Bury Football Club - Is this the end? A Football story
Football Stories : Bury Football Club - The fall, as told by those that were there, and how it might rise again
Charlie Rowan returns to The Sporting Blog with a 4 part feature on the fall of Bury Football Club, and the potential second coming through Bury AFC.
Charlie has interviewed players, a member of parliament, fans and coaches to get their view on why Bury FC is no longer with us, and what the future might hold for the proud football town of Bury. Look out for more features from Charlie in our ever-growing Football section.
Part 1 - What happened to Bury Football Club?
Part 1 - What happened to Bury FC
Bury FC were the first team to be expelled from the English Football League (EFL) since Maidstone’s liquidation in 1992. Bury was a club with such history, such passion, and in such a tight-knit community. Despite this, The Shakers were not exempt from financial peril.
In 2019, the club fell apart. Controversial ownership - Steve Dale was the club’s chairman and owner during the expulsion - left players and staff unpaid for months. However, Dale is not the whole story behind the club’s demise. Bury’s previous owner Stewart Day left the club in economic turmoil; he took out enormous loans that put the club into debt. This debt was too much for Steve Dale - a local businessman who bought the club for £1 - to recompense.
Bury entered the 2019/20 season with mixed prospects. They achieved promotion to League One under club icon Ryan Lowe as manager, playing some wonderful football. However, many of the team’s best players left because of the absence of a pay cheque. Lowe himself went to Plymouth Argyle, along with some other Bury players. The Shakers managed to keep hold of their captain Neil Danns, but they didn’t have enough players for matches. The first few games of their season were postponed, and the club was in crisis.
It wasn’t long until the EFL set a deadline for Steve Dale to clear Bury’s debt and sell the club to a new owner, or risk liquidation. This deadline was eventually extended to the 27th of August 2019 at 23:00 PM. Several prospective offers were put to Dale for a takeover, however, after seeing how extensive and complicated the debts really were, these offers failed to turn into deals.
Bury was - for many years - a football town. The local economy was heavily affected by the games at Gigg Lane. Whether home or away fans wanted a pint at the local pub or a bite to eat at the nearby café, businesses thrived on match days in Bury.
The deadline passed without any certainty of the debts being paid off or a miraculous takeover proving likely. Bury FC was then officially expelled from the EFL, leaving fans, players and former players, local businesses - anybody with an emotional attachment to the club - in despair.
It is almost one year on from the club’s expulsion from the EFL, and much has changed. Plenty of Bury FC supporters have diverted their passion and hope into the town’s new phoenix club, Bury AFC. This is because some fans feared that the original Bury FC may not play another game of football. In December 2019, the recently founded club applied to join the North West Counties Football League - the tenth tier of the English football league system - for the 2020/21 season. This application was successful and there is now hope that football - despite a vast change of division - would return to the Greater Manchester town.
Then COVID-19 hit. This has provoked financial uncertainty among lower league football clubs. Many players and pundits - including former West Ham player Tony Cascarino - are predicting that some clubs with economic difficulties could follow Bury’s footsteps in liquidation.
So, what’s next for Bury? What really went wrong? Who is to blame? In this feature piece, Charlie Rowan speaks to key figures that witnessed Bury FC’s demise to trace the answers for some of the story’s most significant questions.
Witness - The club legend
Nick Daws, simply put, is a Bury FC cult hero. He made 369 appearances for The Shakers from 1992-2001 as a midfielder.
The current assistant manager for AFC Wimbledon spoke to The Sporting Blog to tell us his experiences at Bury, his views on what happened, his message to Bury FC fans and more.
When asked what went wrong at Bury FC, Daws said: “It appears that for a sustained period the club has overspent beyond its means leaving it in a terrible financial situation. There is often a desire to overspend for many reasons, such as trying to win promotion, avoid relegation or outside influences.
“I am terribly sad that the club that gave me my professional opportunity is in this position and any hope I may have had of Bury FC returning in some capacity looks unlikely. Expulsion from the EFL is a real blow and one that upsets me greatly. It has been hard for all parties concerned I am sure but the only way is to look forward to the future now.”
