The North West Counties League will not be getting a second Bury team in the competition next season.
A group of Bury FC fans have had their bid to enter a team into the League rejected.
The Bury Football Club Supporters’ Society (BFCSS) applied to join the NWCFL – the 9th and 10th tiers of English football – at the start of the 2023/24 season and wanted to play its matches at the former Football League club’s Gigg Lane stadium.
BFCSS, a separate fan group, purchased Bury FC’s name, assets and Gigg Lane stadium last year. They had hoped to enter their own team into the NWCFL – initially under the name Bury Community United Football Club. The group says it eventually hopes to change the name to Bury FC.
However, the group has confirmed that its application had been turned down due to concerns over the club’s ‘business case’. They claim the league was also unhappy that they submitted their application only five days before the deadline.
In a statement on its website, BFCSS said it would be appealing the decision and would also be applying to join the West Lancashire League – a feeder to the NWCFL.
Cumbrian clubs are involved in both Leagues – with Kendal Town in the NWCounties Premier Division and Holker Old Boys and Cleator Moor Celtic in Division One North, where the Bury newcomers were hoping to play.
Watching the outcome with the West Lancashire League are the likes of Whitehaven, Kendal United, Kendal County, Millom, Askam and Ulverston.
However, the group said it feared that the West Lancashire League application would also be rejected over ‘safety concerns’ about the large number of supporters it hoped would attend its matches.
Plans to unite the original club’s fanbase failed last year after BFCSS members voted against them.
Bury AFC won the NWCounties First Division last season and are in good shape, with matches in hand, to win the Premier Division title this time round and follow Macclesfield into the NPL West Division.
Supporters were asked to vote on proposals to merge two fan groups, the Shakers Community Society – which founded Bury AFC – and BFCSS, in a bid to ensure men’s football returns to Gigg Lane.
As the original Bury FC remains in administration, the merger would have meant renaming Bury AFC as Bury FC. While Shakers Community Society members backed a merger, a separate poll of BFCSS members fell just short of the two thirds majority required for it to be go ahead.
Bury council had pledged £450,000 alongside a £300,000 government grant to support the new club if the plans went ahead. Council bosses have now said they will not be providing the funding.
BFCSS has since proposed a second merger vote, which the Shakers Community Society says it is open to but wants assurances from BFCSS on a number of key issues.
