Morecambe Football Club News

• Nickname:The Shrimps
• Founded:1920
• Manager:Jim Bentley

• Ground:Christe Park
• Capacity:6,400

Transfer ban hits Shrimps

06 Jan 2009 - 12:38:23

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Morecambe boss Sammy McIlroy has been dealt with a blow of a restriction of transfer activity due to a ruling on overspending League Two clubs.

A mid-season report on the Shrimps' finances revealed that the club was spending more than 60 per cent of their income on wages, something which has been outlawed for teams competing in football's bottom tier.

The resulting penalty for the club has been a transfer embargo, which restrains McIlroy from moving to strengthen his squad during the January transfer window.

The embargo will not be lifted until the club reduces its wage bill or unless the club receives a significant cash injection.

Vice-chairman Graham Hodgson told the club's official website the reasoning behind the club's overspending.

"There are a number of reasons for this, the main one being that the average gate has dropped from 2,800 last season to about 2,100 this season" said Hodgson.

"This decline in gate receipts was coupled with the lack of a cup run."

The only current player movement at Christie Park has seen striker Wayne Curtis leave on a month-long loan to Barrow.