History

Founded in 1920, Morecambe Football Club have represented the seaside town on the football map for over 100 years. The club was formed on the 7th May 1920 following a local meeting at the West View Hotel and that meeting now leads us to the Morecambe FC of today.

In their early years, they entered the Lancashire Combination, where they would remain for 48 years and would go on to win the league title on 5 different occasions. In 1968, the club then joined the newly formed Northern Premier League and had relative success at that level: winning the FA Trophy in 1974 before clinching the Northern Premier League Presidents Cup in 1992.

With Jim Harvey installed as the Manager of Morecambe FC, the club would win promotion to the Conference (5th tier). Not content with achieving promotion to the conference, under Harvey, the club would narrowly miss out on runner-up spots and play-off success as the intent was there for all to see. Under Jim Harvey the club also equalled its best performances in the FA Cup, however after making it through the early rounds of both the 2000-2001 and 2002-2003 campaigns, the club would lose out to Ipswich Town in both seasons.

During a league fixture with Cambridge United in November 2005, Jim Harvey suffered a heart attack and the club moved quickly to appoint former Manchester United midfielder Sammy McIlroy as caretaker manager. McIlroy’s long friendship with Harvey made the transition very easy at the time for the club and managers. With Harvey ready to return, the club decided to retain McIlroy as Manager of the club, as Harvey departed the Morecambe after a successful 11 years at the helm.

With McIlroy in sole charge, The Shrimps narrowly missed out on promotion to the football league in his first season after a 4-3 defeat to Hereford. However the following season the club would come through the play-off’s successfully, dispatching of Exeter City in the final at Wembley in front of over 40,000 fans to reach their highest height and make it to the professional leagues and fourth tier of English Football. After five successful years at the helm and helping the club to get into the Football League, Sammy McIlroy departed Morecambe on 9th May 2011.

The experienced Derek Adams was installed as the new Morecambe FC Manager following Bentley’s departure. After success with Scottish Premiership Side Ross County and EFL side Plymouth Argyle, Adams took the reins of The Shrimps and masterfully kept the club in the league prior to the COVID-19 pandemic halting all football. Season 2020-21 proved to be a year of big headlines for Morecambe. Firstly, Adams’ side were drawn with Premier League Newcastle United in the third round of the EFL Cup before heading to Stamford Bridge to face off with Chelsea in the third round of the FA Cup.

After memorable cup matches, the league would ultimately bare the most fruitful place for The Shrimps. After finishing fourth in League Two with 78 points, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion by one point, it was the play-off’s that beckoned. For the first time in the club’s history, a League Two play-off final at Wembley awaited after a 3-2 win over Tranmere Rovers in the semi-finals. On 31st May 2021, Carlos Mendes Gomes converted a 107th minute penalty to send Morecambe FC to League One for the first time, as Derek Adams’ side overcame Newport County 1-0 at the National Stadium.

Days after that Wembley final, Derek Adams would step down and former Motherwell FC manager Stephen Robinson would take over at the Mazuma Stadium. Robinson would have a strong start to his time in charge, opening the season with an impressive 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town. Robinson would also lead The Shrimps out at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as again Morecambe bagged a glamour third round tie in the FA Cup. With The Shrimps taking the lead it looked like one of the biggest cup shocks in history was on the cards but Spurs ultimately hit back and ran out 3-1 winners.

Derek Adams would return for his second spell as manager in February 2022 after Robinson left Morecambe to become manager of Scottish Premiership side St Mirren. With 32 games gone, Derek Adams would use the remainder of the campaign to ensure the club’s safety in League One, meaning a second consecutive season of third-tier football for The Shrimps. The 2022/23 season saw Morecambe collect a record number of points in League One however it wasn’t enough to maintain their position in League One, as they were relegated on the final day of the campaign after a valiant effort to remain in the third tier. This was the first time the club was ever relegated.

 

Form

After finishing 15th in League Two under Derek Adams last season, the Shrimps have had a difficult start to their second season back in the fourth tier. They currently sit bottom of the table, having won just one league match out of their 14 so far this term.

Their single win came three weeks ago away at Barrow, but since then, the Shrimps have lost each of their last three matches.

Last Six
26/10 – Chesterfield (H) – Lost 2-5
22/10 – AFC Wimbledon (A) – Lost 3-0
19/10 – Milton Keynes Dons (H) – Lost 1-3
12/10 – Barrow (A) – Won 0-1
05/10 – Accrington Stanley (A) – Lost 2-1
01/10 – Bradford City (H) – Drew 1-1

 

The Gaffer

Derek Adams is in his third spell as Morecambe boss after rejoining the club in the summer.

Derek Adams played professionally for six clubs, including Ross County and Motherwell, where he made over 300 league appearances during his playing career and has managed over 635 games thus far, achieving four promotions.

Adams became manager of Ross County in 2007, winning promotion from the Scottish Second Division in his first season, before reaching the Scottish Cup Final two years later.

He joined Hibernian as assistant manager in 2010 before returning to Ross County the following year, where he won the Scottish First Division and was voted PFA Scotland Manager of the Year for the 2011–12 season.

Adams then took on the managerial role at Plymouth Argyle in 2015 and led them to promotion from League 2 in 2017. Having been sacked by Plymouth in April 2019, he became manager of Morecambe in November.

He would guide the club to promotion to League One in 2021, before leaving to take over at Bradford; after being sacked by Bradford, he would return to Morecambe once again.

He left Morecambe in November 2023 to return to Ross County, but he resigned from that position in February 2024 before rejoining Morecambe for his third spell later in June.

 

The Captain

Experienced midfielder Yann Songo’o is the Morecambe captain.

The 32-year-old signed a contract extension in the summer as he linked up with manager Derek Adams for the sixth time.

Songo’o first arrived at Morecambe in September 2020 and played a key part in a memorable campaign which resulted in promotion to Sky Bet League One via the play-off final at Wembley.

Last season, he racked up 46 appearances in all competitions and, on the final day, played his 200th Sky Bet League Two fixture.

 

Key Player

Rhys Williams joined the Shrimps on loan from Liverpool in the summer and his top-level experience makes him a player to look out for this Saturday.

After joining Liverpool’s academy at U10 level, the 23-year-old progressed through the ranks before signing professionally with the Reds in 2019, the same year he helped guide the club to FA Youth Cup glory. For the first six months of the following campaign, Williams headed out on loan to National League North outfit Kidderminster Harriers where he made 26 appearances before returning to Anfield.

His professional bow with the Premier League giants came in September 2020 where he completed a full 90 minutes in a convincing 7-2 win against Lincoln City in Round Three of the Carabao Cup. Williams went on to feature more for the first team that season, playing nine times in the Premier League as well as making six Champions League appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

More loan spells followed with the likes of Blackpool, Swansea City and Aberdeen before he made the move north to the Mazuma Mobile Stadium.

Internationally, the towering defender has been capped six times for England at youth level; twice for the U18s, twice for the U19s and twice for the U21s.