Bury F.C.

Bury
Logo
Full name Bury Football Club
Nickname(s) 'The Shakers'
Ground Gigg Lane Stadium
Bury
Greater Manchester
England
(Capacity: 11,840)
Manager Alan Knill
League League Two
2009–10 League Two, 9th
Home colours
Away colours

Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team play in League Two. The club's nickname is the shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.

Contents

History

Formation of the club and the early years (1885–1906)

The club was formed in 1885 following a meeting at the Swan and Cemetery Hotel, between the Bury Wesleyans and Bury Unitarians Football Clubs. Gigg Lane's first ever game took place on 12 September 1885 when Bury played a friendly match against Wigan, and won 4-3.

In 1887 the first shed was built at Gigg Lane at a cost of £50 (although this debt was written off and never paid for), also in the same year Bury recorded their record defeat, 0-10 v. Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup's 1st Round.

Bury's first ever floodlit game took place on 5 November 1889, when a crowd of 7,000 saw Bury defeated 4-5 by Heywood Central. In 1892 Bury were Lancashire Challenge Cup Winners, before joining the Football League Second Division in 1894, which they won at the first attempt, being undefeated at home all year, and beating Liverpool in a play-off at Stoke, to go up to the First Division. They beat Liverpool in a play-off to clinch promotion to Football League Division One. They stayed there until 1912. Bury's membership of the Football League from 1894 is now the 3rd longest ongoing run (after founders Preston North End and Notts County).

On 21 April, 1900 they beat Southampton 4-0 at Crystal Palace, and before returning to the London venue in 1903. The second win was achieved without conceding a goal in the entire competition, including a record FA Cup Final score of 6-0 over Derby County on 18 April, which remains the highest ever victory in an FA Cup Final.

The Bury team pictured in 1892

In 1906 the South Stand was built at Gigg Lane. And by 1922, the ground was finally handed over to the club from the Earl of Derby as a gift. In 1924 the Main Stand was built, during this period Bury's ground was one of the best in the Football League.

Building strong foundations (1907–2001)

In 1923 they were promoted again, and in 1926 they achieved their highest League position ever, fourth in the First Division. But two years later they were relegated and have so far not played top flight football again. Steady decline followed and by 1971, they had reached the Fourth Division for the first time.

The Hugh Eaves years (1985–2003)

The club's greatest benefactor was Hugh Eaves, a local benefactor under the stewardship of whom Bury were promoted to the second tier of English football following back to back promotions. Bury, along with long-fallen former First Division regulars Huddersfield Town and Grimsby Town pushed to remain at that level, only to see their plans being derailed by the financial crisis caused by the collapse of ITV Digital.

In 2001-02, the club was relegated to League Two following a spell in administration for financial irregularities.

In May 2005, Bury became the first football club to score a thousand goals in each of the top four tiers of the English football league. They also share the club with a little non-league club charging them Div I level of hire to play there.[1] In November 2005 Bury employed the services of performance coach Jimmy Petruzzi *Jimmy Petruzziello*[1] to help them turn season around On 20 December 2006 they were the first team to ever be thrown out of the F.A. Cup for fielding an ineligible player.[2]

After the FA Cup debacle, Bury failed to win in 16 games, and relegation to the Conference beckoned for the first time in the club's history. They survived the relegation battle of the 2006/07 season, where a 0-0 draw with Stockport County ensured they would stay up to play another season in League Two.

It was announced on 14 January 2008 that Casper and Alexander had been sacked, the board terminating the pair's contracts simultaneously. A club statement said the pair had "lost the confidence of a large majority of the fans". Chris Brass, formerly the manager of the club's Centre of Excellence, was given the vacant manager's post on a caretaker basis. His first match in charge resulted in a cup upset, the Shakers knocking Norwich City out of the FA Cup in the third round. Despite this early success, results remained inconsistent, and a more full time solution was sought by the board after Brass led Bury to a humiliating 5-1 home defeat to MK Dons.

The Alan Knill Era

On 4 February 2008 Bury appointed Alan Knill as manager. Having made more than 150 appearances he went on to coach the side from next to bottom to 13th position in the 2007–08 Season. Having defied the critics in his 1st season he led Bury to 4th place where they missed out on goal difference by one goal leaving them in the playoffs.

In the 2008/09 playoffs Bury lost out to Shrewsbury Town despite leading the tie with two minutes of normal time remaining. In the first leg, Bury won 1-0 away from home thanks to a late Neil Ashton own goal. At Gigg Lane in the second leg, Phil Jevons had the chance to put the game away but missed a penalty. A goal meant that the game went to extra time where Bury saw many chances saved by keeper Luke Daniels. Bury lost on penalties as top scorer Andy Bishop and substitute Danny Racchi both had their penalties saved by Daniels. In mid-2009 they won the pre-season 'Newsquest Cup' by beating FC United of Manchester from the Northern Premier League (2-0) and Radcliffe Borough from the North West Counties League (2-1).

Honours

Championships

Cup wins

Minor wins

Records

Players

As of 17 July 2010.[3]

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 England GK Cameron Belford
2 England DF Phil Picken
3 England DF Joe Skarz
4 England DF Tom Lees (on loan from Leeds United)
5 England DF Ben Futcher (captain)
6 Scotland DF Peter Sweeney
7 England MF David Worrall
8 England MF Steven Schumacher (Vice-captain)
9 England FW Danny Carlton
10 England FW Andy Bishop
11 England MF Andy Haworth
No. Position Player
12 England FW Lenell John-Lewis
14 England MF Mike Jones
15 England FW Ryan Lowe
16 Nigeria DF Efe Sodje
17 England MF Kyle Bennett
19 France MF Damien Mozika
20 England GK Richie Branagan
21 England MF Andrai Jones
22 England MF Zach Rothwell
23 England MF Krishnan Patel
29 England MF Max Harrop

Former players

Coaching staff

Rivalries

Bury's biggest local rivals are Bolton Wanderers and Rochdale F.C.. They also have other albeit friendlier rivalries against Oldham Athletic, Stockport County and Accrington Stanley.

Past managers

References

External links