternative parking as the Hurley Flyer park was full....

Both looked business like and to be worth a bob or two.

Might have been impressed by the crowd considering the weather but not sure whether they would have been impressed with the game!

Wasn't that bad of a game considering some of the negative performances this season.

GB is certainly trying to inject more attack into our game but it will take time for his players to play his way.....

There are still concerns about certain positions for me but as long as we stay clear of a relegation battle then considering all that has gone on since our relegation, then this will have been a successful season.

As for promotion....we are not ready to have another go until we get players on 2 year contracts and the problems off the field our resolved. I don't want to go up...to come straight back down again.

Carlisle are finding life in EFL1 a struggle....but with new owners putting money into the club to enable them to sign a club record deal for the Harrogate player originally destined for Wrexham shows ambition to move their new club forward.

Imagine our progression if we could get a buyer prepared to invest in our club who are free of all debts and are managed day by day by an excellent BoDs....

Fully agree with you RR.

[marky No.1]

Could they have been the same ones who I noticed taking a keen interest what was happening both on and off the field and arrived in a black new number plated Merc SUV and a black private number plated Range Rover who had to find alternative parking as the Hurley Flyer park was full....

Both looked business like and to be worth a bob or two.

Of course you may be right, but lots of folk have cars like that on pay as you drive for £800 a month, so don't read too much into it, folk even rent Christmas presents nowadays

[Billy bodger]

Best Christmas present will be this is sorted very very soon, then it will be a very happy New Year.

[mrpotatohead]

Gonna chuck something left field out here....is it remotely possible these men in suits , with a smart car could possibly be Directors or representatives of the opposition?

[Gone_Shrimping]

Gonna chuck something left field out here....is it remotely possible these men in suits , with a smart car could possibly be Directors or representatives of the opposition?

Did any of them look like Pete Winkleman then

[black morse]

Gonna chuck something left field out here....is it remotely possible these men in suits , with a smart car could possibly be Directors or representatives of the opposition?

Highly likely but you are a spoil sport Mr P