With the new football season now upon us, and with eye-watering figures being spent on transfers in the Premier League, it is heartwarming to see that so much attention is being paid to two lower league clubs that are struggling for survival.
When it comes to the history of the game, Sheffield Wednesday is a force to be reckoned with. Formed in 1867, the club has had incredible success over the years, winning four league titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup and one Community Shield. The Owls were also one of the founding members of the Premier League when it was formed in 1992, finishing that inaugral season in 7th place.
While not quite having such an illustrious history Morecambe Football Club, nicknamed the Shrimps, are also an important part of England’s football culture. The club was founded in 1920 and reached the third tier of English football before being relegated from league 1 in 2023. Morecambe was put up for sale in September 2022, but the owners have failed to find a buyer and the club currently plays in the National League following two relegations in three seasons.
What both the Owls and the Shrimps very much have in common is the real threat to their on-going existence. Morecambe has recently been suspended by the National League pending a review of whether they are able to fulfil their financial obligations for the season. Players have been unable to train due to a lack of insurance cover, wages have been unpaid and with reports claiming that the club has run out of money, the directors threatened to put the club into administration, only for them to then be sacked by the owner. Despite this, there is a good chance that administration looms for the 105 year old club.
Sheffield Wednesday are in a similar boat. The club’s owner, a Thai businessman called Dejphon Chansiri, bought the club in 2015 and it is reported that the club has lost £178 million since that time. Currently under a transfer ban for late payments to HMRC as well as delayed payments to players and members of staff, the club has recently lost its manager and are experiencing significant safety concerns about one of the stands at its Hillsborough Stadium. Pre-season friendlies have been cancelled and there was even talk of a players’ strike. This threat has since been averted, although with a mass exodus of players leaving, the playing squad looks wafer thin.
The lure of owning an English (or Welsh) club is still extremely enticing, especially with the pot of gold at the end of the Premier League rainbow very much in evidence. But those owners do sometimes seem blinded to the fact that of the 92 league clubs only 20 can be in the Premier League at any one time, so the other 72 need to make ends meet and deliver for their local communities rather than focus on the potential financial return they dream of.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has recently claimed that the new Independent Football Regulator, being launched later this year, will be able to make a difference to clubs in the situation that Sheffield Wednesday and Morecambe find themselves in. Stating that the two clubs “absolutely” can be saved from the brink of collapse, Nandy offered some hope that things may be different in the future. She has also written to the Morecambe owner urging him to sell the club, but as yet that appeal has fallen on deaf ears.
It is believed that the sale price for Morecambe FC is in the region of £5 million, if the owner ever decides to sell. It is sobering to think that a club so integral to the local community could be purchased and saved with less than 10 week’s salary of a certain Norwegian footballer plying his trade 55 miles away in Manchester. Erling Haaland’s £23 million a year salary may well be justified based on the return on investment Machester City receive, but there is a serious imbalance within the English football pyramid and lower league fans can only hope that the much-trumpeted Football Regulator will be able to provide more stability and stronger foundations for the sport in future years.
David Little is a Partner at Bishop & Sewell in our expert Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial teams.
If you would like to contact him, please call on either 07968 027343 or 020 7631 4141 or email: company@bishopandsewell.co.uk.
The above is accurate as at 15 August 2025.
The information above may be subject to change. The content of this note should not be considered legal advice, and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