Daws added: “This whole situation could have been avoided through more prudent financial management.
“There will be a future for Bury I am sure. My current club AFC Wimbledon is a testament to what is possible. Whether the future is as Bury FC or as a phoenix club such as Bury AFC, only time will tell. One thing that is certain though is that the relevant people need to pull together and have a common objective with clear thinking, rather than many different parties working independently.
“I would like to tell the fans that my love for the club still exists and will do so however this situation resolves itself. I’d ask them to be patient and supportive of the people who are working to find a future for the club , and positive that one day Bury fans will have a team to support again.”
The former Scunthorpe United head coach told us his favourite moments at Bury: “It’s hard because there were so many [great moments] such as my debut season in ‘92 and marking Eric Cantona and Mark Hughes. Also playing at Wembley in 1995, the moment we knew we’d got promoted to League One minutes after we’d beaten Cardiff City, staying up on the last day at QPR and the personal accolades given to me by the fans over the years.
“Probably getting promoted to the Championship at Watford stands out at the best.”
Part 2 - The Journalist
Part 2: The journalist - Interviewing the Interviewer
Marc Iles is the Chief Football Writer at the Bury Times and The Bolton News. We wanted to understand how a journalist covered the news of such a historic club’s downfall, and we felt he would be the perfect person to talk to.
Not only did he witness and cover the story of Bury FC’s liquidation, but Iles was also on the front-line of covering Bolton Wanderers’ financial trouble and how they secured a last-minute takeover - a feat Bury were unfortunately unable to replicate.
The Bury Times - Closer than most to the Bury FC story
He told us: “My job entails writing about clubs across the newspaper group, and as it happened last summer Bolton Wanderers were also on the brink of liquidation, so it was quite an eventful time, professionally. The hardest part was trying to write objectively and sticking to facts, when so much information (and sometimes misinformation) was flying around.
“Of course, it is a local journalist’s job to reflect the views of the fanbase but in both Bury and Bolton’s case, there was a lot of anger which I had to try and filter out of the articles I produced.
“Without a doubt, the demise of Bury is the hardest thing I have had to witness in the profession and having made so many friends at acquaintances at the club down the years, my sympathies were entirely with them.”
Iles explained: “The lack of reliable and available information on the mess Stuart Day had made of the club meant that by the time Steve Dale came to bury Bury, they were already on a very slippery slope.
“But as the picture slowly emerged on just how much debt had been stacked up on Gigg Lane, and how Day’s personal businesses had declined, there was no single area for people to direct their anger.
“Dale did not handle the situation well and his personal skills leave a lot to be desired in my opinion. Had the EFL rejected his claim to the club earlier – there may have been an easier way out of it.
“In my experience, everyone is wiser after the event. People who feel they could have bought the club and done a better job are always likely to say so.
“Could the EFL have been stronger and stopped Bury in their tracks before Dale took charge, highlighting the problems which had emerged under the radar with Day? Yes – In my opinion they should have done.
“On a handful of occasions, reporters from our desk were accused of being ‘overly negative’ when reporting financial issues at Bury.”
The journalist added his thoughts on Bury’s prospects for the future: “Dale believes he can still get rid of the £3.7million of debt on Gigg Lane and have the club placed into the National League next season, after which he will step down. Of course, many Bury fans remain sceptical.”
“He also claims to be launching a legal fight against the EFL, saying that Bolton Wanderers were given preferential treatment.
“With everything on hold, it is hard to see things being sorted in time for Bury to be inserted at that level for the 2020/21 season, but a phoenix club has been launched and say they are ready to go.
When asked whether other clubs will follow in Bury’s footsteps financially because of COVID-19, he responded with: “Without a doubt. The pandemic has strangled the only source of cash flow that many clubs have – and furthermore, it may impact on next season too.
“Football should take this chance to reorganise its finances but I fear there will be casualties.
The resurrection of Bury FC was another topic we spoke about: “It boils down to whether Dale can do what he says. If so, then there is a chance.
“If not, the phoenix club represents a town team which is desperately needed.
