FOOTBALL IS ON ITS WAY HOME!
THE return of football to Bury moved a step closer this week following the submission of an application by a phoenix club to play in the North West Counties League from next season – but it remains to be seen what guise the club will continue in.
Bury FC, the expelled League One side, had a winding-up order against the club dismissed in court on Wednesday after owner Steven Dale settled a debt with HM Revenue & Customs, throwing supporters’ plans into limbo.
The future of the club is still in doubt with the Shakers set to be back in court on January 16 having entered into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), believed to be just under £1 million. It is understood there is a consortium interested in purchasing the club in its current form which is considered ‘plan A’.
Supporters’ trust Forever Bury is also exploring a secondary option for business entrepreneur Robert Benwell to purchase Bury’s Gigg Lane, valued at £3.8m, either out of liquidation or by way of repossession. Talks are ongoing with mortgage holder Capital Bridge Financing.
At a fans’ forum on Thursday evening, Benwell was quizzed by supporters and told the 400-strong audience he would invest £600,000 of his own money to pay off a percentage of the ground’s mortgage.
The 35-year-old said he had an agreement in principle with Capital Bridging for £4 of every match ticket, potentially priced at £15, to pay the interest on the remainder of the mortgage.
Agreement
Meanwhile, ‘plan C’ for a supporter-led phoenix club named Bury AFC lodged an application to join Non-League from the 2020-21 season. The club would enter a groundshare agreement, with one potential option being Radcliffe FC.
The league’s board of directors will now meet to discuss whether to support the submission ahead of the February 1 FA deadline next year.
“Until we have genuine clarity as to what’s going on from the Bury FC side of it then we’re all stuck in limbo and it’s very frustrating,” Chris Murray, chairman of the Bury Phoenix Group, told The FLP. “What we’ve done by putting the application in is we’ve definitely assured there will be football played in the 2020-21 season. Obviously things change and if we have to go down the pecking order in order to make sure the club survives in its original format I have no issue with that.
“I wasn’t totally on-board with the (Benwell) idea when you do the maths on it because it doesn’t sound like it would pay the mortgage off completely but we’ve got to give the chance of the ground being saved every opportunity.”
One solution could be for Benwell and the phoenix club to join forces should he secure Gigg Lane but, understandably, supporters are concerned about his plans.
“I’m open to having a conversation with him and hearing what he has to say about how we could work together,” added Murray. “We didn’t want to set our stall out to say the aim is to get Gigg Lane. It’s a £3.5m charge on the ground which as a start-up club without massive outside investment we don’t have that money. Our aim was to get the fundamentals right, the application sorted correctly etc.
“It’s all dependent on what Capital Bridge get to do with it. I would assume it would go to them if the club was liquidated, based on the size of the charge for them to try and sell rather than a liquidator to sell.”
Forever Bury chairman Dave Giffard added: “We’re fast running out of time. If it does get liquidated then option A is out of the water and we’re left with B and the phoenix. They have to run concurrently, we’re covering all eventualities.
“We want to get a line under it. We need to get to a place where we know exactly what’s happening and what the route is forward and then go for it. Whatever club that comes out of it, it’s going to be down to the fans rolling their sleeves up and doing a lot of work.”