Morecambe FC suspension: Why have The Shrimps been barred from competing in the National League?

Morecambe FC are undergoing major turmoil after their relegation from League Two at the end of the 2024/25 season, when they finished in 24th place in the division. They were forced to drop down to the National League, which is the fifth division in the English football league system pyramid. However, the Shrimps have now been forced into an extremely difficult predicament after the National League management decided to suspend them for the foreseeable future ahead of the 2025/26 season.

Why Have Morecambe FC Been Suspended From Playing in National League?

The National League announced on Monday (July 28, 2025) that they will be suspending Morecambe FC until August 20, 2025, when they will be meeting with the club's representatives to review their situation. The reason for Morecambe FC's suspension is that the league committee does not believe the Shrimps are currently able to meet the necessary financial obligations for the 2025/26 season, which is due to the uncertainty over the ownership situation at the club.

In an official statement, the National League compliance and licensing committee wrote: "The club will also remain under embargo ahead of the new season. Morecambe Football Club will also be removed from the National League Cup for the forthcoming season. The committee will meet again on Wednesday, August 20, to determine if outstanding items have been satisfied, and to decide the club's ability to retain membership in the competition."

There has been a lot of drama around the financial issues within Morecambe FC because of the uncertainty over their ownership under the Bond Group and owner Jason Whittingham. Morecambe were placed in a transfer ban for the 2024 summer window after their ownership was found guilty of late payments of wages to their players. During the 2023/24 season, the Shrimps were also docked three points for late payment of wages for their players.

A tug-of-war has also been taking place at the upper-management level at Morecambe FC. Their entire board of directors were fired from their positions in July (2025) after they had tried to put the club into administration to force a potential sale to another party. While Whittingham has hinted since 2022 that he'd like to sell Morecambe, he has failed to finalise a deal with London-based investment firm Panjab Warriors to take over the club despite taking part in talks for over a year. After that, the Bond Group also announced that they were in talks with a new consortium of businessmen willing to take over Morecambe, but talks over a possible takeover have failed to materialise on that aspect either.

How Will Morecambe FC be Impacted by National League Suspension?

Morecambe FC are currently undergoing their preseason, with the players preparing for the 2025/26 National League campaign before being struck with this concerning bit of news. The Shrimps have played four preseason friendlies already before the new campaign, winning two of them, and they have one more friendly to play before the start of the new league campaign. However, this suspension from the National League means that, as it stands, Morecambe will be barred from playing at least the first three games of the 2025/26 National League campaign against Boston United, Brackley Town and Scunthorpe.

Unless they are somehow able to get the National League organisers to overturn their suspensions, Morecambe will be automatically awarded 3-0 defeats in these three matches because they'd have to forfeit the matches. There is still no certainty of whether Morecambe will be allowed to play matches beyond the 20 August date, which will be finalised when the respective parties meet on that day.

The Shrimps have been caught up in a heartbreaking situation for the fans, who will be eager to see the drama around their ownership saga be resolved at the earliest. If the Bond Group are somehow able to find new buyers and sanction the successful takeover of Morecambe FC by August 2025, then the club might end up getting their suspension lifted and be able to play matches as they hope to earn promotion to League Two at the end of the 2025/26 season.