That’s all folks: And on that comical bombshell, it’s time to close this blog for the day. Thank you for your time and your correspondence and keep your eyes peeled for a first person account of the whole Bury meltdown from their winger, Harry Bunn.
Updated
Steve Dale wants Bury expulsion rescinded
Speaking to Sky Sports, the Bury owner, Steve Dale, has called on the EFL to rescind the decision to expel his club from the Football League. Should his request go unanswered, he says he will demand the appointment of an independent adjudicator to review the decision.
“If the many requests to rescind remain unanswered we believe an independent adjudicator should be brought in,” he said. “We also want a secret ballot of all EFL clubs to ask the question if they want fellow clubs Bolton and Bury FC to be taken out of the league, I don’t think they would want that.”
An email: I wrote earlier about how Jim White had addressed accusations of crassness from football fans after standing in front of a countdown clock on Sky Sports News yesterday as Bury headed towards oblivion.
White mounted a fairly stirring defence of his actions on his Talksport show and was quick to point out, correctly, that he has done plenty to tackle the issues facing Bolton and Bury fans in recent weeks, by interviewing all the main players involved on a regular basis.
Anyway, reader Thomas Atkins has got in touch to add his two cents ...
“Fair to make the point about Jim White not necessarily being responsible for how crass he looked stood in front of the countdown, but I think it’s also fair to say that Sky Sports have been part of many of the decisions that make life so difficult for EFL clubs – the increased concentration of wealth in the top tier, the influx of monies from disreputable sources, the encouragement, both implicitly and explicitly, to gamble financially wherever the opportunity presents itself,” he says.
“These people call themselves journalists and should be holding people to account. Where were they when the EFL was waving through the purchase of the club by a man clearly not fit and proper to do so?
“Jim White’s a decent presenter and very possibly a decent man, but his [employers at Sky] have been, at best, asleep on the job. For Sky Sports to be outside the ground feigning concern about the plight of Bury when that organisation have been responsible for creating so many of the conditions that have led to their demise is what sticks in the throat for many.”
The curious case of Bobby Duncan: While assorted Football Financial Woe correspondents write up their hot takes on the day’s developments, or lack thereof, at Bolton and Bury, an interesting, if unedifying row is brewing on Twitter.
Saif Rubie, a Dubai-based football agent who numbers Liverpool youngster Bobby Duncan among his clients, has posted a lengthy statement accusing Liverpool of keeping Duncan at the club against his will, causing the 17-year-old mental anguish in the process.
In a Tweet, which Duncan pinned to his own Twitter account, before removing it and all trace of his Liverpool FC connections from his account, Rubie attacked Liverpool and their sporting director Michael Edwards, prompting Jamie Carragher to wade into the row.
Duncan, 17, was previously best known for being the cousin of Steven Gerrard, and he scored his first goal for Liverpool in pre-season.
Official statement regarding Bobby Duncan @bobbyduncan999 shame on you @LFC #mentalhealth #consideration pic.twitter.com/OFYUJnwiJA
— Saif Rubie (@saifpr) August 28, 2019
The club, meanwhile, have strongly denied Rubie’s claim. “Liverpool Football Club is aware of and disappointed by the unattributed comments and unfounded allegations that have been made in the media regarding one of our players,” they said in a statement.
“As the interests of the player in question are not best served by either inaccurate speculation, inflammatory statements or public discourse, we will be making no further comment. We will, however, continue our efforts to work privately with the player to find resolution in the best interests of all involved.”
Updated
An email: “Obviously these are cold-hearted financial decisions with extremely harsh consequences for people whose identity is strongly linked to their football club,” writes Michael Allen.
“But unfortunately it follows on logically from the way the football industry is run. It runs deeply into the culture of merciless free-market capitalism it seems to me. So there’s no solution except some kind of revolution and that’s unlikely where fans of the top richest teams are perfectly happy with things as they are (the gift that keeps on giving) and fans of many other clubs by contrast are just hanging on – in hope? Maybe they can look to alternatives viz AFC Wimbledon, FC United, Salford, Forest Green.”
