“We’ll still gather together and talk about the old times, what we’ve done and where we’ve been. But we should still be able to do it here, every week,” adds Barker.
“Inside I’m being absolutely torn apart.”
Where once on the town’s seafront there were multiple fairgrounds, theatres, piers and miniature zoos, there are now a smattering of bars and restaurants, many of which are funded by matchday income and travelling away supporters.
The club’s peril means local businesses are now at risk.
“The winter months are the hardest here, because it’s the seaside,” says Chris Donaldson, owner of The Royal Hotel on the seafront. “The football season sees us through that.
“I’ve got 19 bedrooms here and away fans are coming from all over fully booking them weeks in advance. The whole town can be full.
“It’ll cost us tens of thousands, easily. It’s crazy what it’ll do to the town to lose that kind of money. Everyone will feel the effect of it.”
For staff at the fans’ matchday pub, the difference in demeanour is already stark.
“We get around 400, 500 people on a matchday,” says Michael Woolworth, manager of the Hurley Flyer opposite the stadium. “It feels like everyone in Morecambe is in here.
“It’s a ritual every weekend. In here we see that football really brings people together.
“But in the last few months we’ve seen the happiness taken away from them. We have regulars who have come in visibly upset.”
Morecambe FC has been one of the area’s biggest employers in recent times. But the club’s financial issues mean that salaries paid to staff and players have been delayed or not paid at all in some months. Dewhirst was last paid in May.
“I’m eating into my savings now,” he says. “Some people aren’t lucky enough to have savings – some are going to food banks because they can’t afford to buy their shopping.
“It’s been hard watching players leave. There was another one gone yesterday. I’ve known lots of them for years.
“I feel broken. Numbness has set in.”
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