Court delays decision over winding up of Shakers
A JUDGE has adjourned a bid to wind up Bury Football Club.
Judge Catherine Addy analysed the Shakers’ case at an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing in London yesterday after being told that the club had tax debts.
She said the case would be reconsidered on December 18.
Lawyers representing HM Revenue and Customs had made an application to wind up the club.
No detail of the amount Bury, who were founded in 1885, owe was given at the hearing.
In June, the judge had heard that Bury owed nearly £1m in tax and had other debts.
Bury, who are owned by Steve Dale (left), won promotion to League One at the end of the 2018-19 season, but English Football League officials expelled the club in August after bosses failed to show they could pay debts. Barrister Raj Arumugam, who represented HMRC, told the judge yesterday that Bury had filed returns. He said time was needed for those to be processed.
The club failed in a bid to be reinstated to League Two for next season after an application was rejected by the other 71 EFL member clubs at a meeting in September.
Last month the EFL was asked to apologise and make reparations to supporters and staff of the club, and was told it had to ‘share the blame’ for the Shakers’ demise in a letter written by the chair of the Digital Culture Media and Sport committee Damian Collins.
The EFL said responsibility for what happened to Bury lay solely with the current and former owners.
It added in a statement: “We very much recognise the real distress felt by Bury FC supporters. Withdrawing membership was a difficult decision and we regret that such a course of action was required.
“However, we stand behind the decisions taken in respect of Bury FC, which were applied in accordance with rules in place at the time.”
THE old notion that form goes out of the window in a derby has been consigned to history.
Since their first Premier League title season in 2011-12, the Blues have won 10 of the 16 league derbies, an accurate reflection of their dominance in the city, and in English football.
City’s recent form had Reds believing they could cause an upset at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday after all, if Norwich and Wolves could beat the Blues, why not United?
One win in five for City fed that optimism - but events at Turf Moor on Tuesday night have turned that on its head, and we noticed five signs which might send a shudder down United spines...
HIGH SPIRITS
THE Blues’ dressing room has remained solid during their recent ordinary run, but Rodri has confessed that confidence has dipped as results have stuttered.
Burnley’s electrics, which plunged the dressing room into darkness, may have had the reverse effect, as players used their phones to illuminate the scene, and burst into a pre-match rendition of the squad’s adopted anthem ‘Wonderwall.’ The joy of that moment translated onto the pitch – and after the 4-1 Turf Moor win, the squad and staff posed for a dressing room celebration picture – unusual in a game which was not especially big one, but perhaps a recognition of an important turning point.
Stuart Brennan
JESUS SAVES
GABRIEL Jesus looked like a striker struggling to find his confidence after more than six weeks without a goal, and following penalty misses for club and country.
But his sumptuous curled opener at Burnley lifted the gloom, and that showed as he leapt to volley in his second goal.
Like Aguero, Jesus tends to hit scoring spurts, bagging goals in three, four or five consecutive games. The return of his mojo could not have been timed better.
TAKING BACK CONTROL BURNLEY away looked like a tough ask for a team below its best, but City played it almost perfectly. They controlled the game from start to finish, perhaps for the first time – the Clarets simply could not get a toehold in the game from which to launch their plans to rough them up. The Blues had 76 per cent of the possession to completely stifle Burnley’s aggression. In last season’s derby, the Blues’ 44-pass