Bury Football Club is an English
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club based in
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
, whose team last played in
EFL League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
, the fourth
tier of English football, in the
2018–19 season. The team are known as "The Shakers", and play in white shirts and navy blue shorts.
Gigg Lane
Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...
, one of the world's oldest football grounds, has been the club's home venue since 1885. The club has long-standing rivalries with near neighbours
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
,
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
and
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
. Established in 1885, Bury was a founder member of the
Lancashire League in 1889 and crowned champions in 1890–91 and 1891–92, before being elected to the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
in 1894.
Bury won the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
in 1894–95 and earned promotion to the
First Division in which they played for 17 seasons. They won the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
in
1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...
with a 4–0 victory over
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
and again in
1903
Events January
* January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India.
* January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...
with a record 6–0 win over
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
. Bury were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the
1911–12 season and were there for twelve years until securing promotion as runners-up in
1923–24. They were relegated in
1928–29, their last top-flight season. In
1956–57, they dropped into the third tier for the first time but won promotion as champions of the
Third Division under
Dave Russell in
1960–61. From 1967 to 1971, they had one promotion and three relegations, the last of which was from the Third to the
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
.
Bury won promotion at the end of the
1973–74 campaign and remained in the Third Division until
1979–80. In 1995,
Stan Ternent
Francis Stanley Ternent (born 16 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. He managed Blackpool, Hull City, Bury, Burnley, Gillingham and Huddersfield Town. He was a scout for Hull City until January 2017. As a manager, he won thre ...
took over as team manager. He led the team back to the second tier for the first time in 28 years after securing two consecutive promotions in
1995–96 and
1996–97. The club stayed there for just two seasons before being relegated twice in four seasons. They secured promotion out of League Two in
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
. After that, Bury switched between
Leagues One and Two, being twice relegated (in
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
and
2017–18) and twice promoted (in
2014–15 and
2018–19). Bury finished the 2018–19 season as runners-up in League Two, earning promotion to League One for the
2019–20 season. However, the club was unable to begin the season because of longstanding financial difficulties, and was expelled from the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
.
In November 2020, the club was placed into
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
. In February 2022, Bury fans' group Est.1885 completed the purchase of Gigg Lane from the administrator and announced that they have acquired the trading name, history and memorabilia of Bury FC. After the sale was completed, efforts began to bring professional football back to Bury. In October 2022 supporters were urged to vote in a poll regarding a potential amalgamation of the Bury Football Club Supporters' Society (who own
Gigg Lane
Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...
and the "Bury FC" trading name) and the Shakers Community Society (who own a separate
phoenix club
The Phoenix Building and Cincinnati Club are two historic buildings in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The membership of these two clubs was chiefly Jewish.
Located at 812 Race Street, the Phoenix Building was constructed in 1893, desi ...
called
Bury AFC). If the merger was agreed, a new society - The Football Supporters' Society of Bury - would be formed, based at Gigg Lane, while Bury AFC would change its playing name to Bury Football Club. However, the proposals failed to reach the required 66% threshold from both societies.
History
Formation and early years (1885–1895)
Bury Football Club was founded on 24 April 1885 after Aiden Arrowsmith, a local enthusiast, had brokered two meetings between church teams Bury Wesleyans and Bury Unitarians at the Waggon & Horses Hotel and the Old White Horse Hotel.
It was agreed from the outset that the team should be professional. The FA had recently legitimised professionalism but it was still a controversial topic.
Ahead of the 1885–86 season, the club leased a plot of land on
Gigg Lane
Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...
from the
Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end ...
's estate.
[Goldstein, p. 107.] On 12 September 1885, the first match played there was a friendly against a team from Wigan and Bury won 4–3.
The club first entered the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
in
1887–88 and were drawn to play
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
away from home in the first round. They travelled to
Ewood Park
Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...
but scratched before the game. The two teams played a
friendly match
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
instead, which Bury lost heavily by 10–0. Some sources, including the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF), have recorded the friendly as a first-round FA Cup tie.
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
, however, lists the result as a
walkover
John_Carpenter_was_disqualified,_prompting_his_teammates_John_Taylor_(athlete).html" ;"title="John_Carpenter_(athlete).html" "title="Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres">men's 400 metres running in a walkover. Americ ...
by Blackburn,
[ Individual seasons accessed via dropdown menu.] recognising that Bury withdrew from the competition. This is confirmed by the ''
Lancashire Evening Post
The ''Lancashire Evening Post'' is a daily newspaper based in Fulwood, a suburb of the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. According to the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of th ...
's'' evening edition of the same day, which reported that "Bury scratched before the match, and played an ordinary game". Bury FC do not include the tie in their complete FA Cup record.
![Bury1892](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Bury1892.jpg)
Bury were founder members of the
Lancashire League in 1889,
finishing as runners-up in the inaugural 1889–90 competition. They won the championship the next two seasons.
In 1891–92, Bury were
Lancashire Cup winners for the first time, and they have won this competition a total of eleven times, most recently in 2017–18. The club's nickname—"The Shakers"—was first used at the 1892 Lancashire Cup final against
Everton. Before the match, J. T. Ingham, the club's chairman manager, reportedly inspired the players by saying: "We shall shake 'em! In fact, we are the Shakers". His words were popularised by the media and the club subsequently adopted the term as their official nickname. Also in 1891–92, Bury contested an FA Cup tie for the first time when they defeated Witton and Heywood Central before losing to
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
after a
replay in the
third qualifying round
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (disambiguation)
* Third Avenue (disambiguation)
* Hig ...
.
[
In 1894, the club was elected to ]the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
. In their first season, 1894–95, they won the Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
title by a nine-point margin and beat Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, the First Division's bottom club, in the test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
to gain promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
.
1895–1929
Bury retained their top-flight status for seventeen seasons until they were relegated to the Second Division after the 1911–12 season (they finished in the relegation positions in the 1904–05 season but avoided relegation when the capacity of Division One was increased from eighteen to twenty clubs). In 1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...
and 1903
Events January
* January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India.
* January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...
, Bury won the FA Cup, scoring ten goals in the two finals without conceding any.
In the 1900 final, they beat Southern League team Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
4–0. Bury's run to the final was remarkable in that they were drawn away from home in every round but won through with victories over Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
, cup holders Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
and Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
. The semi-final against Forest was played at Stoke and ended 1–1 after Bury missed a penalty. A replay was held at Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United.