DOesn’t look like they’ll have much choice now that liquidation seems to be on the cards, Michael. Here’s hoping that once everyone else has moved on from this – and it will soon stop being headline news – there is enough enthusiasm in Bury to set up a phoenix club.
Bury now facing liquidation ...
While Bury have been expelled from the Football League, it is important to remember they still exist as a Football Club, albeit one with millions of pounds worth of debt and no source of income because they have no competition to play in and no way of generating revenue.
David Conn has been in touch to say that this may not be the case for much longer, as imminent liquidation of the club seems the most likely outcome.
“Sadly hearing that the most likely future for the club now is liquidation,” he tweets. “Having been expelled from the EFL after 125 years they effectively have no business now. The players are free agents as it isn’t an EFL club and can leave.”
Bury FC: Sadly hearing that the most likely future for the club now is liquidation, having been expelled from the EFL after 125 years they effectively have no business now. The players are free agents as it isn't an EFL club and can leave.
— David Conn (@david_conn) August 28, 2019
A Tweet from Michael Hann, a diehard QPR fan and former music editor of this parish ...
@bglendenning Worth remembering how the Premier League shut down one crucial revenue stream for smaller clubs. The EPPP allows them to hoover up young talent with minimal payment to original club. Many non PL clubs no longer bother with academies: what’s the point anymore?
— Michael Hann (@MichaelAHann) August 28, 2019
Meanwhile at Bolton Wanderers: Having seen their club issued with a 14-day notice to resolve their own ongoing financial issues or face expulsion from the Football League, Bolton fans are waiting for news of what fate lies in store for their club, a founder member of the Football League.
Speaking on Talksport this morning, Debbie Jevans, executive chair of the EFL, said talks regarding a takeover are ongoing. “We finished working with Bolton and the administrator at 3am this morning,” she said. “Everybody wants that deal to close.
“I’m saying it’s very close and I know people will be shouting at the radio when I say that as they’ve heard it before, but what we couldn’t have again was a situation where you’ve got young players out there playing, losing 5-0 every week – that is not a sustainable way to run a football league.
“So we’ve issued that notice and lifted the suspension. But I will say to everyone, that at 3am this morning conversations were still ongoing.”
Meanwhile at The Athletic, Simon Hughes has published a lengthy special investigation in which he reveals that many Bolton players and staff have not been paid for five months, even though former Rushden and Diamonds chairman Keith Cousins has earned £30,000 per month from administrators David Rubins and Partners for helping to run the club and trying to secure its sale.
Hughes also reveals that Cousins has “earned five per cent from money generated by players being sold or released and stands to pocket another two per cent of any takeover deal”.
Squires: There are have been no shortage of hot takes on the situation at Bury and Bolton, but few have nailed it so thoroughly as our resident cartoonist David Squires, with this incendiary closing panel in this week’s offering.
Video: “There’s been grown men ... 50-year-old men, 60-year-old men here crying. Some of them don’t cry at their own daughters’ weddings. They come down here and they’re in buckets of tears.”
'My heart has been ripped out': Bury fans on club's expulsion from EFL – video https://t.co/MB6QNwaPjQ pic.twitter.com/porc9vqmPC
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) August 28, 2019
A bouquet of flowers left outside Gigg Lane from a father, son and grandson, it says: “Season ticket holders and lovers of this great little club. Thanks to all those who tried, in vain, to save our club #UTS” pic.twitter.com/twm4F5BMQY
— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) August 28, 2019
An email: “I know that Parliament has other matters at hand at the moment, however the solution to this “Bury/Bolton/who’s next?” crisis ultimately will lay in its hands,” writes Hubert O’Hearn.
“The time truly has come for clubs to be given the option of community ownership similar to the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. The argument against it generally runs: ‘How can the town council of Bury be expected to compete for players and other resources against oil sheiks and American billionaires?’”
“Might I suggest a special 5% tax levy on all broadcast and licensing revenues spanning both the Premier League and EFL with said resources held in a special fund to manage buy-outs (escaping owners would be given what they paid – enjoy your one quid Mr Dale) and a certain percentage held as zero interest loans for community-owned clubs to renovate grounds, hire staff, and transfer in players.
“This is all off the top of my head so there may be flaws, but you have to start somewhere.”
