Bury 1-1 Lincoln City
1st October 2005
Some clubs are worth paying a visit to just because of their name. Well, I think so anyway. One such is Bury. I know it is probably just a derivation of borough, but I just think the name is somehow evocatively funereal.
Other clubs I aim to visit just because of their great names are Port Vale, Orient, Plymouth Gargoyle and, best of all, Grimsby
Arriving at Gigg Lane early, and knowing Bury had a castle, which had just a few years earlier been made open to the public, I trotted up the Manchester Road to give it a quick once over before the match.
Hmmmm. I think to be strictly accurate, the term “Remains of the foundations of Bury Castle
Similarly, there wasn’t really an awful lot to the subsequent match. Lincoln City, by far the better side throughout, took the lead just prior to the break when Dean KEATES bashed a free-kick into the top corner past Neil Edwards.
In the second-half, however, the visitors grew sloppy and complacent, and passed up numerous chances to close the game out before, as is often the case, being punished when Bury snatched an undeserved draw in the last minute; Simon WHALEY doing the needful. Both goals during this match were spectacular strikes admittedly, but there was a whole lot of footballing mogadon in there as well.
In the second-half, however, the visitors grew sloppy and complacent, and passed up numerous chances to close the game out before, as is often the case, being punished when Bury snatched an undeserved draw in the last minute; Simon WHALEY doing the needful. Both goals during this match were spectacular strikes admittedly, but there was a whole lot of footballing mogadon in there as well.
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| Approaching Gigg Lane from Gigg Lane, if you get what I mean (2005). |
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| Same view (sorta) in 2025. |
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| The Cemetery End (2005) - another funereal connotation. |
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| Same view in 2025 |
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| In the main stand looking towards the Manchester Road end in 2005. |
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| Same view in 2025. |
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| The south stand in 2005 - renamed the Les Hart Stand five years later. |
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| and in 2025. |
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Bury 3-0 Squires Gate
29th March 2025
There can be few football clubs who have enjoyed/endured such a rollercoaster ride between my Then and Now pic visits as Bury FC. Phew....where to start?
On my first visit, back in 2005, the club were in the (only recently named as such) League Two having, just six short seasons earlier been competing in (what would be termed today) The Championship.
The club would never again reach those rarefied heights, but would enjoy promotions back to the third tier in 2011, 2015 & 2019. Those first two spells upstairs would be fairly uneventful, but it was that third promotion which ultimately almost terminally harmed the club. Overcoming a late season near-collapse, which saw them win just two of their last nine matches, Bury FC pretty much wheezed over the promotion finishing line with a draw at home to Port Vale.
This success was all the more remarkable, given it occurred with the club mired in a swamp of financial woes; with players often being paid late and creditors HMRS and former coach Chris Brass both initiating winding-up proceedings in the High Court.
A CVA was finally agreed over the summer, but when the League requested details from Bury FC on how they going to satisfy the payments of the CVA and finance the club over the upcoming season, the club were unable to produce a satisfactory answer.
Owner Steve Dale put the club up for sale but, when analytics company C&N Sporting Risk pulled out at the last minute, Bury FC were unceremoniously booted out the league.
A very messy period followed (I direct you to Wiki for details, should you be interested, as it gave me a headache trying to explain it here). But the outcome was that Bury FC emerged from the COVID interregnum as a member of the North West Counties Football League Division One North - Level 10 on the English Football pyramid, I think.
This season (2024/25) sees the club playing at Level 9, and looking a decent bet to be playing Level 8 (in The Northern League) next season.
Bury went into this match against Blackpool-based Squires Gate three points clear of second placed Liverpool-based Lower Breck, with just four rounds of matches remaining. I noted this afternoon's opponents had conceded over 100 league goals this season, and were propping up the NWCL Premier Division table. Bury for their part, had already scored over 100 league goals.
And whilst the home fans (and me) did not witness the anticipated goal splurge, Bury's modest 3-0 win was controlled, clinical and never in any real doubt.
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| Approaching Gigg Lane from Gigg Lane, if you get what I mean (2005). |
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| Bury v Squires Gate (March 2025) |
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| Bury v Squires Gate (March 2025) |
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| I still cannot get used to the sight of pitchside beer at a football match. |
Are Bury FC Football League bound? This is a really difficult question to address. Gigg Lane certainly appears a League-ready ground but, as a fan-owned club, they are going to find it progressively more difficult to financially compete as they progress up the pyramid.
That being said, today's attendance of 3,894 beat most in the National League, and a fair few in League Two.
Just out of curiosity, I looked back at the attendance at the Bury v Lincoln City match I attended back in 2005. It was 4,118, i.e. only 324 higher.
I shall follow the progress of Bury FC with interest.
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