The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...
in Sheffield and Bury began disastrously by conceding two goals in the first two minutes. Charlie Sagar pulled one back after 55 minutes and then Jasper McLuckie equalised with only five minutes to go. Extra time was played and Sagar scored the winner after 110 minutes of play. The final at the old Crystal Palace ground was played in a heatwave and Bury, captained by Jack Pray, dominated from the start. The goals in a one-sided match were scored by McLuckie (2), Willie Wood
William Vernell Wood Sr. (December 23, 1936February 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and coach. He played as a safety with the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). Wood was an eight-time Pro Bowler an ...
and Jack Plant
John Plant (23 March 1871 – early 1950) was an English international association football, footballer, who played as an Outside forward, outside left.
Early and personal life
Plant was born in Bollington, Cheshire on 23 March 1871. He was the ...
. The players were on a win bonus of £10 each in the final, ten times more than their usual £1 per match bonus.
Three years later, Bury did not concede a goal in any round. En route to the final against Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
, Bury defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
, Sheffield United, Notts County and Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
. As in 1900, the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
was played at the old Crystal Palace ground in south London. A crowd of 63,102 attended. As the two teams wore identical kits, agreement on colours for the day was necessary and they both changed with Bury wearing Cambridge blue shirts and navy shorts while Derby chose red shirts and black shorts.
Six of Bury's 1900 finalists were in the 1903 team, led by skipper George Ross who scored the opening goal after 20 minutes. Derby's keeper Jack Fryer played despite an existing injury which he aggravated early in the second half when he was trying to prevent Charlie Sagar from scoring Bury's second goal. As a result, Fryer was forced to leave the field and, as substitutes were not allowed then, one of the full-backs deputised in goal and their team was down to ten men for most of the last forty minutes. Bury scored three goals in four minutes just before the hour was up and their sixth after 76 minutes. Joe Leeming scored the third and last goals. Willie Wood and Jack Plant scored the other two. The final was a no contest and Derby were lambasted by the press for their poor performance. One reporter commented that, but for being merciful, Bury should have scored twenty. Bury's 6–0 win established an FA Cup final record for the biggest winning margin. Bury remained sole holders of the record until the 2019 final in which Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
defeated Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
by the same score. The ball used in the 1903 final is on display at the National Football Museum
The National Football Museum is England's national museum of football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of football memorabilia.
The museum was originally b ...
.
Until 1907, the team was always managed by one or more committee members. Club secretary Harry Spencer Hamer is believed to have been in charge of the team in both the 1900 and 1903 FA Cup finals, but he was never formally appointed team manager. The first specialist team manager was goalkeeper Archie Montgomery
Archibald Montgomery (born 27 January 1873 – 5 January 1922) was a Scottish footballer. His regular position was as a goalkeeper. He was born in Chryston, Lanarkshire. He played for Manchester United, Rangers, and Bury. He would also manage A ...
who was appointed on 1 February 1907. He was in charge when the team were relegated in 1912 and stayed on until 30 April 1915 when he was dismissed because of the club's lack of income in wartime. The club had a windfall in 1922 when Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby
Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, (4 April 1865 – 4 February 1948), styled Mr Edward Stanley until 1886, then The Hon Edward Stanley and then Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British soldier, Conservative politician, d ...
, unexpectedly gifted them with the freehold of Gigg Lane. The team returned to the First Division for a five-season spell in 1924 and achieved their highest-ever league position, fourth, in 1925–26. Bury have not played in the top flight since relegation back to the Second Division in 1929.
1929–1969
Striving to recover First Division status, Bury had four top six finishes in Division Two in the 1930s. The closest that they have ever come to a top flight return was in 1936–37 when they finished third (only the first two teams were promoted).
With first-class league and cup football suspended for the duration of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, regional wartime competitions were organised in which Bury took part. Like all other clubs, they often relied on guest players because of service calls. There were ten regional leagues in 1939–40 and Bury were in the North West League, finishing as champions. The team were unbeaten in a sequence of 16 matches from October to February.[Andrews, p. 11.] On 30 December 1939, they played a friendly against Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
which resulted in a 7–6 win for Bury.
Bury were close to relegation from the Second Division several times after the war. They finally dropped into the Third Division North
The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...
for the first time in 1957. 1957–58 was that division's last season before the regional sections were amalgamated into national Third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
and Fourth Divisions.
Under manager Dave Russell, a young Bury team were Third Division champions in 1960–61. They spent seven of the next eight seasons back in the Second Division with a best position of eighth in 1962–63. In the 1962–63 Football League Cup, they reached the semi-final but lost 4–3 on aggregate to eventual winners Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
. For three seasons from 1963, Bury's best player was the future England midfielder Colin Bell, who was team captain while still a teenager. He transferred to Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
in 1966 and Bury were relegated the following season. They bounced straight back as Third Division runners-up in 1968 but went down again in 1969.
1969–2000
In 1971, relegation from Division Three took Bury into the Fourth Division for the first time. They gained promotion in 1974 and spent six seasons in the Third Division before the next relegation. The club celebrated its centenary in 1985 by gaining promotion back to the Third Division.
Bury came close to promotion from the Third Division in both 1990 and 1991 when they finished fifth and seventh respectively to qualify for the play-offs. They were eliminated at the semi-final stage in both play-offs, losing 2–0 on aggregate to Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...
in 1990 and 2–1 on aggregate to neighbours Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
in 1991. Relegation followed in 1992 and then Bury qualified for the fourth-tier play-off in 1993 by finishing seventh but, yet again, lost their semi-final tie by going down 1–0 on aggregate to York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
. Bury were back in the play-offs again in 1995 after finishing fourth. This time, they won their semi-final by beating Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
2–0 on aggregate and so went to Wembley for the final, where they lost 2–0 to Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
.
The club then enjoyed a resurgence under manager Stan Ternent
Francis Stanley Ternent (born 16 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. He managed Blackpool, Hull City, Bury, Burnley, Gillingham and Huddersfield Town. He was a scout for Hull City until January 2017. As a manager, he won thre ...
who engineered two successive promotions in the mid-1990s. In 1996, third place in what was now the fourth-tier Division Three, followed by the third-tier Division Two title in 1996–97, brought Bury back to the second tier for the first time in 30 years. They went back to the third tier on the last day of the 1998–99 season on the basis of having a lower goals scored
Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...
total than Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
, the League having decided to use this metric rather than goal difference
Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...
as its tie-breaker. Bury's goal difference was higher than that of Port Vale, and the League reinstated goal difference as the tie-breaker for the following season.
