A First That Nobody Wants: The Independent Football Regulator and Morecambe FC.
I’ve been writing my regular Totally Unofficial Preview of the Season for the Shrimps for quite some time. I expect to publish this in a couple of weeks or so. But I’ve broken-off from doing this to look at a far more urgent issue which has suddenly raised its very ugly head.
Some of what I have written in the Preview is very critical of the Panjab Warriors and their so-called `Chief Operating Officer’ at Morecambe, Steve Dewsnip. I slate the way they have tried to present a unilateral decision made by them to effectively become a nascent Preston West End as a positive move for the club. It isn’t – and the decision to train over thirty miles away at the University of Lancashire is yet more evidence that when the Panjabs bleat on about the importance of `community’ and `community engagement’ in Morecambe itself, this actually amounts to just totally empty words in reality. Wishful thinking; propaganda; bullshit – whatever term you want to use.
This is not a surprise, though. As we have mentioned before, some of the little we actually know as fans about either the Panjab Warriors or Mr Dewsnip himself has already set alarm bells ringing in many place. For example, being personally banned by the Channel Islands Financial Regulatory Authorities – which is a matter of undeniable fact – is not what most people would believe should be a qualification to be a Chief Operating Officer of anything, let alone a football club which has already been the victims of chancers and dodgy dealers for far too long. In my draft article, I also questioned the mindset of people who seem to be very short of professional qualifications but are apparently totally au fait with some of the Darker Arts of `Management’ such as retreating behind a wall of silence every time a difficult question is asked of them.
But since I wrote it, developments off the field indicate that the apparent inability of the Panjab Warriors to communicate with anybody openly or honestly is not just the opinion of people like me, who don’t matter in the Greater Scheme of Things. It is also the opinion of people who really do.
The BBC told us on July 15th 2026:
“The independent football regulator has issued a warning notice to Morecambe after their owners failed to respond to requests about the running of the club.
It is the first time the IFR has taken action since the Football Governance Act passed into law a year ago.
Morecambe directors Kuljit Singh and Harjit Singh failed to reply to two requests for information under section 65 of the Act.
“The IFR has issued a warning notice to Morecambe Football Club Limited and to the club’s two owners,” an IFR statement read.
“It has been provisionally determined that the owners breached information requirements imposed upon them without reasonable excuse and, in accordance with the Football Governance Act, the IFR is therefore minded to issue a censure statement against these individuals and the club.””
You can read the full statement by copying and pasting this link into your internet browser:
Unlike the people named in the warning notice, the representative of Morecambe fans – the Shrimps Trust – wasted no time responding to the latest bad news, This what they announced to members within twenty-four hours of the statement by the IFR:
“The Shrimps Trust notes the publication of the Independent Football Regulator’s warning notice relating to Morecambe Football Club and its owners. Whilst this is not a final determination and those named have the opportunity to make further representations, the findings outlined within the notice will understandably concern supporters.
Trust representatives have been in contact with all parties involved yesterday and today. We believe it is important that the club’s ownership group, including Harjit Singh and Kuljit Singh Momi, adopts a transparent and responsible approach in the coming days and provides supporters with the clarity and reassurance they deserve.
The Trust recognises the positive steps taken in recent months to diversify the club’s commercial revenue streams, together with the planning and preparation that has gone into the forthcoming season. However, developments such as this risk undermining the optimism that has begun to build amongst supporters at a time when the fanbase is looking forward with renewed hope.
The Trust is currently entering a period of transition, with responsibilities being handed over to those trustees who will remain in post beyond 31 July. However, given the significance of this matter and the level of concern amongst supporters, we have no doubt that this issue will remain a priority for the Trust in the weeks ahead.
As always, our focus remains on representing the interests of supporters and ensuring that fans and Trust members are kept informed as developments unfold.
The Shrimps Trust”
So how did the Panjab Warriors themselves justify their latest failure to be straight with anybody – and very specifically the Independent Football Regulator? We had to wait two days for it but this is what they finally told us via the club’s website:
“Morecambe Football Club and its two directors acknowledge the warning notice issued by the Independent Football Regulator (“IFR”).
Whilst the Club and its owners can confirm that they fully support and respect the regulator’s oversight of the football industry, they are disappointed by the decision to issue this warning notice, particularly in light of the extensive cooperation, transparency and engagement demonstrated by both the Club and its directors throughout the regulatory process.
The Club and its owners strongly dispute that a warning notice is justified in the circumstances. They consider that insufficient weight has been given to the significant mitigating factors, the unprecedented operational challenges inherited following the acquisition of the Club in August 2025, and the considerable efforts made to work constructively with the IFR at every stage.
