With teams in the Premier League and the Championship snapped up, the attention of foreign investors is turning to Leagues One and Two where they hope there may be bargains to be had. Morecambe was put up for sale in March and has become the first club to be acquired by a Brazilian investor.
With teams in the Premier League and the Championship snapped up, the attention of foreign investors is turning to Leagues One and Two where they hope there may be bargains to be had. Morecambe was put up for sale in March and has become the first club to be acquired by a Brazilian investor.
Diego Lemos lives in Qatar and has worked for ten years as a Fifa approved football agent. He faces a big financial challenge at Morecambe. The club had a good start to the season, but lost at home yesterday.
Losses in the year to May 2015 were £829,832, a considerable increase on the £445,465 lost in the previous year. Turnover fell by £200,000 to £2.3m. The club was kept going by bridging loans from directors.
Morecambe has a populaton of just 34,676, although, as with all clubs, supporters are drawn from a wider catchment area. For example, I have met supporters in Arnside to the north. However, as a rule of thumb, I would be looking for a bigger population to sustain a National League side.
Like many resorts, it is not the most prosperous of towns. We will be taking an in depth look at football in resort towns in the next few weeks.