2001–2019
In 2001–02, financial problems caused by the collapse of ITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners o ...
brought the club into administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
and to the brink of folding. A supporters' campaign raised enough money to keep the club afloat, and in recognition of his role within that process, UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
presented club press officer Gordon Sorfleet with their Best Supporter award for 2001–02. Bury were relegated to fourth-tier Division Three at the end of that season. They finished seventh in 2003 and qualified for the play-offs but, yet again, their semi-final hoodoo struck and they were beaten 3–1 on aggregate by Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
.
In May 2005, Bury became the first (and to date the only) football club to score a thousand goals in each of the top four tiers of the English football league. A year later, in December 2006, the club was expelled from the FA Cup after they were found to have fielded an ineligible player in a second-round replay win against Chester City. In addition to that debacle, the team's 2006–07 league form was poor and they eventually finished in 21st place, the club's lowest-ever position, narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League.
In the 2008–09 season, newly appointed manager Alan Knill
Alan Richard Knill (born 8 October 1964) is a professional football manager and former player, who is a coach for the Wales national team. He played as a centre-back for several clubs, spending the most time at Halifax Town, Bury and Scuntho ...
, a former Bury player, led the team to a fourth-place finish, missing automatic promotion by a single goal; in the play-off semi-final, Bury were beaten on penalties by Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
after a 1–1 aggregate draw. Towards the end of the 2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season, with the team chasing promotion, Knill and assistant Chris Brass
Christopher Paul Brass (born 24 July 1975) is an English former professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who works in a senior recruitment role at Premier League club Nottingham Forest F.C., Notti ...
left the club for Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...
. Youth team manager Richie Barker took over as caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...
and secured the club's promotion to League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
, the team finishing second.
In December 2012, Bury were placed under a transfer embargo
In professional football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player under contract moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one association football club to another. In general, the players can onl ...
after falling into financial difficulty as a result of poor attendance figures, and ended up being relegated at the end of the season. Property investor Stewart Day became chairman of the club in May 2013 and later that year he noted that £1.5 million had been invested in the club, mostly to pay off debt. Bury finished the 2014–15 League Two season in third place with a club-record points haul of 85 and earned promotion back to third-tier League One, where they spent the next three seasons. The team finished bottom of the 2017–18 EFL League One
The 2017–18 EFL League One (referred to as the Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of the Football League One under its current title, and the 25th season under its current league division format.
Team changes
The fo ...
table and returned to League Two for the second time in five seasons.
In May 2018, the former Bury striker Ryan Lowe
Ryan Thomas Lowe (born 18 September 1978) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is manager of Championship side Preston North End. His playing career, as a striker, began at Burscough in 1999 and he became a Footbal ...
was appointed first-team manager on a two-year contract, having been caretaker-manager twice during 2017–18 after two other managers were sacked. In June 2018, Lee Dykes became the club's first sporting director and introduced a youth development strategy designed to fast-track academy players into the first team at the earliest opportunity. Having three times reached the northern semi-final stage of the EFL Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
in its earlier incarnations, Bury in the 2018–19 tournament advanced to the national semi-final where they lost 0–3 at home to Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. The team had a good season in League Two and, during the winter months, went 14 successive matches unbeaten before winning promotion to League One after a 1–1 draw at Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...
on 30 April.
2019–2021 financial crisis, EFL expulsion and administration
Winding-up petition, December 2018 – July 2019
Businessman Steve Dale bought the club from Stewart Day for £1 in December 2018 and, in February 2019, paid an outstanding tax bill to avoid a HM Revenue and Customs
HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...
(HMRC) winding-up
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistr ...
order. However, financial problems resurfaced on 2 April after staff and players did not receive their March salaries on time. On 10 April, former head coach Chris Brass
Christopher Paul Brass (born 24 July 1975) is an English former professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who works in a senior recruitment role at Premier League club Nottingham Forest F.C., Notti ...
, claiming to be a creditor of the club, issued a winding-up petition to be heard in the High Court. Amid the EFL's "extreme concern" about the club's situation, there was doubt about whether the home game against Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
on 13 April would be played (it was; Bury won 2–0). On 12 April, the club said the outstanding wage bill would be settled within the next seven days. Meanwhile, the winding-up petition was adjourned until 15 May (after the end of the league season). In addition to Brass's claim, HMRC was claiming approximately £277,000.
On 25 April, Dale said the club's financial problems were "far in excess" of what he understood when he took over, and placed the club on the open market. Around £1.6m was needed to pay wages, HMRC and pensions to the end of May, with only £180,000 income expected during that period. On 19 June, a High Court hearing on the winding-up petition was adjourned until 31 July, to allow additional time for a potential sale.
To secure the club's future, Dale proposed a Company Voluntary Arrangement
Under UK insolvency law an insolvent company can enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). The CVA is a form of composition, similar to the personal IVA ( individual voluntary arrangement), where an insolvency procedure allows a company ...
(CVA) to ensure payment of the club's football creditors in full while unsecured creditors, including HMRC, would receive 25% of monies owed. That was approved by creditors on 18 July. As a result, the winding-up petition was dismissed by the High Court on 31 July.
EFL intervention, July–August 2019
Under EFL rules, a CVA is an insolvency event and left the club liable to a 12-point deduction ahead of the 2019–20 league season. Bury's preparation for the new season was further impacted by the loss of manager Ryan Lowe and several members of the first-team squad.
On 25 July, the EFL sought further details on how Bury would satisfy the CVA; without proof of the club's financial viability, Bury could be expelled from the EFL. Satisfactory proof was not provided, and on 29 July the club's opening league match of the season (against MK Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
at Gigg Lane) was suspended, as were four further league games. An EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
tie was cancelled and awarded to Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
.
On 8 August, Bury was given 14 days to provide the EFL with a plan to pay off outstanding creditors. The EFL repeatedly insisted it was working with the club to try and resolve the problems,[ but Bury faced expulsion if financial order could not be restored by 23 August.]