Well? Let’s all start picking holes in Hubert’s, on the face of it, eminently sensible suggestion. I’ll get the ball rolling by asking why he thinks the solution to this crisis will end up in Parliament’s hands? And even if it does, why does he think they will make anything other than a complete dog’s breakfast of solving it?
Andy Holt tweets: The chairman and major shareholder of Accrington Stanley, Andy Holt is one of the good guys when it comes to club ownership and his club is lucky to have him in charge, when so many others are owned by spivs, hucksters and charlatans. This informative thread he posted on Twitter is well worth a couple of minutes of your time.
At face value...
— Andyh (@AndyhHolt) August 28, 2019
Stewart Day had sold the stadium which has a debt on it of around £3.7m. The interest charged, eye watering.
He had sold car parking spaces, around 250 of them, at £10,000 a pop.
Without a deal to settle these liabilities there was no hope.
So that’s £6.2m
We'd love to hear from you ...
What with the expulsion of Bury from the Football League being such an emotive issue, we’ve been unable to open the comments on this live blog today. Social media suggests that football fans around the world have plenty to say on the matter, much of it extremely heartfelt and – sadly – potentially libellous.
However, we would like to hear from you, so feel free to ping me a tweet or email, or share your reaction to Bury’s collapse and explain what it means to you in the bespoke form below. Thanks!
A report from outside Gigg Lane ...
More fans are gathering, sheltering from the rain beside turnstiles which only 24 hours ago showed ticket prices for Saturday’s now-abandoned game against Doncaster Rovers. Some fans are huddled under umbrellas, checking their phones for the latest news; others are just here because it feels like the right place to be today.
Tamoor Tariq, the deputy leader of Bury council, said his local authority was ready to support the club any way it can to ensure its survival, starting with reassuring fans about the future of its stadium, a fixture here since 1884.
He said: “I want to be absolutely clear that if anyone thinks there will be any development on that site any time soon then they are totally misguided - planning law doesn’t allow it, the fact that it’s an asset of community value also means there are restrictions governing it.”
He wouldn’t be drawn on whether the council would chip in to help buy the club if supporters formed a Community Interest Company (like at Darlington FC in 2013) but he pointed out that the authority was also in financial difficulty, having suffered massive budget cuts since 2010.
Asked whether a fan-owned club looked was the most likely way forward for Bury FC, Tariq said: “Something needs to change. The immediate thing that need to happen is Mr Dale needs to depart from the club, he needs to give up all of his links and he needs to decide how quickly he’s going to do that and allow - whether it’s the fans or another buyer - other people to lead the ship.
It’s a sorry state of affairs that he’s allowed this situation to develop because he entered negotiations with C&N at a very late stage. Had he been open to dialogue at an earlier stage maybe the outcome last night would have been different.”
Conclusion: Going by what Jevans says, it seems that unless their hand is forced, the EFL will do precisely nothing to get their house in something approaching order in the wake of Bury’s expulsion.
More than half of the 71 remaining league clubs outside the Premier League are living beyond their means and with the turkeys who run many of them extremely unlikely to vote for Christmas, what happened to Bury will inevitably happen to other clubs. Lots of other clubs.
Updated
More from David Conn: “There is no commitment to independent regulation, nor to any form of investigation into the details of what has happened at Bury,” he says, following his chat with Jevans.
“She says they will receive information from C & N Sporting Risk who did due diligence, and then consider any further action or investigation. The EFL is conducting a governance review, which will examine the ‘fit and proper persons’ owners and directors test and the financial regulations; she declined to make any suggestions herself for reforms it should consider.”
David Conn tweets. He’s been talking to Debbie Jevans and the Football League’s executive chair says she’s “devastated” by the her organisation’s decision to expel Bury from the Football League. But no so devastated that she’s prepared to do anything to stop it happening other clubs beyond making vague noises about asking them to control their costs. Good luck with that, Debbie!
Bury FC: EFL Executive chair Debbie Jevans "devastated" by expelling the club, says the board will consider the details and investigate further, and she wants to talk to clubs about controlling their costs. No commitment to an independent regulator or a form of investigation.
— David Conn (@david_conn) August 28, 2019
A tweet from Ivan Lewis: The Independent MP for Bury South remains convinced that Bury can and should still be saved from expulsion from the Football League.
