Bury – Unreliable History, Club Records & Information

Success came the club’s way very quickly, because after being one of the founder members of Division 2 in 1894, they were champions the following season. The promotion they gained as their reward ended with a stay in the First Division until 1912, when the club developed quite a reputation as one of the best in the country at the time.

The Shakers obtained their nickname in 1891 when the chairman remarked that he expected his team to “shake” their opponents. However, referees got to hear of this and fearing the worst have ensured that the club have had disciplinary problems ever since. Many believe that the nickname actually derived from the nerves exhibited by the Bury players prior to their FA Cup Final of 1900, which they ended up winning. There were no such worries when they recorded a 6-0 victory over Derby County in the 1903 Final – a record that still stands today, nearly 100 years on.

Since these heady days, Bury have struggled in the lower divisions, although as recently as 1998-99, they were in the First Division. Even staging the first ever floodlit cricket match in Great Britain was a huge flop. The lack of success (the Third Division championship in 1961 aside) has prompted the club to consider drastic measures to try and “re-glamourise” itself. One such scheme wanted to change the name of the club t Manchester North End. Unsurprisingly, the two segments of some of their close rivals names did not appeal to the fans and the idea was scrapped. Another recent development has thrown up the idea of Bury and Rochdale merging to form a new club, but when the FA revealed that the “new” club would have to play in the lower division of the two “old” clubs, the proposal was soon interred under a welter of complaints. Many Spurs fans are hoping that the Lancashire club would merge with their North London rivals to become Bury-Arsenal. Yes, surely something many would like to see.

In 1981, the club had only scored three goals in eight league games, so they put an inexperienced young keeper in goal for training to encourage their forwards and in their next game they won 3-1 !! Unfortunately, they got carried away with the idea and put the youngster in goal for the following match and lost 7-0 !!

Although there is not too much exotic about the club these days, tropical health experts have been flocking to Gigg Lane after an outbreak of Beri-Beri, but it only turned out to be the fans breaking into song in praise of their team a la Frank Sinatra’s “New York New York”.

Finances were always a problem for Bury moving into the 21st century.  The ITV Digital deal collapsed leaving them going into administration in 2001, but supporters’ money saved the club from going out of business, but could not stop them being relegated to the fourth tier.  They got into the play-offs the following season, losing to Bournemouth in the semi-final as the two clubs started journeys of great divergence.  In 2005, Bury became the only club to achieve the feat of scoring 1,000 in each of the four Football Leagues, but it was not enough to avoid nearly getting relegated out of the fourth level in 2006-2007.

The Shakers did get out of that division in 2010-11, when they went straight up to League One with a second place finish.  Relegation came two years later, with low crowds leading to more money troubles, but they regained a place in League One in 2014-2015 where they remained for three years before they dropped back to the basement division.  

Promotion to League One in 2018-19 saw Steve Dale buy the debt-ridden club for £1 in 2018 and that was the beginning of the end for the Lancashire club.  Wages going unpaid and claims by ex-manager Chris Brass and the HMRC prompting a winding-up order saw Dale reveal that the financial situation at Bury was lot worse than he had been told and with the money not available, The Shakers were put up for sale as a way out of their situation.  As time went on, Dale rejected offers to buy the club, believing that he could get more money for it, but time ran out and in August 2019 the EFL expelled Bury after 137 years of League football.

Supporters and local MPs fought to overturn the decision and a £1 million offer from Everton chairman Bill Kenwright was rejected by the EFL, as being contrary to their rules, even though it would have saved Bury.  A return was voted against by the other Football League clubs, although a phoenix club Bury AFC has been formed meaning that the spirit of the club in not dead or Buryed.

The club website contains rants and accusations about football and many other things, leaving it as a testament to the rifts that were riven during the final throes of the club’s demise.

FAMOUS PLAYERS : – Colin Bell, Danny Wilson, Tony “Digger” Barnes, Norman Bullock, Neville Southall, Archibald Coughing, Bill Gorman.

FAMOUS FANS : – Mike Reid (Classic FM DJ), Mark E Smith (Musician – The Fall)

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