2023–24 Morecambe F.C. season

Morecambe
2023–24 season
Co-chairmen	Graham Howse & Rod Taylor
Manager	Derek Adams; (until 20 November); Ged Brannan; (from 27 November)
Stadium	Mazuma Mobile Stadium
League Two	15th
FA Cup	Third Round
EFL Cup	First Round
EFL Trophy	Group Stage (3rd)
Top goalscorer	League: ; Michael Mellon (13); All: ; Michael Mellon (15)
Highest home attendance	4,713 v Bradford City; 19 August 2023
Lowest home attendance	1,203 v Barrow; 10 October 2023
Average home league attendance	3,968
Biggest win	Doncaster Rovers 0–5 Morecambe; 16 December 2023
Biggest defeat	Wrexham 6–0 Morecambe; 25 November 2023
	All statistics correct as of match played 27 January 2024.

The 2023–24 season is Morecambe's 100th season since formation, their 17th consecutive season in the Football League, and their first season back in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. This followed relegation from League One during the previous season.

They also competed in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy.

Pre-season friendlies

On 2 June, Morecambe announced their pre-season preparations, with matches against Workington, Warrington Town, Southport, Burscough and Blackpool. A sixth was later added, against Wigan Athletic.

11 July 2023 Friendly	Workington	Cancelled	Morecambe	Workington
19:30 BST		Report		Stadium: Borough Park
Note: Match cancelled the day before due to Morecambe not being able to raise a team.

15 July 2023 Friendly	Warrington Town	2–0	Morecambe	Warrington
15:00 BST	Buckley 25' Buckley-Ricketts 52'	Report		Stadium: Cantilever Park Attendance: 573

18 July 2023 Friendly	Southport	1–3	Morecambe	Southport
19:30 BST	Hmami 37' 53' Carver 59' Heath, F. 64'	Report	Senior 34' Mellon 38' Stokes 55' Rawson 88'	Stadium: Big Help Stadium Attendance: 623

22 July 2023 Friendly	Burscough	1–10	Morecambe	Burscough
15:00 BST	31'	Report	Mayor 3', 48' Mellon 23', 42', 90' McKiernan 29', 34' Rawson 45' Bloxham 83', 88'	Stadium: Community Ground

25 July 2023 Friendly	Morecambe	1–1	Blackpool	Morecambe
19:30 BST	Bloxham 12' 44'	Report	Thompson 43' Lavery 56'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 2,265

29 July 2023 Friendly	Morecambe	0–2	Wigan Athletic	Morecambe
15:00 BST	Songo'o 39'	Report	Aasgaard 18' Brennan 90+2'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 1,508

Competitions

League Two

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
9	AFC Wimbledon	29	11	10	8	44	34	+10	43
10	Gillingham	29	13	4	12	26	35	−9	43
11	Accrington Stanley	29	12	6	11	42	38	+4	42
12	Morecambe	28	11	7	10	42	45	−3	40
13	Newport County	29	11	7	11	42	46	−4	40
14	Crawley Town	28	12	3	13	44	47	−3	39
15	Walsall	28	10	8	10	42	41	+1	38

Updated to match(es) played on 3 February 2024. Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) 12-point sending off offences

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
28	11	7	10	42	45	−3	40	5	6	3	20	15	+5	6	1	7	22	30	−8

Last updated: 3 February 2024.
Source: Soccerway

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
Ground	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A
Result	W	L	D	W	L	W	L	D	W	D	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	L	D	W	L	D	L	D	D	W	L	W
Position	6	14	14	7	11	9	16	14	12	12	10	10	8	6	6	7	12	12	12	8	12	13	16	17	16	13	15	12

Updated to match(es) played on 3 February 2024. Source: Soccerway
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

On 22 June, the EFL League Two fixtures were released.

