The current owner of Morecambe FC says ‘sales agreements will be completed today’, after naming the man he says is leading a consortium to take over the Shrimps.
Jason Whittingham of Bond Group said a consortium is trying to purchase his majority shareholding, led by a man called Jonny Cato.
On Thursday Mr Whittingham stated that "recent guesses" on the identity of a prospective new buyer of the club were "not accurate", after official fans’ group the Shrimps Trust named a different person they believed to be in discussions over a deal.
A new statement today says: ‘’An announcement had been planned for this afternoon, but due to false speculation about the buyer’s identity we have received consent to disclose the buyer’s identity.
‘’The consortium buying Bond Group’s interest in the club, subject to National League approval, is led by Mr Jonny Cato with an impressive group being built around him to develop the club over the coming seasons.
‘’Neither Jonny or his team have any connection to [me] or Bond Group of any kind and as before, nobody [else] from the consortium has yet been named publicly. The current false speculation and guesses about the buyer’s identify are not accurate.’’
Mr Whittingham (below)went on to say that payment of June wages would be part of any deal, with all staff and players being due two thirds of their pay since payroll on June 28, three weeks ago.
The statement continued: ‘’Sales agreements will be completed today (Friday 18 July 2025) and will include a generous payment from the buyer to pay staff and players while the National League approval process is completed.
‘’We are grateful for this gesture of goodwill when the club and its stakeholders needed it most.
‘’This sale has progressed at a rapid pace and, once again, we are thankful to the buyer and his legal team for expediting the process to ensure the club’s status in the league was preserved.
‘’The buyers will engage directly with the National League and the fans to introduce themselves and share their exciting plans for the club.’’
Morecambe Football Club Ltd continues to exist in breach of company law, as it has no active directors since the previous board resigned en masse in protest over the delays to completing a sale on July 7.
Earlier this week, the Shrimps Trust met with the Football Association (FA) to try to find a way forward through the ongoing ownership crisis.
The Shrimps are due to begin their first season back in non-league football, on August 9.
Read much more about the ongoing Morecambe FC ownership situation here
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