Bury fan groups vote in favour of merger

By Neil Harvey

RETURN: Gigg Lane

BURY AFC and Bury FC have voted in favour of merger and a return to Gigg Lane.

A second vote achieved the required support after the first ballot of the two fan groups in October failed to get the twothirds majority.

This time it did, however, with 90.1 per cent of the Bury FC Supporters’ Society and 97 per cent of Bury AFC members voting to form one club to play at Gigg Lane from next season.

The merger also unlocks more than £1m of funding from the council and government levelling-up money.

Bury were expelled from the EFL in 2019 and some fans set-up Bury AFC, who have been groundsharing at Radcliffe, play in the North West Counties League Premier Division having won promotion from Step 6 last year in their first full season.

Bury Football Club Supporters’ Society, who purchased the Shakers’ Gigg Lane home in 2022, said: “What we are building today, is for those who will look back, [to] 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.”

The Shakers Community Society Board said: “This vote preserves the old and the new, history, present and future, nothing and nobody is lost or left behind. It was never a choice between one thing or another.

“Voting yes means voting for both. It means everything. It means all of us. 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.”