Panjab Warriors interview: "Morecambe FC will never be in danger while we are owners."

Key figures at Morecambe FC owners Panjab Warriors have answered criticism from the fans in an in-depth interview.

Club chairman Kuljeet Singh Momi and Ropinder Singh, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), spoke to Pat Stoyles and Ben Cassar from the Shrimps Trust to address concerns both on and off the pitch after a worrying week for Shrimps supporters.

On Saturday, Morecambe FC lost 3-0 at home to Boston United. This left them third from bottom of the National League, having won only four games out of 23 this season, this following two relegations from the heights of League One over the past three seasons.

During and after the game, many supporters chanted "ASHVIR OUT!" at manager Ashvir Singh Johal, who replaced Derek Adams after Panjab Warriors bought the club in the summer.

Then on Monday, Morecambe FC stalwarts Rod Taylor and Graham Howse resigned from the board, saying they were "not included in operational, financial, or strategic matters at the club" and that "the club is haemorrhaging key staff".

Days earlier, news broke that the UK government had sanctioned Gurpreet Singh Rehal, former head of marketing and communications at Panjab Warriors, over his suspected link to a terrorist group.

Both the club and Panjab Warriors broke ties with Singh Rehal after the government made this announcement on December 4.

Shrimps Trust vice-chair Mr Cassar, who is also a match day commentator on Morecambe FC games for Beyond Radio, and chair Mr Stoyles spoke to Kuljeet Singh Momi and Ropinder Singh, as well as director of fan engagement Tarnia Elsworth, as part of the Shrimps Trust Podcast on Friday.

WHO ARE PANJAB WARRIORS?

Panjab Warriors' takeover of Morecambe FC was completed in August, following a long period of chaos at the club under previous owners Bond Group Investments.

Below, members of Panjab Warriors with members of the Shrimps Trust, and Lizzi Collinge, MP for Morecambe & Lunesdale, after the takeover was completed in August.

"The club was in complete shambles when we stepped in and was close to ceasing to exist," said Kuljeet Singh Momi.

"Panjab Warriors was structured as a collective with a defined responsibility for governance and financial oversight.

"It's a holding entity. It's not a one-man model. We have specialist leads (including) in finance and compliance, commercial and sponsorship.

"When it comes to who is involved, at the moment (at Panjab Warriors) there are three directors. One is myself, the others are Harjit Singh and Ravinder Singh Harika.

"Importantly, there are no hidden owners. We have a couple of other entities involved, for example Simmcomm and Elegancia.

"Everyone involved has undergone EFL (English Football League), National League owners and directors checks, full due diligence checks. Each person has a clearly defined role."

Mr Singh Momi said they aimed to "remove the chaos and instability that plagued the club under previous ownership and rebuild trust with supporters by being transparent, accessible and responsible."

"We've never had football ownership but we have the expertise that is required to run a football club," he said.

"We have competent people involved.

"Our CEO Ropinder Singh, all of his life is football and strong experience of the finance side.

"The first-team manager Ashvir Johal, we don't have on-pitch performance as desired, but he has credentials. There is no doubt about it.

"In no time, we are quite confident we will see the results we want to see."

TAKEOVER PROBLEMS

Ropinder Singh (pictured below) said: "We haven't walked in blind.

"We all know the turbulent journey we all took from the first week of June (when the EFL gave Panjab Warriors approval to complete the takeover) until August 18 (after the takeover completed).

"With the previous ownership, what we know internally that we had to deal with. We weren't even allowed to carry out any spec of due diligence. The amount of things that were unearthed.

"As the CEO here, I can say this wholeheartedly, the last three months, on every front of the operation, we have managed to do activities that are taking us towards the club being more sustainable.

"What we had lined up, after we had approval from the EFL on June 6, suddenly we had to rewrite the script literally on a daily basis. Everything had to go back to square one. I'm thankful for the efforts of the Shrimps Trust, the fan base, the authorities. It gave us the onus and drive not to give up.

"We had three days to make sure we could play the first league game. We had five players. We had to then uproot everything that was there. There was no pre-season.

"Staff were mentally drained. Two months of not being paid but still doing their duties.

"When you've gone through such a mental trauma, and we then had to start the season on a level pegging with everyone else, on and off the pitch, there is so much."

CHANGE OF MANAGER

"The manager change was planned," said Ropinder Singh.

"We'd had conversations with the previous manager (Derek Adams, pictured below) prior to the acquisition. We were not on the same page. 

"This change was paramount. It was for the right footballing and non-footballing reasons."

STAFF LEAVING

"The changes that came about with certain people leaving and resigning were part and parcel of, like any business, new ownership comes in, people working there are used to a different working environment," said Mr Singh.

"It's been very, very, very amicable with everybody. 

"The buck stops with me on the non-footballing side. As the CEO I've made sure that every activity has carried on. Financially, where the debts were very, very high, with certain sectors, we've reduced the debts."

PANJAB WARRIORS' FUTURE PLANS

Kuljeet Singh Momi said: "The idea of the formation of Panjab Warriors was to get into different sports, not just Morecambe. But at the moment we don't have any plans, apart from Morecambe. Definitely in the future, we will go into different sports."

FANS' COMPLAINTS ABOUT LACK OF COMMUNICATION FROM PANJAB WARRIORS

"It's not for want of trying," said Ropinder Singh.

"I've always made myself accessible to make sure that if anyone has any questions, my door is always open."

