Tyson Fury misses out as Morecambe FC announce takeover by football's youngest owner

Tyson Fury's dreams of owning a Football League club look to have been shattered after Morecambe FC announced their new owner.

Sarbjot Johal, a 20-year-old businessman, has been provisionally selected as the new owner of the League One club, subject to approval from the Football League.

It's a decision that is likely to raise eyebrows across the divisions, with Johal set to become the youngest football club owner in the country in the process.

Speaking to talkSPORT in October 2022, Fury - who owns all of the training facilities at the League One club - revealed that he had been offered the chance to buy the club:

"I’ve been offered to buy Morecambe Football Club. I own all the training facilities anyway and the training gym. So, who knows? You might be looking at a football club owner.”

It is understood that Fury went ahead and engaged in talks with the club's directors with a view to buying his local club, however, he opted against doing so, with Johal - who already had an equity stake in the club - seizing the opportunity instead.

The decision was announced by Shrimps co-chairman Graham Howse in a statement posted to the club's official website:

"It is fair to say the sale process hasn’t progressed as quickly as we all would have liked - that said, my understanding is that exciting times are ahead both on and off the pitch.

Sarbjot Johal is eager to start the project to take the Club on to a new level, subject to satisfactorily navigating the EFL Owners and Directors’ test. Sarbjot, through his company Sarb Capital, has recently purchased equity in the Club, injecting more than useful income into us.

I am, along with Sarbjot, keen that the process should now move on at pace to come to a positive conclusion."

The decision to allow Johal to take charge of the club has come under scrutiny, with the Lancaster Guardian reporting that Johal's businesses - Vitanic Limited and Lovely Drinks - do not have adequate funding for such a deal.

It is alleged that as per Companies House documents, Vitantic's latest accounts have just £74,882 worth of capital, with Lovely Drink's showing just £80,925 worth of shareholder's funds.

The decision on whether Johal will be approved as the new owner of Morecambe FC will be announced in due course, but for Tyson Fury, his sporting focus remains on his illustrious boxing career.

Topics: Tyson Fury, Boxing, League One

Tom Young

@TomYoungSJ