League One side Bury have been handed a 12-point deduction by the EFL after the club’s creditors approved a rescue plan to clear some of their debts.

The creditors will be paid in full under the Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) put forward by the club’s owner, Steve Dale, last month.

Under EFL rules, a CVA qualifies as an insolvency event and therefore triggers a points deduction. Bury have seven days to appeal.

Some debts to be cleared

The CVA will see the club’s football creditors repaid the full £950,652 which the proposal said they were owed.

Furthermore, unsecured creditors are due almost £6million and will be paid 25% of the money owed under the CVA, although £3.6million is owed to owner Dale who has said he will not seek any of the money.

£1million of that is owed to HM Revenue & Customs following a winding-up petition brought to the High Court last month over an unpaid tax bill. The case was adjourned for the third time to allow a sale of the club, which has been on the market since April, to take place.

Dale bought the club for £1 in December from previous owner Stewart Day, from whom Dale has consistently claimed he inherited the club’s financial problems.

Bury achieved promotion from League Two last season despite staff and players experiencing delays to the payment of wages.

Bury ‘future secured’

In a statement on the club’s website, Dale declared that the club’s “future is secured” after the CVA was approved.

“We have worked tirelessly to achieve the result today whilst taking a lot of flak," he said.

“Some might say our methods were questionable but we can all pass comment with hindsight, my job was to save Bury FC and that’s done, we have other hurdles but the main one is complete.”

Trotters in trouble

Bury will join Bolton Wanderers in beginning the League One season on -12 points after the Trotters went into administration in May.

Bolton’s players released a statement this week saying they are not happy with the progress of a takeover of the club, which remains in the hands of administrators, and that they have not been paid their wages in 20 weeks.

A scheduled pre-season friendly against Chester has been called off amidst the off-field difficulties.