5 August 2023 1	Morecambe	2–1	Walsall	Morecambe
15:00 BST	Mayor 25' Love 34' Songo'o 38' McKiernan 48' Rawson 90+2' 90+3' Bedeau 90+5' Slew 90+11'	Report	Riley 37' Johnson 38' 90+5' McEntee 45+1' Hutchinson 86'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 4,609 Referee: Martin Coy

12 August 2023 2	Mansfield Town	3–0	Morecambe	Mansfield
15:00 BST	Akins 45+1', 87' (pen.) Keillor-Dunn 62' Cargill 63' Lewis 70'	Report	McKiernan 45' Love 45+1'	Stadium: One Call Stadium Attendance: 6,695 Referee: Scott Simpson

15 August 2023 3	Morecambe	0–0	Notts County	Morecambe
19:45 BST	Mayor 37'	Report	Baldwin 36'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 3,860 Referee: Scott Jackson

19 August 2023 4	Morecambe	3–0	Bradford City	Morecambe
15:00 BST	Songo'o 12' Mellon 22', 86' (pen.) 90+6' Mayor 31' McKiernan 68'	Report	Smallwood 22' Pattison 25' Stubbs 88'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 4,713 Referee: Lewis Smith

26 August 2023 5	Harrogate Town	2–0	Morecambe	Harrogate
15:00 BST	Armstrong 20' (pen.) Sutton 47' Thomson 66' Falkingham 82' Oxley 83'	Report	Rawson 20' 64' Bedeau 20' Mayor 45+4' Love 90+1'	Stadium: The EnviroVent Stadium Attendance: 2,224 Referee: Ross Joyce

2 September 2023 6	Morecambe	1–0	Salford City	Morecambe
15:00 BST	Mellon 25'	Report	Lund 90+5'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 3,458 Referee: Will Finnie

16 September 2023 7	Gillingham	2–1	Morecambe	Gillingham
15:00 BST	Lapslie 9' Mahoney 23' J. Williams 36' S. Williams 58'	Report	Mellin 11' 39' 76' Connolly 52' Love 76' Tutonda 90+3'	Stadium: MEMS Priestfield Stadium Attendance: 5,915 Referee: Declan Bourne

23 September 2023 8	Morecambe	2–2	Swindon Town	Morecambe
15:00 BST	Taylor 31' Connolly 33' Songo'o 54' 55' Walker 80'	Report	Kemp 12' 90+6' Austin 57' (pen.) Khan 78'	Stadium: The Mazuma Stadium Attendance: 3,737 Referee: Scott Tallis

30 September 2023 9	Forest Green Rovers	1–2	Morecambe	Nailsworth
15:00 BST	Inniss 12' Brown 23' Robson 45+1' Omotoye 84'	Report	Love 5' Mellon 26' Slew 48' Bedeau 90+4'	Stadium: The Bolt New Lawn Attendance: 2,290 Referee: Adam Herczeg

3 October 2023 10	Morecambe	1–1	Accrington Stanley	Morecambe
19:45 BST	Bloxham 61' Connolly 64' Senior 72' Bedeau 87'	Report	Andrews 61' Hills 63' Whalley 65' Leigh 70' (pen.)	Stadium: The Mazuma Stadium Attendance: 3,458 Referee: Keith Stroud

7 October 2023 11	Colchester United	1–3	Morecambe	Colchester
15:00 BST	Mitchell 24' McGeehan 73' Chilvers 90+2' Ihionvien 90+5'	Report	Mayor 2' Tutonda 8' Love 16' McKiernan 21', 53', 61' Connolly 36' Senior 90+3'	Stadium: JobServe Community Stadium Attendance: 3,350 Referee: Sam Purkiss

21 October 2023 12	Sutton United	2–3	Morecambe	Sutton
15:00 BST	Coley 44' Smith 45+4' Goodliffe 62'	Report	Mellon 30' (pen.) Mayor 45+2' Tutonda 72' Senior 90+1' Love 90+6'	Stadium: VBS Community Stadium Attendance: 2,603 Referee: Neil Hair

24 October 2023 13	Morecambe	1–0	Tranmere Rovers	Morecambe
19:45 BST	Bedeau 63' Turnbull 72' (o.g.) Mayor 79'	Report	Hendry 45' Jennings 45+4'	Stadium: The Mazuma Stadium Attendance: 3,678 Referee: Paul Howard