“I look forward to matchday in Bury, regardless of what level the football is played at.”
Part 3 : The MP
Part 3 - Interviewing James Frith
James Frith was the MP for Bury North during the club’s expulsion from the EFL.
To understand the importance of Bury FC to the Northern town, we spoke to the politician. Frith revealed his thoughts on how and why The Shakers disintegrated as a club and his hopes for the future of football in Bury.
Frith explained to us what happened at the football club from his perspective: “It is a multi-layered problem that requires many different answers. First of all, the change of ownership from Stewart Day to Steve Dale was the most recent and biggest of the issues facing the club. Stewart Day owning the club in the first place and leveraging a shedload of debt into the club, diluting his shares, selling rights to the ground and the car park space, etcetera, leaves a huge legacy.”
“The government said the game, with the EFL (English Football League), presided over a change of ownership without a proof of funds. When they finally asked for it, we were out of the season having just been promoted, and the current owner [Steve Dale] refused to show proof of funds - as such, we [Bury FC] got rejected from the league.”
“I’ve said before that the responsibility is divided by a third, a third and a third. So, a third Stewart Day, a third Steve Dale and a third the EFL. I would say that the rot set in under Stewart Day but was exploited by Steve Dale.
"I regret, as everyone in the town of Bury regrets, the demise of the football club. I think those that were close to saving The Shakers in some form, everybody did as much as we could - there was no football godmother, ultimately, to give us three wishes for the club to come back. And sadly, we were prevented from doing so for a number of reasons.”
We asked the former MP for his opinion on how important the club was to the town. He responded with:
“It was huge. It gave the town a sense of momentum, a forward direction. It inspired a very positive feeling around the town if we won and it gave lots of disappointment if we lost.
“It obviously brought a huge amount of revenue for the town, not just the away fans visiting - home fans that leave the ground and go for drinks in the pub or for some food. So it was very important to the town, as any club is, but more so for a club with Bury’s prestige and heritage. In a town like ours, that has had a dreadful decade of financial restrictions and cuts from the government under austerity, it was very much a jewel in the crown, and that has been ripped out of the town’s consciousness, the town’s cultural capital and economic capital.”
Frith added: “I got pretty close to Ryan Lowe [Bury FC manager], and I sponsored a player towards the middle of last season. So, I had good connections as the town’s MP. But, in truth, the ownership of the club was not interested in outreach and work with the community and the like. It was very much a private operation.”
He revealed his communications with the club: “I met with the hierarchy. I met with a couple of them over time, and, initially, I tried to work with the current owner [Steve Dale] to make a breakthrough, including a signed commitment that he would commit to selling the club, but that didn’t happen and the relationship pretty much broke down between him and everyone else.
“I think if the current owner had proof of funds, and the will to stump up the cash for the club, then we might have got somewhere with the EFL, and carried on into this season - of course this season would have been a long start anyway for us with the outcome of Coronavirus and everything. As a result of a different owner, we might have survived it, and that’s why it ultimately comes down to his [Steve Dale’s] responsibility for the demise of the club.”
The EFL certainly had a large role in the club’s demise. The Shakers’ chairman Steve Dale has reportedly taken legal action against the EFL, with him claiming that Bury were treated disproportionally compared to Bolton Wanderers. I contacted the EFL for comment but they suggested only factual information could be provided for various reasons, including the “number of requests they get from education”.
Frith said: “Yes, I do blame the EFL for their part - a lack of creativity and thought, and unwillingness to give more time for an extension [of the deadline to change ownership]. They gave an extension on the eve of the deadline by about a day, over a bank holiday weekend late in August. And that was after huge amounts of work to convince them [EFL] that that is what they needed to do. We were left with no choice, really.
“We worked our socks off to get a deal over the line, but, ultimately, the responsibility saw the ground and the debt fall into the club and that meant that it wasn’t a viable purchase, and the price that the mortgage operator wanted for the ground was just millions too much.
“I think there is some truth in Dale’s court case claims, yes. The perception was that the bigger club was given more assistance than the smaller club, and that’s certainly true for Bolton and Bury and their relationship with the EFL.”