In the past hour we have written to #EFL urging them to reconsider their decision to expel @buryfcofficial from the League. The EFL have proof of funds from a credible global organisation which has agreed a purchase with Steve Dale. Bury FC can+should be saved.@forever_bury
— Ivan Lewis (@IvanLewis_MP) August 28, 2019
Josh Halliday, the Guardian’s North of England correspondent who steered me in the direction of the Tweet, says he has spoken to Tamoor Tariq, the deputy leader of Bury council, who demanded that owner Steve Dale relinquish control of the club and urged the EFL to rethink its decision.
“Many fans have expressed concerns that Gigg Lane, Bury’s home since 1885, could be sold off and turned into flats given the club’s collapse,” he tells me. “But Tariq guaranteed that the council would not let that happen. There are planning laws in place, he said, to protect Gigg Lane as a sporting ground and Bury FC as a community institution.”
A Bury FC player speaks. Speaking to Talksport earlier this morning, Bury’s 33-year-old midfielder Stephen Dawson seemed resigned to having to sell his house.
“I’ve been onto the mortgage adviser this morning because that is the end,” he said. “There’s no two ways about it now, that is it for me.
“I’ve played my whole career and put everything into my house and my kids to give them a start in life when they are 18, whether that be a deposit for a house or money for college.
“I don’t have the fancy cars or the fancy clothes as I was never in a position to earn the thousands and thousands the really good players earn.”
The week before last, Dawson and Bury owner Steve Dale had a frank and bad-tempered exchange of views on the radio station, in which Dale openly rubbished the notion that Dawson might have to sell his home to make ends meet.
Horse bolts, MP wants to know why stable door was left open: Damian Collins has called for a full review of the English Football League’s role in Bury’s demise.
The chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, claimed the EFL has let Bury’s fans down after expelling the club from its competition and said new laws were needed to safeguard other clubs from potential rogue owners.
“The process run by @efl has failed fans of @buryfcofficial & may do the same to @OfficialBWFC,” the MP for Folkestone and Hythe, tweeted.
“Next week CommonsCMS will discuss how we can review the role of the football authorities in this crisis & what new powers are needed to act against bad owners and directors of clubs.”
The process run by @efl has failed fans of @buryfcofficial & may do the same to @OfficialBWFC Next week @CommonsCMS will discuss how we can review the role of the football authorities in this crisis & what new powers are needed to act against bad owners and directors of clubs.
— Damian Collins (@DamianCollins) August 28, 2019
Greetings, one and all. The broadcaster Jim White shipped a lot of abuse on social media yesterday for standing in front of a Sky Sports News graphic of a countdown clock, as he reported on the goings-on at Bury and Bolton. Assorted viewers accused him and the network that employs him of appearing to revel in Bury’s demise in the tackiest manner imaginable.
Well, this morning on his Talksport show, Jim addressed the issue. He said that while he appreciated that people might have found the graphic tacky, he has no control over behind-the-scenes production at Sky.
He also went on to address the crusading he has done on behalf of Bury and Bolton fans on Talksport in recent weeks, “because that’s what we do”.
“We’ve been after answers constantly on this, fearlessly, I may say,” he said. “We pursued [Ken] Anderson, [Laurence] Bassini, [Steve] Dale, the EFL and the PFA. I don’t do it for me, I do it because I’m given this opportunity at Talksport to do it for the fans to give you answers that you want.
“And for some reason they talk to us and that’s what I want. The important thing today is Bolton and Bury, not some ticking clock.” Jim finished up by having a right go at somebody on Twitter posting under a made-up name who claimed he was revelling in Bury’s demise.
Full disclosure: I know Jim, albeit barely. I am also a colleague of his at Talksport, although I have only ever done one show with him.
While I suspect a man of his status might have more clout than he is letting on when it comes to the behind-the-scenes goings-on at Sky Sports News when it comes to shows he is presenting, I genuinely can’t think of any other national broadcaster who has done more in recent weeks to highlight the peril in which Bury and Bolton find themselves. The people criticising him for apparently “revelling” in Bury’s demise seem strangely reluctant to acknowledge those efforts.