28 October 2023 14	Morecambe	4–1	AFC Wimbledon	Morecambe
15:00 BST	Mellon 46', 61' (pen.), 88' Lewis 51' Davenport 65' Tutonda 79'	Report	Bugiel 57' Little 72'	Stadium: Mazuma Stadium Attendance: 4,453 Referee: Edward Duckworth

31 October 2023 15	Barrow	1–0	Morecambe	Barrow-in-Furness
19:45 GMT	Telford 29' Farman 90+2'	Report	Senior 26'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 4,007 Referee: Ben Speedie
Note: Fixture was previous postponed due to international call-ups.

11 November 2023 16	Grimsby Town	3–2	Morecambe	Cleethorpes
15:00 GMT	Khan 16' Rose 47' Green 49' Pyke 59' Holohan 74' Hunt 90+5'	Report	Mayor 2' Tutonda 44' McKiernan 86'	Stadium: Blundell Park Attendance: 5,939 Referee: Alan Young

25 November 2023 17	Wrexham	6–0	Morecambe	Wrexham
15:00 GMT	Senior 5' (o.g.) Mullin 7', 67', 77' Cannon 19' Mendy 35' Jones 90+6'	Report	McKiernan 56'	Stadium: STōK Cae Ras Attendance: 10,224 Referee: Ben Atkinson

28 November 2023 18	Morecambe	1–2	Newport County	Morecambe
19:45 GMT	Mellon 12' Mayor 90+6'	Report	Evans 28' Palmer-Houlden 57' Bennett 85'	Stadium: Mazuma Stadium Attendance: 2,982 Referee: Ross Joyce

9 December 2023 19	Morecambe	1–1	Stockport County	Morecambe
15:00 GMT	Mellon 70' Mayor 72'	Report	Wootton 87'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 4,505 Referee: John Busby

16 December 2023 20	Doncaster Rovers	0–5	Morecambe	Doncaster
15:00 GMT	Sterry 90+5' Senior 90+5'	Report	King 7' Tutonda 28' 80' Mellon 34', 90+7' Bedeau 51' Connolly 76' Mayor 90+3'	Stadium: The Eco-Power Stadium Attendance: 6,260 Referee: Kirsty Dowle

23 December 2023 21	Morecambe	1–3	Milton Keynes Dons	Morecambe
15:00 GMT	Connolly 27' McKiernan 49' 52' Slew 90+6'	Report	Dean 31', 90+7' Williams 41' Tomlinson 69'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 4,551 Referee: Lewis Smith

26 December 2023 22	Bradford City	2–2	Morecambe	Bradford
15:00 GMT	Cook 56' Oduor 59' Tomkinson 80' Halliday 83'	Report	Connolly 3' Mckiernan 18', 58' Slew 78' Tutonda 80'	Stadium: University of Bradford Stadium Attendance: 18,540 Referee: Darren Drysdale

29 December 2023 23	Notts County	5–0	Morecambe	Nottingham
19:45 GMT	Langstaff 10' (pen.), 13', 36' Brindley 17' Crowley 24' Jones 46'	Report	Taylor 38' Mckiernan 66'	Stadium: Meadow Lane Attendance: 9,786 Referee: Bobby Madley

1 January 2024 24	Morecambe	2–2	Harrogate Town	Morecambe
15:00 GMT	Slew 57', 87' Bedeau 90+2' Songo'o 90+3' Rawson 90+4'	Report	Muldoon 44' Thomson 83' Belshaw 90+3' Burrell 90+4'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 3,776 Referee: Simon Mather

13 January 2024 25	Morecambe	1–1	Mansfield Town	Morecambe
15:00 GMT	Senior 60' Mayor 72' Brown 78' 89'	Report	Cargill 61'	Stadium: Mazuma Stadium Attendance: 4,387 Referee: Seb Stockbridge

20 January 2024 26	Milton Keynes Dons	1–2	Morecambe	Milton Keynes
15:00 GMT	Dean 2', 10' Tomlinson 21'	Report	Bedeau 35' Slew 51' Brown 90+2', 90+6' Stokes 90+8'	Stadium: Stadium mk Attendance: 6,099 Referee: Marc Edwards

