After four years of absence, Bury FC will officially return to the football pyramid in August. The expelled EFL club will compete in the North West Counties League Premier Division, which is the ninth tier, following a fans’ vote at Gigg Lane on Friday night. Members of the Bury Football Club Supporters Society (BFCSS) and the Shakers Community Society (SCS) overwhelmingly voted in favour of merging. BFCSS owns the Bury FC name, stadium, and history, while SCS owns the breakaway team Bury AFC, which was established after the Shakers’ expulsion in 2019. The FA had previously rejected a standalone application from BFCSS to enter Bury FC into the pyramid this season. However, with both supporter groups merging to run it as one entity, the club will now be allowed to compete in the pyramid.
The ground-breaking vote means that the club will have access to an additional £300,000 from the government’s levelling up fund, having already received £700,000 to upgrade the stadium. Furthermore, Bury Council will grant the club a further £450,000 towards making Gigg Lane a community hub. A spokesman at the club said, “This is an historic night for Bury FC. Supporters have fought hard to get football back to Gigg Lane, and now this is definitely going to happen for next season.”
To win back their EFL status, Bury FC will need to win five promotions. A board will be appointed after a further vote of the membership, in a model which will be a minimum of 51 per cent fan-owned to avoid a repeat of a single owner running the club into the ground. The club was awarded £1 million from the government’s levelling up fund, which was announced by Boris Johnson at Gigg Lane when he was prime minister. Fans have fought tirelessly to get Bury FC back to Gigg Lane in the football pyramid, and now their efforts have paid off.