Bizarre twist in Morecambe FC takeover tale

The long running saga to take ownership of struggling League Two Morecambe football club has taken another bizarre twist with the club providing a platform to dismiss previous claims from another would-be owner.

Kuljeet Singh Momi, a west London based entrepreneur, said he had been introduced to Sarbot Johal, the 20-year old self-styled drinks tycoon, three years ago and had supported him with funding, but that the relationship was now very much over.

The club has been for sale since September 2022 when controversial owners Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring stepped down from the board.

The duo also owned financially troubled Premiership rugby union side Worcester Warriors, who were expelled from the sport after an HMRC action pushed them into administration.

Morecambe fans now fear they are moving “from one terrible situation to another” and say they have reached out to Momi and had no response.

The only named suitor for the Lancashire club, relegated for the first time in its history last season, was 20-year-old “entrepreneur” Sarbjot Johal, whose interest appeared to be fleeting and the extent of his actual wealth unclear.

Described by football finance blogger Martin Calladine, who runs website The Ugly Game, as “Sarbjot Johal, the fizzy-pop boy wonder whose bid for Morecambe collapsed last year.”

Now, the statements by would-be owner Momi seem to justify the scepticism over Johal, who Momi says made multiple false Companies House filings on his behalf.

“Over a period exceeding 18 months, we observed Mr Johal repeatedly forming new companies, ostensibly to address concerns raised by myself and my associates. However, he consistently failed to provide substantive evidence or documentation regarding the operations of these businesses or the financial investments we had made. This lack of transparency led us to halt any further funding,” he said.

He then goes on to describe efforts to “formally disassociate my name” from Johal and his activities.

“Despite completing this process by early July 2024, we later discovered that Mr Johal continued to register new companies at Companies House using my name without my knowledge or consent. This was brought to our attention in early August 2024, prompting the immediate and final termination of all ties with Mr Johal.”

Momi says in the statement that he is committed to buying the Shrimps. The club currently sit in 23rd place in League Two, but are upbeat after beating relegation rivals Swindon Town recently, and knocking Bradford City out of the FA Cup to land a lucrative trip to Chelsea in the third round.

He also revealed that he has been “contributing to the club’s working capital since October 2023” in the form of interest free loans and equity in the holding company.

In a bid to reassure fans who staged protests at recent games, he said: “I categorically state that I have no current business associations with Mr Johal. Any past affiliations were terminated as of August 2024. Any assertions or implications to the contrary are unfounded and misleading. This statement serves as my formal declaration that I have no association with Mr Sarbjot Johal or any of his businesses.”

The statement ended with a rallying call: “We are passionate about building a brighter future for Morecambe Football Club, rooted in collaboration, stability, and a shared love for the game. Together, we can take Morecambe FC to new heights while preserving its unique identity and values.”

However, fans are increasingly worried about the lack of funding from the current owner, the lack of communication, and the lack of progress from the prospective owners. “This has led to concerns that we may be moving from one terrible situation to another,” says Shrimps Trust chair Tarnia Elsworth.

“We must keep our story heard and take action so that the owner continues to feel pressure to take meaningful steps for completion of a sale of the club,” she said. “We campaign tirelessly for the introduction of the new Football Governance Bill, and will continue to do so along with north west MPs Lizzi Collinge and Lisa Nandy. Sadly, that is too long a timescale to help our situation.”

But blogger Martin Calladine has also cast doubt on Momi’s bid for the club, and questioned why he would embark on such a venture, and backed this up with an extensive dive into the business history of the would-be bidder.

His conclusion: “Kuljeet Singh Momi is the prospective new owner of Morecambe. But while he has wide business interests and has founded or been a director of over a dozen companies in the UK, there’s limited publicly available evidence that he is rich, let alone ‘football rich.’”