I asked him for his message to his former constituents. He replied: “I said a lot during the election, actually. I still have a plan and a proposal, which I’ve published on my website, as to how we come together to buy the ground, and make it a community space, with football and a whole host of things. Sadly, without a mandate of being the MP, having lost by such a short number, that’s not in my hands now. It’s now up to others to progress that, although, I am still involved with the Shakers’ community and the new Bury Phoenix club [AFC Bury].”
We also spoke about the chance of the club being resurrected: “It is very difficult to predict. A lot will depend on both the COVID-19 situation and Steve Dale on whether or not he will finally sell the club because I don’t believe the FA [Football Association] are likely to give Steve Dale a second chance.
“The government nationally should be much tougher on the EFL. They should expect the EFL to exert its authority sooner, and they should check the proof of finance if an owner is taking over a club. There needs to be better safeguarding of supporter and community groups in a football club. Ultimately, any owner is an owner only until they decide to sell it to the next person - but the fans don’t go through that. The fans are there forever.
“There should be better legislation and better guidance of regulations to acknowledge that. As to local government, along with Bury council and the combined authorities, they have a role to play. It’s not about them buying the club, but it is about them enabling the community to have a bigger say about the ground and the club, when they’d usually pay for things such as clinics and housing - this money could definitely assist with the plans. So, it is a grand vision, and it is one of my regrets that I’m not in a position to carry on, at least until the next general election.
“Yes, I think there is an argument for the government stepping in next time. I think on what terms, though, is the question. At the moment, while there isn’t a willingness from the owner to relinquish control of the club, I don’t know whether the government would have an appetite for that. If finally, the ownership was relinquished, and a competent owner went with a plan and asked the government to help, certainly the government and the opposition that talked a good game, could have got something done.
Now that the government has pledged to invest funds into the North of England, we asked Frith whether they can do this regarding football. He said: “I think a community asset, a fund that allows communities to borrow, would be one way, and clearly the legislation for towns like Bury, who’ve got football clubs that we need to protect.”
Frith added: “I know that the hurt is real. I think people should support the Phoenix club [AFC Bury] and their work - they are doing really great work. I think we shouldn’t give up hope that Bury Football Club will one day rise again. As Bury says, keep the faith.”
James Frith was the MP for Bury North during the club’s expulsion from the EFL. To understand the importance of Bury FC to the Northern town, we spoke to the politician. Frith revealed his thoughts on how and why The Shakers disintegrated as a club and his hopes for the future of football in Bury.
Frith explained to us what happened at the football club from his perspective: “It is a multi-layered problem that requires many different answers. First of all, the change of ownership from Stewart Day to Steve Dale was the most recent and biggest of the issues facing the club. Stewart Day owning the club in the first place and leveraging a shedload of debt into the club, diluting his shares, selling rights to the ground and the car park space, etcetera, leaves a huge legacy.
“The government said the game, with the EFL (English Football League), presided over a change of ownership without a proof of funds. When they finally asked for it, we were out of the season having just been promoted, and the current owner [Steve Dale] refused to show proof of funds - as such, we [Bury FC] got rejected from the league.”
“I’ve said before that the responsibility is divided by a third, a third and a third. So, a third Stewart Day, a third Steve Dale and a third the EFL. I would say that the rot set in under Stewart Day but was exploited by Steve Dale.
"I regret, as everyone in the town of Bury regrets, the demise of the football club. I think those that were close to saving The Shakers in some form, everybody did as much as we could - there was no football godmother, ultimately, to give us three wishes for the club to come back. And sadly, we were prevented from doing so for a number of reasons.”
We asked the former MP for his opinion on how important the club was to the town. He responded with: “It was huge. It gave the town a sense of momentum, a forward direction. It inspired a very positive feeling around the town if we won and it gave lots of disappointment if we lost.
“It obviously brought a huge amount of revenue for the town, not just the away fans visiting - home fans that leave the ground and go for drinks in the pub or for some food. So it was very important to the town, as any club is, but more so for a club with Bury’s prestige and heritage. In a town like ours, that has had a dreadful decade of financial restrictions and cuts from the government under austerity, it was very much a jewel in the crown, and that has been ripped out of the town’s consciousness, the town’s cultural capital and economic capital.”