27 January 2024 27	Morecambe	0–1	Colchester United	Morecambe
15:00 GMT	Harrack 24' Rawson 75' Bedeau 90+7'	Report	Read 27' Wilkinson 74' Dallison 80'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 3,383 Referee: Daniel Middleton

3 February 2024 28	Crawley Town	1–2	Morecambe	Crawley
15:00 GMT	Forster 17' Conroy 42' Wright 78'	Report	Garner 35', 84' Tutonda 80' Harrack 90+4'	Stadium: Broadfield Stadium Attendance: 2,856 Referee: Dean Whitestone

FA Cup

Morecambe were drawn away to Lincoln City in the first round, Wycombe Wanderers in the second round and Swansea City in the third round.

4 November 2023 First Round	Lincoln City	1–2	Morecambe	Lincoln
15:00 GMT	Sørensen 14' 57' Eyoma 20' Hamilton 66'	Report	King 21' Tutonda 22' Mellon 43' Bloxham 53' Senior 62' McKiernan 66'	Stadium: LNER Stadium Attendance: 4,607 Referee: Martin Coy

2 December 2023 Second Round	Wycombe Wanderers	0–2	Morecambe	High Wycombe
15:00 GMT	Phillips 88'	Report	King 38' Bloxham 56' Mayor 74' Smith 90+5'	Stadium: Adams Park Attendance: 1,604 Referee: Peter Wright

6 January 2024 Third Round	Swansea City	2–0	Morecambe	Landore
17:30 GMT	Patino 47' Wood 77' Yates 87'	Report	Mayor 85' Edwards 89'	Stadium: Swansea.com Stadium Attendance: 7,670 Referee: Tom Nield

EFL Cup

The Shrimps were drawn away to Rotherham United in the first round.

8 August 2023 First Round	Rotherham United	1–1 (4–2 p)	Morecambe	Rotherham
19:45 BST	Kayode 37' Onyedinma 89'	Report	Mellon 22' Moore 59'	Stadium: AESSEAL New York Stadium Attendance: 2,834 Referee: Thomas Parsons
	Penalties
	Hugill Rathbone Blackett Onyedinma		McKiernan Davenport Brown Taylor
Note: Morecambe went first in the shootout.

EFL Trophy

In the group stage, Morecambe were drawn into Northern Group A alongside Barrow, Blackpool and Liverpool U21.

Pos	Div	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1	Blackpool	3	3	0	9	3	+6	9	Advance to Round 2
2	ACA	Liverpool U21	3	1	2	6	7	−1	3	Advance to Round 2
3	L2	Morecambe	3	1	2	4	6	−2	3
4	L2	Barrow	3	1	2	3	6	−3	3

Updated to match(es) played on 14 November 2023. Source: EFL.com

19 September 2023 Group Stage	Morecambe	0–3	Liverpool U21	Morecambe
19:00 BST	Brown 34' Mellon 90+4'	Report	Musiałowski 13' Frauendorf 28' Scanlon 28' Clark 39' Pitaluga 62' Davidson 80'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 1,607 Referee: Ollie Yates

10 October 2023 Group Stage	Morecambe	3–1	Barrow	Morecambe
19:00 BST	Brown 20' 38' Rooney 58' Smith 73' Rawson 90+2'	Report	Spence 57' Whitfield 68' Duffus 90+2'	Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium Attendance: 2,203 Referee: Simon Mather

14 November 2023 Group Stage	Blackpool	2–1	Morecambe	Blackpool
19:00 GMT	Beesley 21', 46' Miles 41' Mariette 45'	Report	Slew 50' Rawson 90+2'	Stadium: Bloomfield Road Attendance: 1,829 Referee: Martin Woods

