BURY THE HATCHET

After years of financial woes, EFL expulsion and squabbling, Bury fans have united to plot a brighter future...

- Ed McCambridge

Every new football season brings with it fresh hope for fans across the country. But perhaps nowhere will a set of supporters be more excited about a return to action than Bury’s.

“The first game is going to be very, very special indeed,” Shakers fan Tom Pickup tells FFT ahead of the new campaign. “I can’t wait to be back on the terraces with everybody, cheering the side on again.”

The reason for Bury fans’ eagerness? The 2023-24 season marks the club’s return to the football pyramid, four years after they were expelled by the EFL over financial mismanagement. And if that wasn’t exciting enough, the two-time FA Cup winners are also going home to Gigg Lane, which has laid dormant since 2019’s gut-wrenching punishment.

“Being back at Gigg Lane is the cherry on top for all associated with the club,” Andy Welsh (below, white shirt), who will lead the team into their new era as manager, tells FFT. “To have all of the supporters back together, after such a fractious time, will be special.”

Fractious is an understatement. Since Bury were run into the ground under former chairman Steve Dale’s disastrous ownership, there have been two distinct factions. Those who set up phoenix club Bury AFC, representing the town in non-league over the past three seasons, and those who considered themselves loyal to a club which, since 2019, has existed only as a business entity, with no matches, players or staff.