On 12 August, Dale said he would consider selling the club after staff 'implored' him to accept a newly received offer to buy the club, but, on 20 August, he rejected a deal that would have secured the survival of the club, believing he could get a better offer. Bury North
Bury North is a borough constituency in Greater Manchester, created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. With a Conservative majority of 105 votes, it is the most marginal constituency for a sitting MP in the U ...
MP James Frith
James Richard Frith (born 23 April 1977) is British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury North from 2017 to 2019. He is a member of the Labour Party.
Early life and career
Frith was born in London on 23 April 1977, t ...
wrote to EFL chair Debbie Jevans
Deborah Jevans CBE (born 20 May 1960) is a British former tennis player and current sports executive. Jevans is a former junior Wimbledon champion and played in ten Grand Slam singles draws between 1979 and 1983, with her best result being the fo ...
asking for the expulsion deadline to be extended; Andy Burnham
Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 2008 ...
, the Mayor of Greater Manchester
The Mayor of Greater Manchester is the directly elected metro mayor of Greater Manchester, responsible for strategic governance in the region that includes health, transport, housing, strategic planning, waste management, policing, the Greater ...
, also requested an extension. On 22 August, the EFL gave an extra 48 hours to avoid expulsion after it emerged that four parties were interested in a takeover. Late on 23 August, Dale was said to have agreed a sale to analytics company C&N Sporting Risk. The following morning, an EFL board meeting gave Bury until 17:00 BST on Tuesday 27 August to complete the sale, though Jevans later said a further short extension might be granted if the sale was very close to conclusion. Shortly before the deadline, however, C&N Sporting Risk pulled out of the deal saying it was "unable to proceed".
At around 23:00 BST on 27 August, the EFL announced that Bury's membership of the league had been withdrawn. Bury were the first club to be expelled from the Football League since Maidstone United in 1992. After the expulsion, it emerged that a late bid from a Brazilian-backed potential buyer had been rejected. The Insolvency Practitioners Association
The Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) is a professional body whose purpose is to inform and regulate insolvency practitioners (IPs) within the UK and Ireland. There is a similar organisation in Australia.
History
Formed in 1961 as a di ...
said it would investigate Bury's CVA over allegations that Dale had tried to engineer a payout to a newly formed company, RCR Holdings, run by his daughter's partner, and 140 youth players were released by Bury's academy.
Post-expulsion events
On 30 August, Bury was "actively considering" legal action against the EFL over its expulsion. After local MP James Frith said he would propose that the EFL reinstate Bury in League Two in 2020–21, the EFL said it would consult member clubs. The EFL also announced an independent review of EFL regulations concerning the financial sustainability of member clubs, which in February 2020 concluded that any additional EFL action "would not have made any difference to the eventual outcome" – "a lack of owner funding" ultimately caused Bury's demise, exacerbated by excessive wages paid to players under Day's chairmanship. Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
, Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
confirmed it was investigating a fraud allegation made in June 2019 in relation to Bury's finances. The Frith-led working group's proposal to admit Bury to League Two (backed by the Bury FC Supporters' Trust, Bury South
Bury South is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. At the 2019 General Election it was the 10th most marginal seat in the country, with a majority of 402 for the Conservative Par ...
MP Ivan Lewis
Ivan Lewis (born 4 March 1967) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury South from 1997 to 2019, initially as a member of the Labour Party then as an independent from 2017.
After serving in various ministerial ...
, Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is a combined authority for Greater Manchester, England. It was established on 1 April 2011 and consists of 11 members; 10 indirectly elected members, each a directly elected councillor from one ...
and Bury Metropolitan Borough Council
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of ten in Greater Manchester and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of E ...
) was sent to the EFL on 20 September, but was rejected at a meeting of the EFL's remaining 71 member clubs on 26 September. Following the EFL ruling, the working group suggested that Bury apply for a place in the National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
in 2020–21, subject to ownership and financial issues being resolved.
Another winding-up petition was brought before the High Court by HMRC on 16 October 2019. It was adjourned for 14 days to allow the club more time to settle with small business creditors. Everton chairman Bill Kenwright
William Kenwright, CBE (born 4 September 1945) is an English West End theatre producer and film producer. He has also been the chairman of Everton Football Club since 2004.
Kenwright was born in Liverpool and attended Booker Avenue County Prima ...
attempted to give Bury £1m to help save the club, but this was disallowed under EFL conflict of interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
rules. On 30 October, the petition adjournment was extended for another 35 days to 4 December after the club argued that it had continued to automatically pay taxes on unpaid wages. The judge agreed that an extension was necessary for HMRC to establish if the club had overpaid. On 4 December, the club was granted a further extension until 18 December with HMRC ordered to process the club's returns and ascertain the exact amount still owed. When the High Court reconvened, this winding-up petition was dismissed (HMRC said an unspecified debt had been paid), as was a further winding-up petition on 5 February 2020, so "despite not having a league to play in, Bury ... still exist".
Three plans emerged during December 2019. A group of fans formed an intended phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
club, Bury AFC, and applied to the North West Counties Football League
The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...
(NWCFL) for membership in 2020–21, which was approved in February 2020. Entrepreneur Robert Benwell was reported to be seeking to resurrect Bury FC, but it was unclear if he would attempt to buy the original club. A consortium was looking to complete a solvent takeover of the club.
On 31 January 2020, the club was in danger of liquidation as Dale had failed to pay any money to creditors under the terms of the July 2019 CVA. Dale had to pay at least £2m by 11 February or the CVA would be ended; debts totalling around £5m would become immediately due, with creditors able to petition for the club to be wound up. On 14 February, Dale was reported to have defaulted on the plan to settle outstanding debts, casting fresh doubt over Bury's future, and making liquidation more likely. A month later, on 16 March 2020, Dale was reported to be seeking a new CVA; this followed a formal notice that the previous CVA had been terminated on 9 March. The supervisor of that initial CVA, Steven Wiseglass, warned that if no new CVA is agreed by 1 April, he would seek to wind-up the club and appoint a liquidator. The consortium attempt to complete a solvent takeover of the club fell through at the end of March. In late April, Dale was reported to have spent £250,000 in appointing a QC to lead a legal claim for damages against the EFL, and to have applied to the FA for a place in the National League or National League North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...
(tiers five or six) in the 2020–21 season. However, on 7 August, the application was rejected by the FA, who cited the club's "financial resources, ownership and insolvency status"; the club said it planned to submit an application for the 2021–22 season, but none was sent.