Frith added: “I got pretty close to Ryan Lowe [Bury FC manager], and I sponsored a player towards the middle of last season. So, I had good connections as the town’s MP. But, in truth, the ownership of the club was not interested in outreach and work with the community and the like. It was very much a private operation.”
He revealed his communications with the club: “I met with the hierarchy. I met with a couple of them over time, and, initially, I tried to work with the current owner [Steve Dale] to make a breakthrough, including a signed commitment that he would commit to selling the club, but that didn’t happen and the relationship pretty much broke down between him and everyone else.
“I think if the current owner had proof of funds, and the will to stump up the cash for the club, then we might have got somewhere with the EFL, and carried on into this season - of course this season would have been a long start anyway for us with the outcome of Coronavirus and everything. As a result of a different owner, we might have survived it, and that’s why it ultimately comes down to his [Steve Dale’s] responsibility for the demise of the club.”
The EFL certainly had a large role in the club’s demise. The Shakers’ chairman Steve Dale has reportedly taken legal action against the EFL, with him claiming that Bury were treated disproportionally compared to Bolton Wanderers. I contacted the EFL for comment but they suggested only factual information could be provided for various reasons, including the “number of requests they get from education”.
Frith said: “Yes, I do blame the EFL for their part - a lack of creativity and thought, and unwillingness to give more time for an extension [of the deadline to change ownership]. They gave an extension on the eve of the deadline by about a day, over a bank holiday weekend late in August. And that was after huge amounts of work to convince them [EFL] that that is what they needed to do. We were left with no choice, really.
“We worked our socks off to get a deal over the line, but, ultimately, the responsibility saw the ground and the debt fall into the club and that meant that it wasn’t a viable purchase, and the price that the mortgage operator wanted for the ground was just millions too much.
“I think there is some truth in Dale’s court case claims, yes. The perception was that the bigger club was given more assistance than the smaller club, and that’s certainly true for Bolton and Bury and their relationship with the EFL.”
I asked him for his message to his former constituents. He replied: “I said a lot during the election, actually. I still have a plan and a proposal, which I’ve published on my website, as to how we come together to buy the ground, and make it a community space, with football and a whole host of things. Sadly, without a mandate of being the MP, having lost by such a short number, that’s not in my hands now. It’s now up to others to progress that, although, I am still involved with the Shakers’ community and the new Bury Phoenix club [AFC Bury].”
We also spoke about the chance of the club being resurrected: “It is very difficult to predict. A lot will depend on both the COVID-19 situation and Steve Dale on whether or not he will finally sell the club because I don’t believe the FA [Football Association] are likely to give Steve Dale a second chance.
“The government nationally should be much tougher on the EFL. They should expect the EFL to exert its authority sooner, and they should check the proof of finance if an owner is taking over a club. There needs to be better safeguarding of supporter and community groups in a football club. Ultimately, any owner is an owner only until they decide to sell it to the next person - but the fans don’t go through that. The fans are there forever.
“There should be better legislation and better guidance of regulations to acknowledge that. As to local government, along with Bury council and the combined authorities, they have a role to play. It’s not about them buying the club, but it is about them enabling the community to have a bigger say about the ground and the club, when they’d usually pay for things such as clinics and housing - this money could definitely assist with the plans. So, it is a grand vision, and it is one of my regrets that I’m not in a position to carry on, at least until the next general election.
“Yes, I think there is an argument for the government stepping in next time. I think on what terms, though, is the question. At the moment, while there isn’t a willingness from the owner to relinquish control of the club, I don’t know whether the government would have an appetite for that. If finally, the ownership was relinquished, and a competent owner went with a plan and asked the government to help, certainly the government and the opposition that talked a good game, could have got something done.
Now that the government has pledged to invest funds into the North of England, we asked Frith whether they can do this regarding football. He said: “I think a community asset, a fund that allows communities to borrow, would be one way, and clearly the legislation for towns like Bury, who’ve got football clubs that we need to protect.”