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred from	Fee
1 July 2023	CF	Charlie Brown	Cheltenham Town	Free Transfer
1 July 2023	CM	JJ McKiernan	Watford	Free Transfer
1 July 2023	GK	Stuart Moore	Blackpool	Free Transfer
1 July 2023	RB	Joel Senior	Carlisle United	Free Transfer
1 July 2023	CF	Cammy Smith	Partick Thistle	Free Transfer
1 July 2023	DM	Yann Songo'o	Bradford City	Free Transfer
1 July 2023	CB	Chris Stokes	Kilmarnock	Free Transfer
7 July 2023	CF	Jordan Slew	FC Halifax Town	Free Transfer
20 July 2023	DM	Jacob Davenport	Stockport County	Free Transfer
11 August 2023	LB	David Tutonda	Gillingham	Free Transfer
23 November 2023	RB	Oscar Threlkeld	Free agent	—
3 January 2024	RW	Gwion Edwards	Free agent	—
18 January 2024	LW	Brandon Barker	Free agent	—
18 January 2024	CB	Kayden Harrack	Queens Park Rangers	Free Transfer

Out

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred to	Fee
30 June 2023	RB	Ryan Cooney	Crewe Alexandra	Released
30 June 2023	AM	Daniel Crowley	Notts County	Released
30 June 2023	CB	Ryan Delaney	Newport County	Released
30 June 2023	CF	Courtney Duffus	Barrow	Released
30 June 2023	LB	Liam Gibson	Harrogate Town	Released
30 June 2023	LW	Arthur Gnahoua	Grimsby Town	Released
30 June 2023	LW	Ashley Hunter	Milton Keynes Dons	Released
30 June 2023	GK	Andre Da Silva Mendes	Lancaster City	Released
30 June 2023	CF	Oumar Niasse	Macclesfield	Released
30 June 2023	CF	Jonathan Obika	Motherwell	Released
30 June 2023	GK	Connor Ripley	Port Vale	Released
30 June 2023	LB	Pape Souaré	Motherwell	Released
30 June 2023	CF	Cole Stockton	Burton Albion	Released
31 January 2024	LW	Adam Mayor	Millwall	Undisclosed

Loaned in

Date	Pos	Player	Loaned from	Date until
11 July 2023	CF	Michael Mellon	Burnley	8 January 2024
20 July 2023	CF	Tom Bloxham	Shrewsbury Town	9 January 2024
28 July 2023	DM	Eli King	Cardiff City	8 January 2024
31 August 2023	CB	James Connolly	Bristol Rovers	3 January 2024
1 September 2023	LW	Ethan Walker	Blackburn Rovers	2 January 2024
5 January 2024	GK	Archie Mair	Norwich City	End of Season
11 January 2024	AM	Joe Adams	Wigan Athletic	End of Season
16 January 2024	CF	Gerard Garner	Barrow	End of Season
1 February 2024	DM	Nelson Khumbeni	Bolton Wanderers	End of Season
1 February 2024	CF	Julian Larsson	Nottingham Forest	End of Season

On 8 January, Mellon was recalled back to Burnley early from his season-long loan.
On 9 January, Bloxham was recalled back to Shrewsbury early from his season-long loan.
On 8 January, King was recalled back to Cardiff early from his season-long loan.
On 3 January, Connolly was recalled back to Bristol Rovers early due to injuries within the Bristol squad.
On 2 January, Walker was recalled back to Blackburn early.

Loaned out

Date	Pos	Player	Loaned to	Date Until
12 October 2023	CM	Cameron Rooney	Nantwich Town	11 November 2023
15 December 2023	CM	Cameron Rooney	Runcorn Linnets	11 January 2024
17 January 2024	CM	Cameron Rooney	Lower Breck	15 February 2024
30 January 2024	CB	Leyton Holden	Kendal Town	29 February 2024
30 January 2024	CF	Matthew Williams	Kendal Town	29 February 2024

[42] On 8 January, Mellon was recalled back to Burnley early from his season-long loan.

[45] On 9 January, Bloxham was recalled back to Shrewsbury early from his season-long loan.

[48] On 8 January, King was recalled back to Cardiff early from his season-long loan.

[51] On 3 January, Connolly was recalled back to Bristol Rovers early due to injuries within the Bristol squad.

[54] On 2 January, Walker was recalled back to Blackburn early.