On 30 August 2020, 12 months after the club's EFL expulsion, the ''Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...
'' said: "Bury FC still exists, though, if only on paper. With no players, no league to play in, and no employees to speak of, it is little more than a hollow shell of the club fans knew and loved." The MEN report said that the club "continues to limp on" but its future was uncertain and the danger of liquidation remained, though most fans still hoped for an eventual resurrection. Meanwhile, Dale began making statements on the club website, branding the fan-owned Bury AFC as "fake". Bury AFC had arranged a groundshare deal with nearby Radcliffe FC and began the 2020–21 season in Division One North of the NWCFL.
Administration
On 27 November 2020, Dale placed the club into administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
, with Wiseglass appointed administrator. In January 2021, a Nottinghamshire-based businessman and investor in Ilkeston Town, David Hilton, was reported to be interested in buying Bury FC, which was said to have debts of over £15 million.
In May 2021, the club's Gigg Lane ground was put up for sale by the administrator. In June, Wiseglass said he had received two ultimately unsuccessful offers to buy the club, and that a deadline of 5 August had been set for bids to buy Gigg Lane. He also confirmed, in an update to the administration records filed at Companies House
Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are i ...
, that the club's total liability amounted to £12,545,559. On 26 August, Wiseglass said offers had been received from several 'interested parties', with a fans-backed group, Est.1885, among the bidders to buy the ground and club. Supported by local MPs James Daly and Christian Wakeford
Christian Wakeford (born 9 November 1984) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury South since the 2019 general election. Elected as a Conservative, he crossed the floor to Labour in 2022.
Early life and career
Wak ...
and by Bury MBC, the Est.1885 bid was backed by an "anonymous benefactor willing to bankroll ambitions for a fans-led club". On 22 October, the administrators confirmed that Est.1885 had been given exclusivity to buy both the club and Gigg Lane. The benefactor was English-born but now California-based businessman Peter Alexander, a lifelong Shakers fan who also wanted to reconcile any differences with Bury AFC. On 23 December 2021, the UK Government, through the Community Ownership Fund run by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...
, pledged £1m towards the bid to buy back Gigg Lane.
In November 2021, a court order was made extending the period of administration of The Bury Football Club Company Ltd to 27 May 2023 to allow time for the administrator to complete the sale of the stadium and to conclude investigations into the club's financial affairs and the actions of its current and former directors and officers. In December 2022, it was reported that former club owners Stewart Day and Steve Dale had both been declared bankrupt.
Transfer of club assets from February 2022
On 7 January 2022, Est.1885 said contracts had been exchanged on a deal to buy the stadium, the club's trading name and memorabilia, with plans to resume competitive football in August 2022. On 13 January, Bury MBC agreed a financial contribution of up to £450,000 towards the costs of recommissioning Gigg Lane (this was later made conditional on a successful merger with Bury AFC).
On 18 February, Est.1885 completed the purchase of Gigg Lane from the administrator and announced the acquisition of the club's trading name, history and memorabilia. Est.1885 had been assisted by the Forever Bury supporters' group and said they would soon announce "the rebranding and future role of Forever Bury and the transition of Est.1885". The statement also declared commitment towards "finding a consensual path with Bury AFC". Matt Pickup of Est.1885 said all parties had set a target of football returning to Gigg Lane by August 2022, in time for the 2022–23 season.
On 21 February 2022, it was confirmed that the owner of Gigg Lane – and of the Bury FC trading name – is the newly formed Gigg Lane Stadium Limited, a company limited by guarantee whose members are the Gigg Lane Propco Limited and Bury Football Club Supporters' Society Limited, a registered society. This means that, when a Bury FC team plays at Gigg Lane in future, it will represent Gigg Lane Stadium Limited. Meanwhile, the old club incorporated in 1885 – The Bury Football Club Company Ltd – remains in administration under the ownership of Steve Dale.
A Bury FC Supporters Society statement on 15 March 2022 said that the club's application to join the Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...
had been rejected. While the FA and Bury MBC favoured a merger with Bury AFC (promoted to the NWCFL Premier Division on 26 March 2022), the statement recognised there were conflicting loyalties: "There are many supporters who have followed Bury AFC who are emotionally invested in the team and enjoying the success. We also have a significant number of supporters who did not choose this path and their feelings have to be seriously considered to avoid division and alienation." There were also FA restrictions about using the Bury FC name as football creditors to the old regime had not been paid.
Bury AFC enquired about renting Gigg Lane but the request was rejected on 5 April 2022 as "not feasible" by the Bury FC Supporters Society who cited commercial risks and imbalances that could jeopardise a future merger with Bury AFC.
Failed merger with Bury AFC
In May 2022, the Bury FC Supporters Society signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the future of the club. Other signatories included Bury MBC, the Football Supporters' Association
The Football Supporters' Association (The FSA) is the national, democratic, representative body for football supporters in England and Wales. They are the leading advocates for supporter ownership, better fan engagement, cheaper ticket prices, t ...
, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Shakers Community Society on behalf of Bury AFC, and The Bury Football Club Company Ltd. The MoU set out objectives including bringing professional football back to Bury, and uniting and growing the fan base. In July 2022, Bury fans were asked to back a merger of the two principal supporters' groups (BFCSS and the Shakers Community Society) to bring Bury FC back to its "spiritual home with wider benefits for the whole community". If the merger was agreed, Bury MBC would provide £450,000, which would in turn release a further £300,000 from the government (the balance of a previously provided grant under the Community Ownership Fund), enabling the return of a new Bury FC to Gigg Lane in time for the 2023–24 season. Tensions between Bury FC's and Bury AFC's women's teams about use of Gigg Lane hampered negotiations, as did wider tensions between the BFCSS and the Shakers Community Society. A Bury FC fans protest against the merger led to games at Radcliffe Juniors FC's playing fields being cancelled on 3 September 2022, while a 12-year old girl and a player were injured after a flare was thrown during Bury AFC's televised FA Cup tie against North Shields
North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth.
Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...
on the same day, though it was unclear if this incident was linked to the protest.
In October 2022, local football supporters were urged to vote in a poll, facilitated by the Football Supporters' Association
The Football Supporters' Association (The FSA) is the national, democratic, representative body for football supporters in England and Wales. They are the leading advocates for supporter ownership, better fan engagement, cheaper ticket prices, t ...
