Bury FC are a club enriched in history. From previously being a staple in the EFL pyramid, to their multiple financial troubles in 2002 and later in 2019, Bury finally look like they could be climbing back up the ranks of English football.
The Manchester club originally found itself in legal trouble in 2002, as the club entered administration due to their owner, Hugh Eaves ran the club through a Phillips and Drew account, which ultimately left the clubs funds increasingly unstable.
We spoke to Ian Harrop, the former director of Bury, he said: “Eaves offered to take a majority share of the club, and offered £450,000, which was a huge sum at the time, whilst also acquiring a £1 million loan which was secured against Gigg Lane.” He added: “We were punished in 2002, leaving the club in debt of approximately £5 million.”
“There was no way out, and we were forced to go into administration.”
A reason for the debt is the collapse of ITV Digital in 2002, as they signed a deal to hold the rights for the Football League, which they couldn’t afford. The owner, Hugh Eaves, is also said to have lost £20 million shortly before the incident.
Other clubs in the Football League were also forced into administration like Bury, like Barnsley and Bradford.
Multiple charities were formed to help the Shakers, like ‘Forever Bury’ and their ‘Save our Shakers’ campaigns.
The club were relatively stable for the next 15 years, apart from in 2013, where they almost went into liquidation before Stewart Day stepped in and stopped the club from going under.
Day had been slowly running out of funds since he bought the club, and that came to a head in December 2018, as he sold the club to businessman Steve Dale. Fans were speculative at first as Dale’s history is stripping the assets from insolvent companies, meaning businesses that can’t pay their debts.
In 2019, Stewart Day’s property business, Mederco, collapsed, which left Bury in serious trouble. The club reportedly owed £7m in inter-company loans.
During this ordeal, Bury staff are reporting not having their wages paid since Steve Dale took ownership of the club. Despite staff and players going unpaid, they still win promotion to league one.
Over that summer, many left the club, and Bury were forced to suspend their first game of the season as they only had a total of 5 players contracted.
The EFL wanted Bury to prove they could pay off their debts and fund the upcoming season. They couldn’t.
After multiple takeover attempts collapsed and multiple deadlines were extended, Bury were expelled from the Football League on August 27th, 2019, after 125 years.
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I spoke to Ian Harrop about the feeling around the ground at this time, he said: “it was gut-wrenching, a truly terrible period.”
Bury FC finally returned in 2023 after merging with Bury AFC, their phoenix club, as a fan owned club.
They have also returned to Gigg lane, after playing at Radcliffe FC’s Neuven Stadium for a period.
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The biggest question for the club now after their recent promotion is can they ever get back to heights they once did?