Frith added: “I know that the hurt is real. I think people should support the Phoenix club [AFC Bury] and their work - they are doing really great work. I think we shouldn’t give up hope that Bury Football Club will one day rise again. As Bury says, keep the faith.”
Part 4 : The Player
Part 4 - Interviewing former Bury FC player Chris Stokes
Chris Stokes played a crucial role in Bury FC’s promotion to League One during the 2018/19 season, making 37 appearances as a defender.
The club’s financial struggles meant that the 29-year-old was, along with most other players and staff, unpaid for months. In July, he agreed to join Stevenage on a free transfer - however, the spell at the Hertfordshire club was short lived and Stokes rejoined his former side Forest Green Rovers in January; he may have moved clubs, but, emotionally, he has not moved on from The Shakers.
We spoke to the English left-back, and he gave us his thoughts on what life was like at the Greater Manchester side, his opinions on the club’s change of ownership and whether he’d consider a return to Bury if the club was resurrected.
He told us: “Bury was great. It was a real family club, and I settled in really well.
“This warm atmosphere came from both the fans and the people behind the club. There were a lot of staff that I met early on, that have been there a lot of years, that made me feel really welcome. The fans were really good and the club has got a lot of history - I was made aware of that just talking to the fans in and around the games.
“I signed a two-year contract, so it was an ambition of mine to be there for the foreseeable future. I was going to be at the club for a long time, and what happened, I didn’t really see it coming. I was aware there were problems at the club; a lot of sides do have these issues, but they never really evolve into something like what happened at Bury. So, I didn’t see it coming, and I was very disappointed that it happened.”
Stokes revealed: “At the start, we got the information. There were little bits of issues, but the chairman was coming into the club, and we were always getting paid on time. There was never really that major issue. But it got to the January/February [2019] time, and the previous chairman [Stewart Day] left, and then we realised there were all sorts of issues. He came out and, if there were any issues, he explained them to us.
The new chairman coming in - we thought it was great. A lot of clubs have these things where clubs get sold, and a new chairman comes in; we thought “right, we’re gonna carry on the way we did [before the new chairman, Steve Dale, came in]”, and we did pretty well as a football club. However, the new chairman came in promising a lot but he never delivered.”
He described the final few moments at the club: “It was very difficult. It was frustrating ‘cause we were doing so well on the football pitch, but we had these issues going on in the background, and they never looked like they were going to get better. We tried as best as we could to carry on. As I said, the football club was great, and everyone apart from the person who was running the club were fantastic. So, it was really disappointing, that it all came down to him [Steve Dale], to keep the club going, and he was the one that let down loads of people.
“There was always that bit of hope that the chairman would deliver what he promised, or that someone else would take the club over. ‘Cause there was always the chance that would happen towards the end of the season, definitely, because there were a lot of other parties that were interested in taking on the club. But, as they got more of an idea of the state the club was in, they backed away. Then, you lose hope that if one person comes in, they sort of don’t want to take over. Then they go, and your hope dwindles. And it was disappointing that no one did take it on, ‘cause it was a club that was moving forward - to get back into League One was great, we had a great squad, and we really could have kicked on.”
We asked Stokes for what he felt Bury could have achieved next. He responded: “I could touch on just there. We could have done well in League One. We could easily have been fine, maybe getting to the play-offs [sixth place to third place] if we added a few more players. That’s what you look to do. It was really upsetting, the manager had built a really good team and he had great backroom staff around him as well.
We were a really tight-knit group, especially with what happened off the field, it brought us even closer. Everyone really wanted to do well, and I think the core of the team would have stayed on for the following season and that would have helped. We would have also added one or two players to help us into League One and we could have had a good season again.
“When the club was officially expelled from the EFL, I was very upset and disappointed, ‘cause I was at Bury to have a long successful time there. So, after one year at the club, it’s very frustrating that what we built in that one season - obviously it’s tough when you get relegated, so we had to start again and rebuild a whole new team - was all blown up, and I felt like all our hard work was for no reason.”