, regarding a potential amalgamation of BFCSS (who own Gigg Lane
Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...
and the Bury FC name) and the Shakers Community Society (who own the separate phoenix club
The Phoenix Building and Cincinnati Club are two historic buildings in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The membership of these two clubs was chiefly Jewish.
Located at 812 Race Street, the Phoenix Building was constructed in 1893, desi ...
, Bury AFC). Warned by the FSA that there was no "viable and sustainable alternative to the merger", the two groups both recommended their members to vote in favour. If the merger was agreed at special meetings on 28 October and 11 November, a new society - The Football Supporters' Society of Bury - would be formed, based at Gigg Lane, while Bury AFC would change its playing name to Bury Football Club. However, the proposals failed to reach the required 66% threshold from both societies; the Shakers Community Society voted 94% in favour while the BFCSS vote in favour fell short, at 63%. Within hours of the vote being declared on 28 October 2022, Bury MBC announced it would "now not be making that 450,000funding available", but remained "happy to have further discussions with all concerned parties on the way forward". The BFCSS hoped to reopen talks with the Shakers group about new amalgamation proposals that members could agree to, and was open to changes of both societies' board members due to concerns about personalities: "No one person is bigger than Bury FC... and it is crucial that both societies are willing to address these concerns".
In January 2023, Bury AFC said it had made several proposals to BFCSS to return professional men's football to Gigg Lane, including a solution which might unlock the DLUHC Grant Funding Agreement to purchase the ground, but its proposals had been rejected.
Colours and crest
The club's colours were always white and navy blue. Originally, the team wore a striped shirt with blue shorts but the stripes were replaced by the long-established all-white shirt before the club joined the Football League in 1894. There was an exception in the 1962–63 season when a mistake was made by the club's kit suppliers, who sent a consignment of royal blue shorts before the season instead of the usual navy blue. Then manager Bob Stokoe
Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...
said the club could have sent them back but decided simply to keep them for the season; he joked that royal blue "would tone with the Gigg Lane paintwork."
The crest on the shirt is a representation of the coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
granted to the former County Borough of Bury
Bury was a local government district centred on Bury in the northwest of England from 1846 to 1974.
Under the Bury Improvement Act 1846 a board of twenty-seven improvement commissioners was formed for Bury. The Improvement Commissioners Distric ...
by the College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...
on 28 February 1877. This depicts the town's industrial heritage with images in the shield of an anvil, a fleece, shuttles and a papyrus plant which respectively represent forging, wool, cotton and paper. It bears the inscription ''Vincit Omnia Industria'' (work conquers all).
Stadium
Bury have played at Gigg Lane
Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...
since 1885 when they rented the plot from the Earl of Derby's estate soon after the club's foundation. The first Football League match played there was on 8 September 1894 when Bury defeated Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
4–2. A floodlit match took place in 1889 but there were no permanent lights until 1953. Until the 1990s when a complete rebuild became necessary, the capacity of the ground was 35,000. That total was achieved when Bury hosted an FA Cup third-round tie against neighbouring Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
on 9 January 1960. The game ended 1–1, but Bury lost the replay 4–2 after extra time.
Gigg Lane was rebuilt in the 1990s and now has a capacity of 12,500, all seated and covered. The Main Stand, also called the Family Stand, is on the northern side and houses the club offices and dressing rooms. At the western end, the Manchester Road End houses away supporters. The South Stand (also known as the Les Hart Stand) is opposite the Main Stand and adjoins the Cemetery End, left (east) of the Main Stand. The Cemetery End was the last part of the rebuilt stadium to be completed, in 1999.
In August 2019, when Bury FC was expelled from the EFL, Gigg Lane was officially known for sponsorship purposes as the Planet-U Energy Stadium, and it was completely powered by renewable energy provided by the sponsors. Previous deals had seen the ground named the JD Stadium, and the Energy Check Stadium.
Players and coaching staff
All contracted players became free agents after the club was expelled from the EFL. Similarly, all team management and coaching positions became vacant after the expulsion, leaving the club with no players and no staff.
Full international players
Jimmy Settle
James Settle (5 September 1875 – 1 June 1954) was an English professional footballer. A fast-paced inside or outside right, he could have chosen sprinting if he had not taken up football.
Settle played for Bolton Wanderers and Bury before joi ...
was the first Bury player to win a full international cap, playing for England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
against Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
in Sunderland on 18 February 1899, and scoring a second-half hat-trick in England's 13–2 victory. Bill Gorman and Derek Spence
Derek William Spence (born 18 January 1952) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer. He played as a forward in a career spanning seventeen years from 1969 to 1986.
He played for clubs in Northern Ireland, England, Greece, the Nether ...
were Bury's most capped international players, each earning 10 caps while at Bury, for Ireland and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
respectively. Neil Danns
Neil Alexander Danns (born 23 November 1982) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Macclesfield and the Guyana national team. In December 2022, Danns was also appointed interim manager at Macclesfield. He began his c ...
was the most recent Bury player to win a full international cap, on 26 June 2019, when he played in Guyana
Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
's third and final 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in th ...
group stage game, against Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
.
Jack Plant
John Plant (23 March 1871 – early 1950) was an English international association football, footballer, who played as an Outside forward, outside left.
Early and personal life
Plant was born in Bollington, Cheshire on 23 March 1871. He was the ...
played for Bury for 17 years apart from one short loan period at Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
. He played and scored in both the 1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...
and 1903 FA Cup Final
The 1903 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Bury F.C., Bury and Derby County F.C., Derby County on Saturday, 18 April 1903 at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace stadium in south London. It was the fina ...
s, and made one international appearance for England against Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
in 1900.
1 Danns scored three goals in qualifying games, then three in three games in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in th ...
group stage.
Other notable players
Other notable players, with full international caps after or before their times at Bury, include:
* Colin Bell, a midfielder signed from Horden Colliery Welfare
Horden Community Welfare Football Club, usually abbreviated to Horden CW is a football club based in Horden, County Durham, England. The club was formed as Horden Colliery Welfare in 1908 and joined the North Eastern League in 1935, reaching th ...
as a youth player, played 82 times for Bury, scoring 25 times, between July 1963 and March 1966, and became club captain in 1964 while still a teenager. He joined Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
and made 48 international England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
appearances.
