Morecambe FC are in severe danger of going out of business – & they wouldn’t be the first English club to suffer that fate over recent decades.
Morecambe face the imminent prospect of shutting down due to a deepening financial crisis, with owner Jason Whittingham’s failure to sell the club leading to suspension from the National League.
We’ve looked into other English clubs that have sadly been dissolved since 1990 and what’s happened to them since.
Bury
Bury FC were founded in 1885 and played their football at Gigg Lane, but their future was in doubt after being expelled from the Football League in 2019 due to financial difficulties.
The Shakers were placed into administration the following year and couldn’t find an investor willing to acquire the club’s debt, resulting in local MPs and supporters creating Bury AFC to take its place.
It’s believed Bury’s total liability was more than £12million after being kicked into non-league, resulting in staff redundancies, player departures and a manager departure.
They were a dormant club for years until a merger between the Shakers Community Society, who own the phoenix club, and the Bury FC Supporters Society, who own Gigg Lane and Bury FC, was agreed in 2023.
Bury won promotion from the North West Counties Premier League Division last season, winning the ninth-tier league on the final day in front of a whopping 8,719 supporters.
They will play in the Northern Premier League West Division in 2025-26.
Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield were another club with a long history in the Football League, having been founded in 1874, but suffered a similar fate to Bury after being wound up in 2020.
The Silkmen were dissolved after racking up debts of over £500,000. Town were late paying squad members while owing money to HMRC and creditors.
Club owner Amar Alkadhi tried to delay the winding-up order with a myriad of excuses, but Judge Sebastian Prentis said he had had enough time to pay.
Local businessman Robert Smethurst bought Macclesfield Town’s assets and established Macclesfield F.C. the same year.
They have recorded three promotions in the past four seasons, travelling from the North West Counties Premier League to the National League North.
Scarborough
Wound up in 2007 after 128 years, having racked up debts of £2.5million, Scarborough spent a total of 12 seasons in the Football League.
They were one of the most successful non-League clubs of the 1970s, reaching four FA Trophy finals between 1973 and 1977 and winning three of them.
Scarborough’s Athletic Ground – dubbed the ‘Theatre of Chips’ while sponsored by McCain Foods – hosted FA Cup ties against the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea.
Scarborough Athletic, a phoenix club, were formed shortly after the original team’s dissolution and currently play in the National League North.
Chester City
League Cup semi-finalists in 1975, narrowly losing to eventual winners Aston Villa, Chester City provided Ian Rush with his breakthrough in the game, while Manchester United legend Stan Pearson also played for the club.
But such history didn’t save them from being wound up in 2010, after they had made a last-ditch attempt to stay afloat by trying to leave the English league system for the Welsh Premier League.
Chester FC were formed immediately afterwards and now play in the sixth tier of English football (the National League North) at the Deva Stadium.
Aldershot
Founded in 1926 as Aldershot Town (also the name taken by the reformed club which replaced them), Aldershot FC were the first ever Football League play-off winners, beating Wolves 3-0 on aggregate in the 1987 Fourth Division final.
Just under five years later, though, the Shots, relegated from the third tier in 1989, went out of business. As a result, they became the first club in 30 years to have to resign from the League.
Today’s iteration of Aldershot finished 16th in the National League in 2024-25.
Maidstone United
It took the original Maidstone United 92 years to play in the Football League, reaching the promised land in 1989. Three years later, they were no more.
Their average attendance had been cut almost in half following their relocation some 40 miles away to Dartford.
Once the latter’s ground was sold and the League rejected Maidstone chairman John Waugh’s proposal to move the club from Kent to the North East, it was the beginning of the end.
The nucleus of a new club was built around the youth squad, Maidstone Invicta, and was elected to the Kent County League in 1993.
They now play in the National League South and are managed by former Wolves defender George Elokobi, famously beating Ipswich Town in the FA Cup Fourth Round in 2024.
READ: Five huge clubs who were relegated for non-footballing reasons: Juventus, Rangers…
Hereford United
Hereford United provided one of the greatest moments in FA Cup history when Ronnie Radford scored *that* goal to stun top-flight Newcastle in 1972.
Within four years, the Bulls had risen three tiers from the Southern League to the Second Division.
They spent just one season there, however, and spent just two campaigns higher than the fourth tier between 1977 and their demise in 2014.
Phoenix club Hereford FC re-entered the English football pyramid in 2015-16 and have now risen to the National League North.
Rushden & Diamonds
Rushden & Diamonds were formed in 1992 when Max Griggs, the owner of locally based shoemaking giant Dr. Martens, merged Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds.
The new club rose from the seventh tier of English football to the third tier in the space of just 11 years.
But the 2003-04 campaign, when they rubbed shoulders with Sheffield Wednesday and QPR, was as good as it got.
Two relegations in three seasons saw them back in the Conference by 2006, and their financial problems mounted to the point that they liquidated five years later.
They are currently members of the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands.
Telford United
Telford were founded in 1872, but never managed to reach the Football League before dissolving in 2004.
In their final season, Telford beat Brentford and second-tier Crewe Alexandra in the FA Cup, before losing in the fourth round to eventual finalists Millwall.
AFC Telford United, formed by supporters immediately after the dissolution, have yo-yoed between the National League and the Southern League over the past two decades.
They were promoted to the National League North after winning the Southern League play-offs last season. Confused? Good.
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TRY A QUIZ: Can you name all 72 Football League clubs in 2025-26?