Notwithstanding that this alleged breach is at the IFR’s lowest level of seriousness, the Club and its directors are taking legal advice and will submit detailed representations within the 14-day period prescribed by the IFR. They remain confident that those representations will demonstrate why no further regulatory action is warranted.
Morecambe FC thanks its supporters, sponsors and staff for their continued support and loyalty throughout this period and continues to welcome informed and transparent engagement via appropriate and professional channels with any of its supporter and community representative parties, as it was pleased to see yesterday with the Shrimps Trust.
Following the Club’s rescue last August by Panjab Warriors, the Club and its owners are proud of the many positive steps taken in recent months both on and off the pitch in preparation for the new 2026/27 football season and are looking forward to it with renewed optimism.”
This amounts to `Not Guilty, Your Honour – Nothing to see here!” To compound this flat denial by trivialising the charges as `at the IFR’s lowest level of seriousness’ really begs the question about the collective mindset of the people who own and administer our club. Are they just not bothered about this in the way that a shoplifter with two hundred quids’ worth of stolen gear in his bag might say `I didn’t murder anybody – what’s all the fuss about?” when stopped by the authorities?
The IFR gives instances of failure by named individuals at the club to answer specific requests from them for information. It gives three dates when these requests were made and states:
“On 8 April 2026 the IFR received an email from Kuljit Singh Momi stating “Below is the information in relation to Morecambe Football Club Ltd”. The email purported to provide answers to both RFIs, however the replies did not fully address the questions in either RFI. The responses were therefore not considered by the IFR to be adequate.”
This is a matter of record for everybody to see.
But what we apparently have to call the `Club’s leadership group’ these days has simply ignored this. Telling us that they are ` disappointed by the decision to issue this warning notice, particularly in light of the extensive cooperation, transparency and engagement demonstrated by both the Club and its directors throughout the regulatory process` actually contradicts the very offences they have been charged with. It is precisely because of a failure of co-operation, transparency and engagement that the IFR have officially warned our club in the first place.
I sometimes wonder if this `Club’s leadership group’ lack the collective – or individual – intellect to understand this.
In a nutshell, what the Independent Football Regulator has told us is an absolutely scathing indictment of our club and the way it is being run at the top. It is yet another shameful episode in the recent history of Morecambe AFC that we should be the first one ever to be sanctioned by the Independent Football Regulator. Pub Quizzes will be referring back to this dishonourable fact for decades to come.
And at the root of this – yet again – is the failure of the Sikhs who own our club to answer simple questions honestly or openly. We’ve seen this before when the Panjab Warriors repeatedly failed to answer specific questions put to them by our very own Shrimps Trust last season. The Trust, however, relies on the co-operation of the owners to be straight with them. But the IFR can’t be trifled with in this utterly disrespectful and dismissive way: they have teeth and they seem all set to bite in what, for them, is a watershed moment: their first ever adjudication against a rogue club will set a precedent that they will bend over backwards to get right – at our cost.
The culture of secrecy the Panjab Warriors operate at Morecambe is to the detriment of the club itself; an insult to the fans and ultimately self-defeating as a policy option: every scandal or mistake they have tried to cover-up or ignore in their brief and utterly disastrous tenure at our club has come back to bite them where it hurts. This will continue until these people start to think strategically. And a strategy of continuing to kid themselves that what they get up to in the shadows won‘t come to light – probably sooner rather than later – is a recipe for even more censure; sanctions and potential banning orders in the future. The best efforts of the Manager and his squad could well be completely undone if Morecambe suffer further points deductions or even harsher penalties as a result of the failure of the self-titled `Leadership Group’ to do what it says on the tin – lead it – either properly or in the right direction.
How many embargoes did we endure last season as the club’s fortunes went down the pan due to the Warriors’ utterly catastrophic policies? Now we start this one with the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads all over again. The IFR has all sorts of powers – ranging from fines; disqualifications and – ultimately – revocation of the club’s Operating License which they will not fail to use if the Panjab Warriors don’t change their ways – and do so quickly. We are now firmly in the sights of the IFR and we need to do everything we can to remove ourselves from their crosshairs. Telling the truth for a change might be a good place to start.
The signs that this will happen, regrettably, are not at all positive, given what has happened since the Panjab Warriors got their hands on our club. They assure us that they `continue to welcome informed and transparent engagement via appropriate and professional channels with any of its supporter and community representative parties.’ Welcoming this sort of input is one thing: responding to it is another one altogether for which they have absolutely no Brownie Points so far. It will be very interesting to see what they have to tell us once the 14-day consultation with their lawyers which they have referred to is over. But my advice to all fellow fans is: don’t hold your breath.
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