Bury AFC and Bury FC agree merger and return to Gigg Lane

Bury F.C were expelled from Football League in August 2019, after 125 years in the football league pyramid as the club was unable to pay off their debt.

This marked the first time in the history of English football that a club had been expelled from the third tier of English football.

Out of the chaos that followed, AFC Bury was founded, and began life in the North West Counties Football Division one North.

The Bury Football Club Supporter’s Society also purchased the naming right for Bury FC and their home ground, Gigg Lane.

And after a failure to merge in October, the club have now voted to merge as Bury FC again.

Since the expulsion Bury AFC had been playing matches at Stainton Park, the home of Radcliffe FC.

The ‘original’ Bury FC continued to exist as a fan-led business and completed a purchase from administrators last year.

However, this will mark the first return to Gigg Lane since they were expelled from the league.

A statement from Bury Football Club Supporters Society read: “What we are building today is for those who will look back [and] be proud of the work we as volunteers have put into establishing this club as a shining example of a sustainable fan-owned football club.”

Bury AFC, who were set up by a separate fan group, the Shakers Community, tweeted: “We are delighted to announce that the vote to amalgamate The Shakers Community and Bury FC Supporters Society has passed by an overwhelmingly positive margin.”

In a separate statement, Bury AFC’s media director, Adam Ingram, wrote: “This vote preserves the old and the new, history, present and future, nothing and nobody is lost or left behind …

“It will take all of us to make the future work, so it was the only way to set us off on the right track.”

“Thank you to everyone who voted and thank you to all the people who kept us going during some difficult times.

“We look forward to seeing you all at Gigg Lane for the start of the new season.”

It is fantastic to see the return of such a historic club, who won the FA cup in 1900 and 1903.

They will start life back in the ninth tier of the football league, taking up where AFC Bury left off in the Premier Division of the North West Counties League, who finished fourth this season.