In October 2019, six weeks after Bury were expelled from the Football League, a group of supporters met in the back room of a local pub. With Gigg Lane padlocked and the club spiralling towards liquidation, discussions began over forming a team to keep football in Bury alive.
“The priority was getting players on the pitch playing again,” says Phil Young, one of the fans in attendance. Two and a half years on, Bury AFC have earned promotion in their first full season and Young is the chair of Shakers Community, the trust that underpins the new club’s fan-owned model. It has been an impressive start to a journey beset by twists and turns.
“There have been a lot of different obstacles in our way,” Young says. “We’ve had to deal with a pandemic, which hasn’t helped.” Plans for Bury AFC’s inaugural season were disrupted by the Covid-19 outbreak of early 2020, and the virus’s resurgence the following winter saw the campaign abandoned with the team second in the North West Counties League, Division One North. As Bury AFC began again last summer, optimism was in short supply despite the big crowds drawn to Stainton Park, the club’s current home in Radcliffe. “There were players who really struggled with their mental health when we returned,” says the manager, Andy Welsh. “They had lost a bit of belief – I suppose the thing in the back of their minds is: ‘What if the season gets curtailed again?’
“We’ve all worked hard to get around the lads, pick them up when they need it, and leave no stone unturned in terms of support for them – on and off the field,” adds Welsh, whose playing career took in stints at Sunderland, Stockport and Yeovil. “That makes me proud more than anything – to see us all come together and win the league after a pre-season where some players were in a bad place.”
Promotion to the NWCL’s top division was secured with a 4-0 win over St Helens Town on Sunday but Welsh does not expect much to change next term. “We will be the team to be shot at again,” he says of a side attracting four-figure crowds in the 10th tier. “Being a Mancunian myself, I know what the hard-working locals want to see on a Saturday. They want to go and watch their team work hard, and win.”
This mindset helped Welsh stand out among 750 applicants for the Bury AFC manager’s job. “We wanted to build around Andy,” Young says. “He had a good track record, but he also represented the values we wanted to instil in the club. Our players have been loyal because they want to play for him, and for our fans.” It is this sense of community spirit that Bury AFC’s founders have fought to keep at the club’s core.
“I don’t feel that we’re just trying to recover what we lost,” Young says. “This has been an opportunity to start with a blank sheet of paper, and try to decide what a football club should be. Our role is to be a true community club. The colours and crest show where we came from, but we’re not just trying to recreate Bury FC – clearly the old club had its problems.”
In Bury, some supporters have disagreed over the right path to take – while many have followed the phoenix club, others kept their focus on reclaiming Gigg Lane. The story took another twist in February when a separate supporters’ group, Est. 1885, bought the ground from administrators – expressing a desire to “find a consensual path with Bury AFC” for football to return to Bury FC’s spiritual home.
Young agrees that “one team for the town [is] the course we’re on” but explains the situation is not straightforward, with February’s developments coming “out of the blue”. Discussions are ongoing but any agreement must be voted on by the new club’s members. Young admits that tensions in 2019 may have created “a lack of trust between parties” but believes reports of a divided fanbase are an exaggeration. “This is nothing compared to other football clubs!”
Welsh says: “I know a lot of our fans are Bury fans and they want to be back at Gigg Lane. That’s not something I, or anyone at Bury AFC, am in control of.” Young is adamant that although a return is preferred, it is not the only option. “We don’t want to just kick a ball there. We have to be sustainable as a football club – not just get back to Gigg Lane as quickly as possible.”
The board and manager at Bury AFC have big ambitions. “There does need to be a sense of momentum,” Young says. “Success will keep everyone happy.” Welsh cites the example of AFC Wimbledon, another fan-led enterprise. “Look where they are now – for us, that’s a fantasy story. If everyone can come together, we can create fantastic memories here.”
Sunday’s crowd of 1,885 – echoing the year Bury FC were founded – already have new memories to cherish, with the first trophy of a new era secured. “What we’ve achieved this year has been absolutely massive,” says Welsh. “My players are not on thousands of pounds a week. I’ve demanded a lot out of them, but they have really bought into it.”
Young says: “The players and fans were all in the bar together afterwards, cheering and singing songs for hours,” before returning once more to the bigger picture. “We’re not just trying to resurrect Bury FC. The lessons we’ve learned can benefit the whole of football – not to let what happened to Bury to have been in vain.”
