petef
Match Room Manager 
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Post by petef on Aug 21, 2019 18:37:40 GMT
Very sad times for the supporters of this football club as the drama continues to unfold. Could happen to any club that's been mismanaged - ourselves included. Promoted to League One last term only for he club to seemingly self destruct in just a few weeks. How many times has it looked like our own club would crash like Bury. Norman Smurthwaite, often touted as a buyer for TUFC, has made an offer but been rejected by owner Steve Dale. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49414602 |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2019 15:14:16 GMT
Bury have always been a likeable club. I can't remember ever being frightened by Shakers' fans, unlike some of their neighbours who could be a bit naughty, and Gigg Lane is an attractive ground. Still, it looks as if the fans are going to be put out of their misery, Bury FC is as good as dead and it's going to be time to start all over again. Maybe another Lancashire side might fancy using the ground; it would make a grand home for Chorley, Rochdale Hornets or Swinton RLFC, but more likely it's going to be another Hereford, Aldershot, Halifax & Chester situation with a Phoenix club rising from the ashes but having to begin way down the food chain.
Since Bolton Wanderers are in similar straits and Oldham Athletic are bouncing about at the wrong end of the 4th division, it looks like Rochdale are the Great Survivors in this particular corner of Lancashire, in spite of their low crowds and modest history. There's a lesson there, I'm sure. Fans on message boards frequently call out for their clubs to spend their way out of the doldrums but financial good husbandry is a far better option.
Beware the shiny new owner who rides into town on his white horse promising the Earth! Bury are not the first club to be killed off by a wide boy "saviour" and they'll not be the last.
EDIT: The deadline set by the EFL has been missed but, of course, this doesn't mean that Bury FC cease to exist; it just means they are expelled from the League. Should a takeover occur then theoretically they could start again in the National League next season, but anyone would have to be barmy to take over a business with so many debts. It seems Campbell & Newman, when they were allowed to see the actual state of the club's finances, headed for the hills, and who could blame them?
The same applies to Bolton Wanderers. They might as well resign from the League and go into liquidation right now before they pour any more cash into the bottomless pit that is their level of debt.
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Aug 27, 2019 20:00:37 GMT
Not looking good for Bury, but hang on to that glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, the football club owns the freehold of Gigg Lane and it has been mortgaged to the hilt. The fans will start the football club again, but they may well have to start again elsewhere. The dangers of football clubs owning freeholds. It was far easier for the likes of Aldershot, Hereford, Chester and Halifax where the council owned the freehold. A desperate situation, but here is an inspirational reminder of the resilience of football fans. £400 in the bank and not allowed to even play in their own country. About as much chance of surviving that as winning an Ashes Test when you are nine down and still needing 73 to win. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0007gq8/giantkillers-the-team-that-wouldnt-dieP.S. Link is only on iplayer for a limited time so watch it while you can. |
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Aug 27, 2019 23:22:40 GMT
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Jon
Admin
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Post by Jon on Aug 27, 2019 23:31:27 GMT
Terrible news. What will become of Gigg Lane? Good luck to the fans in building a new club (which will still be the old one in spirit). I hope our paths cross again one day. |
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rjdgull
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Post by rjdgull on Aug 28, 2019 6:26:01 GMT
A real shame and I feel for their fans. Best of luck in creating a new club!
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petef
Match Room Manager
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Post by petef on Aug 28, 2019 18:30:05 GMT
Whatever way you look at it its misguided ambition and poor management that's driven over spending and caused their demise but some blame must go to the way finances and spending have spiraled out of control at the very top of the game.
While this countries top flight clubs waste money by the hour and pay the best players obscene and extortionate amounts of money to play the same bloody game. Clubs with ambition demanded by supporters in many cases will continue to struggle and fold. Bolton Wanderers Plight is a prime example of a club who's fans were demanding they invest in players that would get them back into the Premier league. After all thatS their rightful place isn't it?
A recipe for disaster more like. Bury to a lesser degree must have been spending far more than they were earning to arrive at this point in such a sorry financial state. Any business or individual who lives and spends beyond their means is heading for a downfall and its only a matter of time before time catches up with them. I'm surprised in all honesty that many more clubs haven't preceded them.
As a lifelong lower league football supporter my expectations have, over the many years been tempered with a realism that unless you have a Russian oligarch prepared to spend and gamble away a small percentage of his personal fortune your club will eventually find a level that's sustainable.