Updated
Time for me to hand over to Barry Glendenning. He’ll keep you updated on events in Bury for the rest of the day.
#Breaking Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders, 55, has been jailed for 10 weeks at Chester Magistrates’ Courts after pleading guilty to failing to comply with a roadside breath test and failing to provide a breath sample for analysis
— PA Media (@PA) August 28, 2019
“I shed tears this morning when I read about Bury FC’s demise,” John Harker says. “That surprised me. Why I asked myself as a Sheffield United supporter celebrating life in the Premier League, should I care about a lower league club I have no connection to, do not support and never will.
“The answer is I think because I love the game, its history and traditions. I am connected to Bury and to Bolton Wanderers as is everyone who loves the game in this country whether we know it or not. No man is an island, just as no football club is an island. There but for the grace of God go we. Every football supporter knows that in his/her heart of hearts. They know it even more this morning.
“The only crumb of comfort I can offer those loyal supporters is that this isn’t necessarily the end. Look at Accrington Stanley just up the road. It took time but it can be done. The best of luck to you.”
Updated
Neil Danns, the Bury FC captain who helped win the club promotion last season, said the club’s collapse had “damaged many, many lives” and called for “the powers that be” to be held accountable.
He told BBC Radio Manchester: “Devastated is an understatement. You see some of the staff members that have been working thee for years in turmoil and wondering what’s going to happen. It’s been something I wouldn’t wish on any fan or player.”
Danns said owner Steve Dale had contacted him earlier this summer and assured him that “everything was going to be okay” despite mounting questions over the club’s finances. He said questions now need to be asked of Dale, the previous owner Stewart Day, and the EFL.
He added: “People have got to stand up and be accountable because it’s damaged many, many lives. You see people crying outside the ground, young fans waking up this morning with no football team, and that’s a sad, sad situation in this day and age ... There’s definite questions that have to be asked, not just of the owner and previous owners but also the powers that be.”
Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee and MP for Folkestone and Hythe Damian Collins has said the role of the football authorities and any possible changes to power will be reviewed in the House of Commons next week.
The process run by @efl has failed fans of @buryfcofficial & may do the same to @OfficialBWFC Next week @CommonsCMS will discuss how we can review the role of the football authorities in this crisis & what new powers are needed to act against bad owners and directors of clubs.
— Damian Collins (@DamianCollins) August 28, 2019
EFL executive chair Debbie Jevans admitted rescheduling five postponed matches became a major factor in reaching the decision to expel Bury from the Football League.
This is an action that was taken, that was done with much regret and I’m feeling devastated to be here talking to you. We simply ran out of time, having already postponed five matches, it would have been six matches. We were struggling to fit that in and it was with deep regret that we just couldn’t go on anymore. We went into everything that was sent to us with detail, trying to do everything that we could to save the club.”
Jevans admitted that the EFL “needs to learn some lessons” and she believes lower league clubs should consider the option of a salary cap.
We need to sit back, we need to look back, we need to learn some lessons. I’m speaking personally, I’m speaking for myself here. I think absolutely we need to look at the spend of clubs as much as the revenues, and looking at salary caps is absolutely something that I think the clubs should consider.”
Bolton liquidation on hold
Bolton have confirmed that “any plans that may have been made for the immediate closure of the club have been put on hold” by the administrator.
A petition calling for the creation of an independent regulator for football has almost 6000 signatures.
This is it now. Clubs are literally dying in front of us.
— Against League 3 (@AgainstLeague3) August 27, 2019
What happens when your club is put up for sale? There is NOTHING preventing an asset stripper or rogue owner.
Please sign and RT our petition calling on govt to form an independent regulator:https://t.co/xuczLyj8ZE
Former Wigan chairman David Sharpe has offered his sympathy to Bury.
Devastated for all connected with Bury. It’s a sad day for the whole of football. Something very serious needs to change within the football league, it shouldn’t have taken this to be the wake up call!!
— David Sharpe (@DavidSharpe91) August 28, 2019
I’ve said this before, as much as we loved our 23 years at Wigan and it gave us amazing memories. I am so relieved my family are out, running an EFL club with the amount of funding needed to compete was becoming scandalous. The inevitable crash has started.
