Ahead of the Spireites’ return to the Football League and League Two, we are taking a look at all 23 other teams that make up the division.
We are continuing with Morecambe:
FACT FILE
Team Name: Morecambe Football Club
Nickname: The Shrimps
Year Founded: 1920
Stadium: Mazuma Mobile Stadium
Capacity: 6,476
2023/24 SEASON
Morecambe had a pretty decent start to the 2023/24 season, winning eight from their first 14 league games. Their form started to drop around late October, and they suffered another loss when Derek Adams left to re-join Ross County. Ged Brannan, who joined the club’s coaching staff in September, accepted an 18-month contract to become manager. The Shrimps once again started to reduce the number of defeats and picked some impressive victories against Doncaster Rovers, MK Dons and Crawley Town during the winter. However, in early March, Morecambe started to fall into some bad form. Two wins from their final 11 games resulted in Morecambe finishing in 15th place. Brannan departed the club at the end of the season with Adams returning ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
MANAGER
Derek Adams, who is now in his third spell as Morecambe manager, started his managerial career with Ross County in 2007. He had two three-year spells with the club either side of a stint as assistant manager at Hibernian. The former midfielder secured his first job in England at Plymouth Argyle in 2015. He spent four years with Argyle, winning promotion to League One in the process. Adams joined Morecambe in 2019 and won the League Two play-offs in 2021 before leaving for Bradford City. The 49-year-old also had another spell with the Shrimps and Ross County ahead of returning to Morecambe in June 2024.
KEY PLAYER
There has been a lot of player turnover at Morecambe throughout the summer and George Ray is one of the incomings. The former Barrow man describes himself as a ‘no-nonsense defender’.
Last season in numbers:
Appearances – 41
Goals – 3
Assists – 2
Yellow Cards – 10
Red Cards – 1
Minutes Played – 3,816
PLAYED FOR BOTH
Liam Mandeville joined Morecambe on loan from Doncaster Rovers for the 2018/19 season. He got some regular playing time during his stint in Lancashire. The attacker played 46 times and scored four goals. Following the end of his loan stint, Mandeville was released by Doncaster.
He was picked up by Chesterfield and joined ahead of the 2019/20 campaign. The versatile attacker has become an integral part of any Chesterfield side with his work-rate and creativity. In the five years he has spent in North Derbyshire, Mandeville has 222 appearances and has 29 goals to his name. The 27-year-old played a huge part in the National League title win last season.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
P 15 W 2 D 7 L 6
Morecambe have been somewhat of a bogey team for Chesterfield with the Spireites only winning two from the 15 fixtures. The last three meetings have brought a win for either side as well as a draw.
PREVIOUS GAME
The last meeting between the two sides happened in April 2018 at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium, with both sides dangling perilously close to the League Two relegation zone. A smart free-kick routine, from the hosts, found Garry Thompson at the back post, who nodded home from close-range. Callum Lang doubled the lead just after the half-hour mark when he slotted the ball past Aaron Ramsdale. Kristian Dennis pulled one back for Chesterfield in the second half as he lashed the ball into the roof of the net. The visitors secured a point in the 74th minute with an Andy Kellett strike to level the scores.
*Morecambe photos courtesy of Jack Taylor and Matt Smith.
