Representatives of Bury are considering legal action against the English Football League following the club’s expulsion on Tuesday, having failed to receive a response from the league to a list of questions they wanted answered.
The League One club gave the EFL a deadline of 4pm on Friday to explain why it acted in the way it did, though that passed without a reply. An EFL spokesman said the matter was being considered but the position remained the same, with the league unwilling to make statements or conduct its business in the public domain.
The club insists that three viable bids arrived before Tuesday’s deadline and wants to know why the league allowed an extension for one but not the two others. It would also like information on how the owner, Steve Dale, passed the fit and proper person test.
Other questions are why the former Port Vale chairman Norman Smurthwaite was not considered an appropriate owner, why the EFL refused to meet Bury representatives on Friday and why the league considers it proportionate to make the club drop down five divisions. The league has said it will respond to each question in due course.
“All options are on the table,” Bury’s lawyer, Chris Farnell, told the BBC. “One that has to be considered is legal action … The decision to, in effect, kill a club has been made without any explanation as to why a very genuine bid from a very high-net worth individual would not be considered.”