— David Sharpe (@DavidSharpe91) August 28, 2019
Updated
An email. “A very sad day for Bury FC, their supporters and the town,” David Roberts says. “As a lifelong Hereford United fan I know what you are going through and the anger and frustration. There is however light at the end of the tunnel…..we rose from the ashes as a phoenix club, Hereford FC, and started over again. A long road back but one to look forward to. Keep the faith!!!!!!!!”
46 years ago my dad signed for Bury and made 475 league appearances over 10 years becoming a club legend, not only that he settled here married my mum and created an amazing life for me and my brothers. I signed at 10 years old made my debut at 17 and played over 150 games for my pic.twitter.com/zpfyXDtyWq
— Tom Kennedy (@T_Kennedy3) August 28, 2019
hometown club and made friends for life!! It gave me the foundations for a long and successful career. This news is devastating that Bury will no longer be a league club, I don’t know what the future holds but I believe in the people of bury 💙 #onceashakeralwaysashaker
— Tom Kennedy (@T_Kennedy3) August 28, 2019
Updated
The Bolton Wanderers Supporters Trust has sent its “heartfelt sympathy” to Bury fans and offered any help it can this morning. The mutual support shown by fans of both financially-stricken clubs, north-west rivals who were due to play each other a week on Saturday, has been brilliant to see.
On behalf of all Bolton fans the BWFCST would like to offer our heartfelt sympathy to all Bury fans, those employed at the club and the wider Bury community at this very sad and difficult time.
— BW Supporters' Trust (@BWFCST) August 28, 2019
1/2 #BuryFC #BWFC @buryfcofficial
Football Association statement
This is without doubt a sad day for Bury FC, their supporters and the local community. We appreciate how hard this decision has been for all parties involved.
Following on from their expulsion from the English Football League, Bury FC will no longer be able to participate in the Emirates FA Cup for the 2019/20 season. We are therefore now consulting with our stakeholders regarding the first round proper following their exit from the league.
If the club re-forms we look forward to them applying to make an application to The Football Association to re-join league competition further down the English football pyramid from the 2020/21 season.
Sports minister Nigel Adams has said the EFL must look into the circumstances surrounding Bury’s plight.
This is a very dark day for English football. It is a tragedy for the fans of Bury, the local community and everyone connected with the historic club. There will be a huge amount of anger and disbelief about how this happened. I have been in regular contact with the EFL and it is right that they closely review the processes at Bury to see if any lessons can be learned. The club’s passionate fans don’t deserve to go through this. I hope once the dust has settled they can begin to rebuild and take inspiration from other clubs that have done so before them.”
Here’s a strongly worded thread on Twitter from Accrington Stanley owner Andy Holt.
At face value...
— Andyh (@AndyhHolt) August 28, 2019
Stewart Day had sold the stadium which has a debt on it of around £3.7m. The interest charged, eye watering.
He had sold car parking spaces, around 250 of them, at £10,000 a pop.
Without a deal to settle these liabilities there was no hope.
So that’s £6.2m
So sad reading Bury fans’ stories.
— Stuart James (@StuartJamesGNM) August 28, 2019
This one, via @JoshHalliday, about the lifelong (literally) season ticket holder who was allowed to sit in his seat after the deal collapsed: ’It’s my favourite place on earth & it could be the last time it happens.’ pic.twitter.com/DacYDT4xCH
A glimmer of hope for Bolton Wanderers https://t.co/7H2O1Eoovj
— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) August 28, 2019
The PFA have released a statement on Bury’s expulsion from the Football League.
It is with great sadness to hear that Bury have been expelled from the English Football League after a takeover bid from C&N Sporting Risk collapsed.
We have been in regular communication with the players, the EFL and the club over the last eight months to try and protect our members and secure a long-term future for Bury FC.
Unfortunately, despite our efforts to support the process, the club has been unable to fulfill its financial commitments or complete a possible take-over deal.
This will be a desperately sad time for Bury’s players and staff.
We will continue to support all our members who have been impacted by the current situation, including former players, the remaining players who are contracted at the club and also those who were hoping to sign contracts.
