In early August 2019, the bustling market town of Bury, an area famed for Victorian Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel and the full English delicacy Black Pudding, found itself making sporting headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Financial crisis hit the recently promoted Bury FC and after failure to compete in their first six league games of the season, the club became the first since Maidstone United in 1992 to be expelled from the Football League.
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A Crushed Community
In the months since their August expulsion, Bury has been a town in mourning. Saturday’s have been left empty and the club has had attempts to reinstate their beloved side knocked back continuously by the football authorities.
Efforts led by local politicians, fans, and personalities high up in the footballing hierarchy were unable to persuade the EFL that Bury could perform in League Two or the National League next season, and the North West side slowly trickled out the news and into the background of football history.
Bury’s long, if not rich, history covers over 134 years, two FA Cups and, post-World War II, constant fluctuation between the bottom three tiers. Some would say the Greater Manchester side has over performed. Fighting a David vs Goliath-esque battle for attention against nearby neighbours United and City, the club garnered respectable crowds on a consistent basis.
Therefore, when the news broke in August that the club was to be expelled, it was more than just the loss of a Saturday kick about. Bury, like any other football club across the country, formed the basis of the community. Thousands flocked to the historic Gigg Lane on matchday and hundreds followed the Shakers across the country. Yet for the first time in the clubs history, supporters had nowhere to turn on a Saturday afternoon.
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Hope?
However, recent news offers a promising lifeline for the grief-stricken fans. The North West Counties League posted a statement on their official website on December 18th, revealing they had received an application from a group called ‘Bury Phoenix’.
Bury Phoenix, whose twitter bio reads ‘bringing football back to the town of Bury’, have led the charge forward in the formation of a new side in the Bury area. If all goes to plan, Bury AFC, the club name chosen by fans, will be part of the NWCL for the 2020/21 season.
The statement from the league read:
“The North West Counties Football League on Tuesday received an application from a newly formed club, Bury AFC, for membership of the league for season 2020/21.
"The application has been received as per the regulations of the National League System. The league will be working with the club, the FA and other interested parties in progressing the application. At this stage, we are reviewing the application and supporting documents.
"The league's board of directors will meet to discuss the application and whether, as this is an application from a newly formed club, to support the application ahead of the FA deadline of 1st February 2020."
The news will be welcomed by fans who have had little choice but to sit idly as neutrals as the football season continues to progress around them.
However, the new club may have deeper rooted issues around its formation. On the same day of the application announcement, a winding up petition against the original Bury side was dismissed, meaning Bury FC sill remains an existent club.
The club is still light-years from putting eleven men back on the pitch in a competitive environment therefore fans may happily switch their allegiances to the AFC.
In which ever manner, supporters will be hoping a successful solution is devised prior to summer 2020, with fans desperately yearning for ninety minutes back on the terraces.