Stokes explained: “I can’t really comment on what has happened in the background, because I can only get the information from the previous chairman and the chairman that took over. But the board, we don’t really see many of them - it is just the chairman. We get the information - let’s say there are some statements that come out - at the same time as everyone else. There were a lot of problems, and the club disappearing now shows how much of a mess Bury FC was in.”
He added: “When the previous chairman [Stewart Day] sold the club, if we had ended up with a better owner, we could have been saved. Or, if the owner that did come in [Steve Dale] had produced what he said he would do, and actually backed it up, that would have helped the club. And if he would have sold it towards the end of the season to someone, ‘cause there were interested parties, but there was then - from what we were made aware of - some issues of him telling the potential buyers that he wanted extra money. A lot of finances played a part in it and things didn’t add up the way they probably should do.
“I think, when the current chairman took over, maybe if the EFL had looked into it more and read through his finances, we could still have Bury Football Club, but this sort of thing got rushed through a little bit. I don’t think you can dwell on what happened there. I think something went wrong ‘cause he didn’t have what he said he did; he might have done, but he never wanted to put it in. So it’s hard to comment on the financial side of things, as I was never told the full information.
“When it all ended and I wasn’t getting paid, we were all made aware that it probably wouldn’t carry on. And that’s when I started looking for a new club. You see lots of other [Bury] players going to different clubs and you think, “right, well there is no club anymore,” and you don’t want to be left. We didn’t get paid since February, so I waited around until June or July. And when you get an offer on the table from another club, you take it, really. You can’t dwell around for too long ‘cause then someone else will take that [contract offer] off you. I waited as long as I could, but I couldn’t wait that much longer.
“We were a tightly-knit group, really. Everyone was in the same boat - it wasn’t as if some were getting paid and some weren’t. Obviously everyone was disappointed with a lack of paycheques, and you do get frustrated that you’re not being paid for your work. But we did the best we could, we vibed as a team and we all stuck together.”
He gave us his message to the Bury FC fanbase:
“I salute the fans. I want to say a big thank you to them because without them, the football club wouldn’t have been what it was. We vibed as a unit, us players, and we did that for the fans.”
“We could have just stopped playing, but we knew how important the football club was for those fans. And we gave those fans something to enjoy on the pitch to show that we were doing our bit, and the staff did as well. The groundsman [Michael Curtis] is still working hard on the pitch at Gigg Lane; he’s not getting paid still to this day. It just shows what a football club Bury FC is.”
We also asked Stokes whether he misses the club. He said: “Yes, I miss Bury greatly. I had a great time there, even in a short period. As I’ve said before, we were a really tightly-knit group. And players and staff’s support were really great. That’s why we were really disappointed that it ended because what happened on the pitch was great.
“I could definitely see myself returning to Bury if it was resurrected. I don’t really see why not. I did have a really good time there. So, if the club were to come back, and they are fighting in a division I would be playing in at the right time, and if it goes along with the paths I see my career going in, then yes, definitely. I would never rule out going back to Bury in the future.”
Ultimately, these four interviews have revealed that the club is still very much alive. This is what we have learned from these four in-depth features:
The owners didn’t care about Bury FC and its supporters enough to keep it going financially.
The EFL were lacklustre and unmotivated with their approach in helping keep the club in their league system.
The football team was hugely important for the local economy.
Even as the finances disintegrated, the players maintained a very close and tight knit atmosphere with the fans.
Other EFL clubs could follow in Bury’s financial footsteps due to COVID-19.
For those involved, the first-hand experience of Bury’s demise was frustrating, disappointing and deeply upsetting.
Each interviewee’s experience with Bury FC was different. But they all felt the same about the club. There is so much love for The Shakers. “This love will last forever.”
Now that there is the strong possibility of the beautiful game returning to Bury through Bury AFC, supporters are hopeful that the passion and love for their club - such a historic club - is reignited.
The headline’s question has one answer. This is not the end for Bury Football Club.
“Keep the faith.”
Written by Charlie Rowan for The Sporting Blog.
