© Alamy
Posted on 28th July 2023
This Saturday marks the long awaited return of Bury FC to Gigg Lane – four years since mismanagement by their previous owner saw them kicked out of the EFL in August 2019.
A phoenix club, Bury AFC, was set up which played its games in neighbouring Radcliffe while others sought to continue at Gigg Lane. In May this year an agreement to merge was signed and Bury FC will once again play at its spiritual home.
Glossop North End will be their first opponents in the North West Counties Premier League and it’s sure to be an emotional occasion.
Whilst the non-league Step 5 game is a far cry from the heady days of League One in 2019-20, a season curtailed following the club’s fall into administration, it will nevertheless be a memorable day for all involved.
A Bury spokesperson said: “It’s been a long four years for Bury supporters, but we are sure there will be plenty of happy tears flowing at 3pm this Saturday as men’s competitive football resumes on the hallowed turf.”
“It was hard to galvanise a way forward, with a strong sense of feeling from a majority. But the agony of this period, and the hard work put into turning this around, makes it all worth it.”
The FSA sends its congratulations to Bury FC and the club’s supporters – here’s to a bright future.
When Bury FC were kicked out of the EFL in 2019 fans across the country, not just those who followed the club, feared that they’d never again see football of any level at Gigg Lane. Thanks to the outstanding work of supporters’ groups those fears, although reasonable, were premature. The Gigg Lane Steering Group explains more below…
Blackpool’s teenage striker Jake Daniels yesterday became the first professional footballer in more than 30 years to come out while playing.
Tonight the results of the vote at a special general meeting on the merger at Bury have been published and the FSA, as an advisor organisation to all parties, has issued the following statement:
As England moves out of its second lockdown, this week sees the first steps of fans returning to stadiums in elite sport since March, along with a return of fans to non-elite sport at Steps 3 and below of the non-league pyramid who had been attending matches since earlier in the autumn.