He apologised for failings on the "transparency and communication side" and said their focus had been on the "fan engagement strategy".

GURPREET SINGH ISSUE

Mr Singh said he "can understand fans' concerns".

"We had so many people who felt so proud that there was a Sikh ownership (of a football club) and (asked) how can I add my two pence in?" he said.

He said he is speaking to the independent football regulator "on a daily basis", as well as the National League and "making them aware of everything they need to be aware of so there is no effect on the club".

He said Panjab Warriors have "made sure the back systems are now so robust" so "we can never have an instance that anyone can jeopardise the club or Panjab Warriors going forward".

"These situations happen, it's how you deal with it," he said.

"I think we've been very transparent and honest."

ROD TAYLOR and GRAHAM HOWSE

Ropinder said he was "shocked" to see Rod Taylor and Graham Howse (pictured below) resign, and wished them all the best.

Kuljeet Singh Momi said: "Their departure doesn't affect the day-to-day operations of the club."

Ropinder Singh said: "We totally appreciate every minute of service they gave to the club.

"Without the board under the previous ownership, we would never have been able to do the acquisition.

"We've tried everything possible to try to make sure we are on the same page but ultimately, it's got to be what benefits the club. The club outweighs everything."

FUTURE OF ASHVIR SINGH JOHAL

"When I look at the situation that we walked into, and the situation where we made the change from Derek Adams to Ashvir Johal, the situation with the coaching staff, the players, the lack of pre-season, when I see all these things, and I'm not saying we're doing great, because we're not and I'm very disappointed as we all are, but we know in football and in life that nothing's certain or set in stone," said Ropinder Singh.

"The people in posts at the moment, the manager (pictured below), the coaching staff, we as a collective and ownership, we are looking for ways to support them, to get them to where the fans want them to be, well out of the relegation zone and climbing up the table gradually.

"There's nothing to say that changes can't happen. There's nothing to say that changes will happen."

Mr Singh also said the club is in exactly the same position in terms of wins, draws and losses as they were by Boxing Day last season when "we had a great pre-season".

In 2024/25, the Shrimps won only four and drew five and lost 13 of their first 23 games, the same as this season.

But Mr Stoyles (below) then pointed out the difficulties Derek Adams had in signing players before the 2024/25 season due to a transfer embargo, meaning the club had to sign 15 players in quick succession in July 2024.

He said: "It wasn't much better last summer.

"The difference is, Derek had money in the bank as a manager with experience. I think this where everybody's fear comes from. Quite clearly, Ashvir has none of that. He's a young manager, it's his first job as a manager.

"What fans want to know is, how long is it going to be before you make that hard decision, or will you ever make that hard decision? The fans feel you just won't make it and we will get relegated."

Ropinder Singh said: "The ownership, for nearly 14 months prior to the acquisition completing, put in millions of pounds.

"They risked all that, but they still came on board. And for the past three months, all the running costs, we're making sure that we're cutting down the debt that has built up.

"We haven't done this to get Morecambe Football Club relegated. Look at it with a financial head. Why would we let things carry on going and blindly look the other way?"

Mr Singh continued: "And I've got to say this, just because Ash has a similar name to Ropinder, just because Ash looks in the mirror and has got the same colour skin as me?

"Listen, we're talking millions and millions and millions. We've come in with a plan, we've got Ash there for a reason. We've got staff there, we've managed to get some amazing players to come to Morecambe Football Club.

"I know we live and die by results. We're not going to chop and change just for the sake of it.

"We are determined from day one, that we haven't bought a dead duck.

"We are here to make sure that Morecambe FC strives until the last second to not get relegated, climb up the table and see where it goes."

CHARLES STREET FINANCE

Property lender Charles Street Finance holds charges against the club which Ropinder Singh said were implemented under previous ownership, with a "mountain of interest".

Since taking over, he said, they'd had meetings with Charles Street and have agreed a "monthly payment plan" aiming to clear the charge by August 2026.

TARNIA ELSWORTH

Ropinder Singh praised new director of fan engagement Tarnia Elsworth (pictured below) for the work she'd done since joining the Morecambe FC board.

He said it was "dynamic change" and that Ms Elsworth, former chair of the Shrimps Trust, had done "an amazing job".

They also mentioned plans for a new Shrimps Fan Advisory Board.

NEW ROLE

It was revealed that Rashpal Singh has been appointed as Interim COO (Chief Operating Officer) - which Ropinder Singh said was a role similar to that of Rob Smith, the former general manager who recently left the club.

Ropinder Singh said Rashpal had "amazing experience on the IT side and business front".

Rashpal Singh, speaking during the podcast, said his aim is to "stabilise business operations" and "bring the right people in, in the right positions, into the business".

He said the three areas of focus are governance and decision-making, operation roles and communication processes internally and externally, and that there is a 90-day plan in place.

He then said they were focussed on "getting the ball behind the net" but corrected himself after Pat Stoyles pointed out the slip of the tongue and that they need the ball IN the net.

THE FUTURE

"I can 100 per cent reassure everybody that we did not walk on this journey, irrespective of what the pitfalls are, thinking oh my God, what happens if we get relegated," said Ropinder Singh.

"The club will never be in danger while Panjab Warriors are at the tenure, under their ownership. I can say that categorically.

"We have been working towards targets. Sometimes thinks take a little bit longer. Things will happen.

"If the absolute unthinkable happened and the club got relegated, I can categorically say this club will not be in danger of existing."