Ticking The No Publicity Box

I can somewhat sympathise with Morecambe supporters after a third man claimed to be the owner of the Shrimps yesterday.

Graham Burnard described himself as a reluctant owner who never 'intended or wanted' to own the club. He says that the G50 Holding Ltd company he set up for original new owner Diego Lemos has reverted to his control as Lemos never paid him for the work done to transfer the shares to the disappearing Brazilian.

This news came after Lemos secured a court injunction against a sale of the club to Joseph Cala, with his former partner Abdulrahman Al-Hashemi paying the wage bill at the club yesterday. It was Al-Hashemi that sold the club, as the holding company, to Cala, and seems to be the only one of the three foreign investors that actually has a solid background.

As for Burnard, the legal report of a battle over a will suggests the man originally described as a tax advisor is twice bankrupt, in 1999 and 2013, but the family owned a number of sizable properties in the North East. He does not appear on the current Insolvency Service register, meaning the occurrences appear to be discharged.

How long he will hold ownership for is anyone's guess, but Burnard told the local press he is working on behalf of Al-Hashemi and that the club is 'not for sale' with Cala having been told he is not wanted at the Globe Arena by current club chairman Peter McGuigan, the former owner that started the current chain of events, after apparently offending the unpaid staff on his first day at the club.

Meanwhile, over at Bolton feuding owners are still to resolve the future of the club. Ken Anderson remains in discussions with Dean Holdsworth to secure the former striker's share of the club, with Anderson refusing to solely fund the ongoing losses at the club until he assumes full control.

Anderson says that striker Zach Clough was sold to cover debts, with Holdsworth refusing to put money in alongside Anderson. The pair have been feuding for four months now since originally agreeing a deal for Anderson to assume control of Holdsworth's 40% stake.

The Trotters have not won in 2017, earning three draws in six matches, leaving them to drop seven points behind the automatic promotion race in League One.