Our thoughts in particular go out to the supporters, the town and the wider community who will be devastated by this news.
Our reporter David Conn wrote a damning piece on the Bury debacle yesterday.
After such grinding and unnecessary failures precipitating expulsion from the Football League for Bury, a 134-year-old club founded by late Victorian civic-minded chaps in 1885, there have to be inquiries, lessons learned and reforms. The English Football League has promised to upgrade its rules to prevent such an implosion ever happening again. The Labour MP for Bury North, James Frith, who has worked relentlessly to expose ugly truths and to help save the club, has called for investigations and parliamentary scrutiny.
The two modern, analytical young football men, Rory Campbell and Henry Newman, who decided not to proceed with their deadline-day proposed purchase, made clear in their statement that stronger governance is needed and the Bury wreckage was the result of “systemic failings ... over a number of years”.
That appeared to be a diplomatically worded signal that they had been quite appalled by what they had found in the ruins of a stalwart EFL club. In particular, alongside the insolvency which resulted in a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) denying suppliers, HMRC and other creditors 75% of the money Bury owed them, and the still outstanding wages due to players who won promotion last season, was a mortgage on Gigg Lane which Campbell and Newman appear to have found repellent.
Bury FC expelled from the Football League: EFL says there should be an investigation into "decisions taken at Bury FC over the last few seasons" which caused "significant financial distress." Good, but the investigation should include why the EFL didn't act on clear warning signs
— David Conn (@david_conn) August 27, 2019
Awful news for @buryfcofficial and @forever_bury - this has to be the wake up call for the FA to become the independent regulator it must become. It is crystal clear clubs / leagues cannot regulate themselves. The FA has to step up & protect our historic clubs.
— The FSA (@WeAreTheFSA) August 28, 2019
Bury to take no part in this season's FA Cup
The FA have announced that Bury will not be involved in this season’s FA Cup. They would have entered the first round in November.
If you’re a Bury fan, what do you do without football on a Saturday? This could happen to fans of any lower league club, you know. A football club plays such a crucial role in a local community and means so much to so many people. It’s part of their lives. You never think it won’t be there. What do you do without it?
In other grim news Bolton Wanderers could yet go the same way as Bury. They have been given 14 days to find a buyer.
Bury captain Neil Danns delivered a strong message to owner Steve Dale yesterday.
“I would say look what you’ve done. This should never have happened. If you thought you could not move this club forward in a positive way you should never have taken over because you’ve literally destroyed lives, because that’s what this football club meant to so many fans. When you see the devastation of the fans I just think I have to say something. It’s unbelievable. I still can’t believe it. We have been in as normal, training. I don’t think anyone really believed that this was going to happen. We were just preparing every single week as though the next game was going to be on, the next game was going to be on. For it to happen so suddenly, it’s still really unbelievable. For a club with so much history and that has added so much to the league, for it to just be gone like that is just unimaginable.”
Danns was captain of the side that won promotion from League Two last season.
I’ve come to have a special bond with the fans and created some amazing memories, especially last year. At this moment in time I just feel for them the most because you have got people who have been going to the game for years. It’s like every story, you go to the game with your Grandad, your Mum, your Dad, your brothers, it’s such a community. It means so much to people. For me, it’s starting to hit me harder because I have got young sons myself. I know what it is like to take them to watch my boyhood team Liverpool and the bond that gives us. To see that taken away from future fans is just devastating. Football brings not just football on the pitch but it is so much more than that. This whole situation just does not feel real.”
Dave Giffard, the chair of Forever Bury Supporters Club, says that fans are discussing their next move.
We have got a meeting this morning to look at our next move. What we would like to do is try and save this football club. If we have to restart as a phoenix club we would like to get hold of this ground. We have the support of the council.”
Hello. This is a dark day for English football. Bury have been expelled from the Football League after 125 years of membership after after the EFL board finally ran out of patience with its financial collapse and owner, Steve Dale. The deadline for the club to find a new owner passed on Tuesday afternoon, with a proposed sale to C&N Sporting Risk collapsing earlier in the day. Shame on Dale, shame on the EFL, shame on the Football Association. We’ll have rolling reaction here today as Bury supporters reel from the shock of their club’s expulsion from the league.