My only wish these days is that I can watch entertaining attractive football at a reasonable standard and that we compete at OUR LEVEL.
League one? Maybe but if not I wont be losing any sleep if it means that the club is financially stable and viable for the long term.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Aug 28, 2019 19:47:44 GMT
Unfortunately, the football club owns the freehold of Gigg Lane and it has been mortgaged to the hilt. The fans will start the football club again, but they may well have to start again elsewhere. The dangers of football clubs owning freeholds. It was far easier for the likes of Aldershot, Hereford, Chester and Halifax where the council owned the freehold. So very true. |
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Post by plainmoorpete on Aug 28, 2019 20:57:03 GMT
My only wish these days is that I can watch entertaining attractive football at a reasonable standard and that we compete at OUR LEVEL. League one? Maybe but if not I wont be losing any sleep if it means that the club is financially stable and viable for the long term. My sentiments entirely, but what is "our level"? I believe we spend £300k pa more than we generate through sales. That is a recipe for disaster. We came very near the crunch when Thea Bristow bailed out, and we will again when Osborne has no further use of the club. The financing that we had under Dave Philips regime wouldn't have kept us the National League Premier and most likely wouldn't have maintained us as a full time professional outfit. Like you I want to see EFL football again, this is the demand of the supporters, but can we really afford it? |
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petef
Match Room Manager
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Post by petef on Aug 29, 2019 11:37:03 GMT
My only wish these days is that I can watch entertaining attractive football at a reasonable standard and that we compete at OUR LEVEL. League one? Maybe but if not I wont be losing any sleep if it means that the club is financially stable and viable for the long term. My sentiments entirely, but what is "our level"? I believe we spend £300k pa more than we generate through sales. That is a recipe for disaster. We came very near the crunch when Thea Bristow bailed out, and we will again when Osborne has no further use of the club. The financing that we had under Dave Philips regime wouldn't have kept us the National League Premier and most likely wouldn't have maintained us as a full time professional outfit. Like you I want to see EFL football again, this is the demand of the supporters, but can we really afford it? That's the big question and historically always has been Pete. Can we afford to finance a team in a higher division? Bury have failed, the club is ruined on gates that average 4000. Chasing the dream they have crashed in dramatic fashion. In general success and a "sustainable" level is proportional to average attendances and gate income though a handful of clubs occasionally will turn that theory on its head through shrewd management and great scouting or as I have stated a sugar daddy on the sidelines. But therein lies the danger for the smaller clubs like Bury and ourselves. Once a small club has "climbed the mountain" to get to that higher level, to be competitive long term you need to invest in better players and a massively increased wage bill. Attendances rarely increase proportionally but expectation levels increase among existing supporters continue to rise that puts pressure on owners and Chairmen alike. We have seen it our own club - When we last climbed the mountain to league one under Mike Bateson he knew the dangers of over spending and resisted the temptation to over invest. He was a good business man and realised it would be a loss making exercise that could place the club in jeopardy. In the mid to late 1960's we looked certain to be promoted to the second tier when we completely threw it all away at the end of the season it was strongly rumored and suggested that we simply couldn't afford to be promoted and that the last few results were planned. I never went along with that theory personally but many at the time swore it was true. To be honest I cannot see how we could ever be competitive in League one. League two just about with the odd run at the play offs would be just about realistic IMHO but based solely on maintaining financial stability and not on unrealistic ambition of which I used to have in the bucket loads. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2019 15:45:38 GMT
It's certainly a treat to see Accrington Stanley and AFC Wimbledon in the third tier. That's two well-run clubs punching above their weight but doing so without mortgaging their future. Unfortunately, successive owners at Bury made that club serial offenders and the League were right to expel them.
The news today that some geezer from the USA wants to pay off Bury's debts and take over must be taken with several pinches of salt. Not only was this person absent when Bury were facing their latest deadline but anyone daft enough to want to take the club over now can only be a fantasist, and the Shakers have had too many of those already.
The League's fit-for-ownership test is farcical but I don't see how they can be blamed for not protecting clubs from the consequences of their own foolishness. Bury gained an unfair advantage last season by not paying the players their dues, and then strung the EFL along for weeks this season when it was obvious they were no longer competitive. The fans should consider the expulsion and year off a blessing in disguise, because there must be better things to do in Bury than watch your local football club breaking your heart week after week & month after month. Now they don't have to turn up at Gigg Lane anymore they are free to smell the roses. I just hope none of them decide to support Bolton instead!
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