Bury AFC: Who Are They?

Bury Association Football Club is a fan-owned English association football club representing the town of Bury and based in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. It was established in December 2019 as a phoenix of Bury FC, which had been expelled from the English Football League.

Check out this video from Ian Cheeseman

Origins 

August/September 2020

Bury Football Club were expelled from the English Football League after 125 years of membership due to unpaid debts. It was seen as a seismic event in football history. It was the first time a club has been expelled from the third tier of English football and left a massive hole in the community where it was based.

A group of Bury fans met at the Town Hall shortly after the expulsion where two possible options were raised around the future of football in the town. 

One of the options was fans being optimistic hoping that their club could be saved by a buyer and that they’d resurface in the National League. 

Realistically though the fans had to start looking into the idea of a phoenix club with the original idea receiving over three hundred responses from fans wanting to get involved. The club board was elected and the club now has over 1500 members.

The club runs a policy of one member one vote and like a number of fan owned clubs, they have the motto of 'By the fans, For the fans'. It’s a new journey for many of the fans who don’t really know what to expect and the board aim to be fully transparent where possible. 

How have they started?

They are currently top of the NWFCL First Division North, having played 7 games. However, their campaign was put on hold due to ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. 

Bury AFC aren't the only fan-owned team in the English Non League pyramid. FC United of Manchester were founded in 2005 by Manchester United fans angry at the Glazer takeover of their club. 

We'll feature them on this blog soon...