*Luther Blissett
Luther Loide Blissett (born 1 February 1958) is a former professional footballer and manager who played for the England national team during the 1980s. Born in Jamaica, Blissett played as a striker, and is best known for his time at Watford, ...
, a centre-forward with 14 England caps, was signed from Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
, aged 35, in August 1993 and played ten games for Bury, scoring once, before a move into non-league football.
*Forward Colin Kazim-Richards
Colin Kazim-Richards (born 26 August 1986), also known as Colin Kâzım, Kâzım or Kâzım Kâzım, is a professional footballer as a forward for Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük S.K.
Born and raised in England, he qualified for Turkish n ...
started his career as a 15-year-old at Bury in 2004, later going on to play for Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
.
*Goalkeeper Neville Southall
Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh former international footballer. He has been described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985.
He joined Bury from Winsford U ...
played 49 games at the start of his career for Bury before a 1981 move to Everton and 92 caps for Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
.
Managerial history
The club was founded in 1885 but there is no record of anyone managing the team until Tom Hargreaves, who was a committee member, in 1890. One or more committee members took team responsibility until the appointment of erstwhile goalkeeper Archie Montgomery
Archibald Montgomery (born 27 January 1873 – 5 January 1922) was a Scottish footballer. His regular position was as a goalkeeper. He was born in Chryston, Lanarkshire. He played for Manchester United, Rangers, and Bury. He would also manage A ...
in 1907 as the first specialist team manager. Montgomery was dismissed during World War One for financial reasons but the first manager to be sacked for poor results was James Hunter-Thompson in February 1927, even though his team had achieved the club's highest-ever league position, finishing fourth in 1925–26.
Norman Bullock
Norman Bullock (8 September 1900 – 22 October 1970) was an English professional footballer, who played as both a forward and a defender, and manager.
He began his career playing local amateur football before signing for Bury in 192 ...
, who was the club's then-record goalscorer, took over in December 1935 but went to Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
in June 1938. After the Second World War, Bullock returned to Bury until November 1949 when he went to Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
. The club's longest-serving manager has been Dave Russell for eight years from December 1953 to December 1961. The highlight of his career was winning the Third Division championship in 1960–61. Bob Stokoe
Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...
was team manager twice between 1961 and 1978. In the early 1970s, Allan Brown held the post for eighteen months before moving to Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
where, until 3 January 1975, he was Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...
's predecessor.
With Bury consigned to the lower leagues from the 1970s onwards, there have been several sackings as successive managers were unable to
regain Second Division status. A measure of success was finally achieved in the late 1990s when Stan Ternent
Francis Stanley Ternent (born 16 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. He managed Blackpool, Hull City, Bury, Burnley, Gillingham and Huddersfield Town. He was a scout for Hull City until January 2017. As a manager, he won thre ...
inspired the team to successive promotions from fourth tier to third in 1995–96 and, as champions, from third to second in 1996–97. He left in 1998 to take over at Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
and, a couple of seasons later, Bury were back in the lower league where they have stayed amid worrying financial issues. The club had a disastrous season in 2017–18 when the team finished bottom of League One and two managers were sacked. The club's former striker Ryan Lowe
Ryan Thomas Lowe (born 18 September 1978) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is manager of Championship side Preston North End. His playing career, as a striker, began at Burscough in 1999 and he became a Footbal ...
took full charge in May 2018, having twice been caretaker in 2017–18, before leaving in June 2019 to join Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
. On 2 July 2019, Paul Wilkinson was appointed as manager, but managed no first team games due to the club's EFL expulsion the following month.
Bury FC Women
As women's football developed in the 1990s, Bury became one of several professional clubs to establish a ladies' team or to accept an existing one as an affiliate. Bury FC Women, also known as the Bury FC Foundation Women's Team, was founded in 1996. They were founder members of the North West Women's Regional Football League
The North West Women's Regional Football League (NWWRFL) is one of the eight English regional leagues comprising the fifth and sixth tiers of the English women's football pyramid. The other seven leagues are the North East, East Midlands, West ...
(NWWRFL) Premier Division in 2003–04. They played in the NWWFRL for 16 seasons. In the 2018–19 season, they won the Division One North championship, earning promotion back to the Premier Division, which is now the fifth tier of the women's football pyramid. After Bury FC collapsed, the ladies' team lost many of its players and had to rely on charitable funding. They managed to stay afloat but were obliged to seek membership of a lower league.
The ladies' team played numerous matches at Gigg Lane until 2019. After its closure that year, their home venue was the Goshen Sports Centre on Tennyson Avenue in Bury. On Sunday, 24 April 2022, they returned to Gigg Lane for a Lancashire FA Women's County League match against Fleetwood Town Wrens. This was the first match of any kind to be played there since May 2019. Bury FC Women won 3–0 (1–0 at half-time) before a crowd of almost 500, the goalscorers being Lucy Golding, Kimberley Tyson and Sophie Coates.
In the 2021–22 season, Bury FC Women were managed by Colin Platt and played in the eighth tier Championship Division of the Lancashire FA Women's County League
The Lancashire FA Women's County League is an amateur competitive women's association football competition based in Lancashire, England run by the Lancashire FA. Founded in 1996 as the Lancashire FA Girls League, the league consists of two divisi ...
. On 15 May 2022, they won the division title by defeating second-placed Clitheroe Wolves Ladies 2–0 at Gigg Lane, both goals scored by Kimberley Tyson. The match attracted a crowd of 655, a ground record for a ladies' match. Two days later, the Bury FC Supporters Society announced that a Service Level Agreement will ensure Bury FC Women's future home fixtures will be played at Gigg Lane.
Honours
League championships
*First tier – Football League First Division
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
/ Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
(0)
::''Highest position'': 4th in 1925–26
*Second tier – Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...
/ Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
/ Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
(1): 1894–95
::''Runners-up (1)'': 1923–24 (promoted)
*Third tier – Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...
/ Division Two / League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
(2): 1960–61, 1996–97
::''Runners-up (1)'': 1967–68 (promoted)
*Fourth tier – Football League Fourth Division
The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...
/ Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...
/ League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
(0)
::''Runners-up (2)'': 2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
(promoted), 2018–19 (promoted)
::''Other promotions (4)'': 1973–74 (fourth), 1984–85 (fourth), 1995–96 (third), 2014–15 (third)
Cup competitions
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
*Winners (2): 1899–1900, 1902–03
Nineteen or 19 may refer to:
* 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20
* one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019
Films
* ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film
* ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film
Music ...
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
*Semi-finals: 1962–63
League Trophy
The British Basketball League Trophy, often shortened to the BBL Trophy, is an annual cup competition for British basketball teams organised by the United Kingdom's top professional league, the British Basketball League. It is one of two peripher ...
*Semi-finals: 2018–19
Football World Championship
The Football World Championship, also known as the United Kingdom Championship or the International Club Championship, was a exhibition association football match played between the English and Scottish club champions on a regular, but not annual ...
:
*Winners (1): 1904 (Anglo-Scottish competition, 1876–1904)
Wartime tournaments
*Winners (1): North West League, 1939–40
Other tournaments
* Lancashire League (2): 1890–91, 1891–92
* Lancashire Cup (11): 1892, 1899, 1903, 1906, 1926, 1958, 1983, 1987, 2014, 2015, 2018
*Lancashire Junior Cup
The Lancashire Football Association Challenge Trophy is an English football competition for senior non-league clubs who are members of the Lancashire County Football Association. The trophy was first played for in 1885, when it was known as the ...
(1): 1890
*Manchester Cup
The Manchester FA Senior Cup (originally known as the Manchester and District Challenge Cup, later the Manchester Cup) is an annual football tournament held between the clubs of the Manchester Football Association which was first played in 1885; ...
(12): 1894, 1896, 1897, 1900, 1903, 1905, 1925, 1935, 1951, 1952, 1962, 1968
Records and statistics
English football records
* Bury jointly (with Manchester City, 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
) hold the record for the widest winning margin in an FA Cup Final (6–0 v Derby County, 1903
Events January
* January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India.
* January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...
).
* In 2005, Bury became the first (and still only) club to score 1,000 goals in each of the four professional tiers in England.
Club records
The club's records are listed on its own website:
* Record league victory: 8–0 v Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...
, Third Division, 10 January 1970
* Record cup victory: 12–1 v Stockton, FA Cup first round replay, 2 February 1897
* Record league defeat: 0–8 Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
, First Division, 6 April 1896; 0–8 Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...
, Third Division, 8 December 1979
* Record cup defeat: 0–10 West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, League Cup second round, 25 October 1983
* Most points in a league season: 85, League Two, 2014–15
* Most wins in a league season: 30, Third Division, 1960–61
* Most goals in a league season: 108, Third Division, 1960–61
* Top goalscorer in a season: Craig Madden
Craig Anthony Madden (born 25 September 1958) is an English former professional football striker who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League.
Playing career
After playing for Northern Nomads, Madden began his professional car ...
, 43 goals in 1981–82 (35 league & 8 Cup)
* Top goalscorer in a career: Craig Madden
Craig Anthony Madden (born 25 September 1958) is an English former professional football striker who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League.
Playing career
After playing for Northern Nomads, Madden began his professional car ...
, 153 (129 league, 25 cup) goals from 1977 to 1986
* Most appearances: Norman Bullock
Norman Bullock (8 September 1900 – 22 October 1970) was an English professional footballer, who played as both a forward and a defender, and manager.
He began his career playing local amateur football before signing for Bury in 192 ...
, 539 (506 league, 33 Cup) games from 1920 to 1935
* Youngest player in a league game: Jimmy Kerr
James Mitchell Kerr (12 May 1910 – 3 January 1998) was a Scottish international rugby and cricket player.Bath 2007, p105
Career
Kerr was capped for between 1935 and 1937. He also played for Heriot's RFC
Heriot's Rugby Club, also known ...
– 16 years and 15 days
* Oldest player in a league game: Bruce Grobbelaar
Bruce David Grobbelaar (born 6 October 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most prominently for English team Liverpool between 1981 and 1994, and for the Zimbabwean national team. He is remembered fo ...
– 40 years and 337 days
* Most capped players: Bill Gorman, 10 caps for Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and Derek Spence
Derek William Spence (born 18 January 1952) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer. He played as a forward in a career spanning seventeen years from 1969 to 1986.
He played for clubs in Northern Ireland, England, Greece, the Nether ...
, 10 caps for Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
* Record attendance: 35,000 v Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
, FA Cup third round, 9 January 1960
* Most undefeated league matches: 18 games – 1960–61, 2002–03
* Most undefeated home games: 25 – 1967–68 season
* Most undefeated away matches: 11 – 2015
* Most games consecutively scored in: Ryan Lowe
Ryan Thomas Lowe (born 18 September 1978) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is manager of Championship side Preston North End. His playing career, as a striker, began at Burscough in 1999 and he became a Footbal ...
, 9 games in 2010–11
Support
The club has a supporter's group called Forever Bury, founded in 2002, who strive to help the club face its financial difficulties. In 2019, they ran a campaign called "Help Save Our Club". Bury have had a club mascot operating on the sidelines since 1997. The first, named after Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...
, was "Robbie the Bobby", a cartoon policeman whose antics embarrassed the club when he was sent off the field by referees three times in 2001 for bad behaviour – one of a number of incidents involving mascots that led to a Football League review of mascot behaviour. He was retired in 2018 to be replaced by a cartoon police dog. The club explained that "police dogs are key members of the force and are something the younger supporters can relate to". Following a children's naming competition, the new mascot was named "Peeler" to maintain the link with Peel and he made his debut in the home match against Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
on 4 August 2018.
Rivalries
Bury's ground is near to several other Football League clubs and so, in any season, they were likely to play at least one "derby" match (e.g., Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
in 2018–19). Traditionally, Bury's main rivalry has always been with their nearest neighbour Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
. For many seasons from the late 1990s, however, the two clubs rarely met as Bolton were in the Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
or the Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
while Bury were in the lower divisions. The head-to-head record between them is 30 wins each and 19 draws. In recent years, matches between Bury and Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
have been dubbed the "M66 Derby" and their head-to-head record is 26 wins by Bury and 21 wins by Rochdale with 21 draws.
References
External links
Bury FC
Est.1885
{{Authority control
1885 establishments in England
Association football clubs established in 1885
FA Cup winners
Football clubs in England
Football clubs in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury
Former English Football League clubs
Lancashire League (football)