The Guardian - 29.08.2019

Section:GDN 1N PaGe:51 Edition Date:190829 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 28/8/2019 21:25 cYanmaGentaYellowb

Thursday 29 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •

51

Q&A

What lies

ahead for Bury

after expulsion

David Conn

What is likely to happen next
to Bury football club?
There is broad agreement that
sadly the most likely outcome is
for the 134-year-old club to fall
into liquidation. The calamitous
expulsion from the EFL means no
football will be played by Bury,
so it has no trading business with
which to earn any money. The
company voluntary arrangement
(CVA) is thought very unlikely to
complete, and a liquidator would
be appointed to deal with the
debts. Bury did sell season tickets
to supporters for this League One
season; those fans are now
creditors, having paid substantial
money to watch matches that will
no w not take place.

What position are the past and

present Bury players now in?

Simon Barker, assistant chief

executive of the Professional

Footballers Association, told the

Guardian that Bury have only four

contracted players, and that the EFL

has confi rmed they are now free to

leave. Bury still ha ve 16 academy

scholars, who are also free to leave;

Barker said he had been talking

to concerned parents about their

position, and how the educational

element of their football scholarship

can be completed. The PFA made

loans to Bury players to cover some

of the wages they were not paid in

March, April, May and June, Barker

said. Players were, as the captain

Stephen Dawson has said publicly,

suff ering fi nancial hardship due to

the unpaid wages, including genuine

worries that their houses would

be repossessed , he said. Barker

explained that player contracts

stipulate that non-payment of wages

represents gross misconduct by

a club, so last season’s promoted,

unpaid players were able to give 14

days notice and leave.

What will happen to Gigg Lane if

the club go into liquidation?

That is a crucial question if there

is any chance of Bury having a

revived future. The club’s home

since 1885 and most important

asset is mortgaged to a company,

Capital Bridging Finance Solutions

(“Capital”), for £3.7m, after loans

were taken out by the previous

owner, Stewart Day. Capital almost

certainly has the legal right to

take possession of the ground for

non-payment of their interest, but

Bury council has said it is protected

for sporting purposes and no

development would be allowed on

it. Capital is understood to have

declined substantially less than

£3.7m to release the mortgage, but

any revived Bury FC would seek a

deal to play at its historic home.

Is there a possibility that a new

Bury FC will be formed?

The supporters trust, Forever

Bury, has said it is discussing the

possibility of forming a “phoenix

club” following the model of

AFC Wimbledon, established by fans

in 2002 after the Football League

allowed Wimbledon to move to

Milton Keynes. AFC Wimbledon

have been an inspirational success,

winning promotion to League

One after starting in the football

pyramid’s ninth tier. Bury fans,

however , will be aware how arduous

the road back will be.

Some of the

lads are

struggling

• people look

stressed

Player’s view

Harry Bunn

the weekend and they’re cancelled.

It’s been a nightmare, it’s been

tough in training and away from the

ground too. We have had some wages,

we got last month’s, but we’re still

owed our pay for a few months before

that and I don’t know if we’ll ever see

it; we’ve had nothing from the EFL or

the PFA on that.

I think we would appreciate

more support. The PFA did help us

out, giving us 50% of our wages,

but now we don’t have an income.

Lads have mortgages. This is the

time when we need the help, and

we’d appreciate anything. I’ve got a

baby due in February. I just wish the

circumstances were diff erent.

There is a real togetherness among

the squad but with some of the lads

you can tell they’re struggling. People

look stressed. You can see how it’s

aff ecting people. We stick together

but morale is at rock bottom.

We’re looking at the whole

situation and asking questions. It

looks like the owner had a fair

few other businesses that were

liquidated. It’s beyond me and

the other lads as to how you could

allow him in to buy a club. We

thought there were supposed to be

tests before that could happen.

Despite the news we’re all

still in limbo a little bit. I don’t

know how long it may drag on,

but for sure something as big

as this is not going to go away

straight away. A lot of people are

aff ected and I think the EFL need

to be transparent about what’s

going on. I’ve not had any direct

communication from the EFL and

neither have any of my teammates

as far as I’m aware. I thought they

would make some attempt at least.

We’re still hearing these

rumours about new bidders and

a lot of people are asking why the

EFL could not have extended the

deadline a bit further. I know they

say there are rules in place but

something like this last happened,

what, 27 years ago? It’s a unique

case and we need to use common

sense and maybe a bit of leniency.

Just look at how many people it

will aff ect.

The collapse has turned people’s

lives upside down. People have

lost their jobs. The players have

signed contracts when they came

to the club in good faith, thinking

you’d get what you’re owed. We’ve

worked hard for that money only

for it to disappear halfway through.

It was only three months

ago that we were celebrating

promotion to League One. That

seems like such a long time away

now. The lads did great to achieve

promotion and I feel for them all

and all the staff especially.

W

e’re just gutted.

That’s the

feeling we

all have right

now. It’s been

dragging on

a long time but even until late on

Tuesday night there was a bit of

hope that the club might have a

future. We’d heard there were a

few late off ers to buy it but then the

deadline passed and the EFL felt

they needed to expel us.

I was at home when it happened.

I was watching Sky Sports and it

broke on there. I saw the statement

but I didn’t know it was coming. I

never got a heads-up on anything.

Throughout the whole

process there has been a state of

uncertainty for us players. The fi rst

time we hear anything, it’s at the

same time as everyone else. When

EFL statements go live, that’s when

we hear.

We haven’t been able to play

this season but we’ve carried

on working. We’ve been in all

pre-season. We went in yesterday.

We’ve been training as normal,

preparing for games, then we get to

▲ Harry Bunn says Bury’s players are

‘in limbo’ after the club’s expulsion

Football’s reality cheque

Barney Ronay on how the game is

gambling with its very soul Page 49 

A day after the Football League pulled

the plug on Bury’s current member-

ship, Bolton Wanderers were able to

announce a last-minute reprieve with

the club administrators confi rming the

sale to Football Ventures Limited has

been completed.

Bolton were on the verge of liquida-

tion after four months of unpaid bills,

postponed fi xtures and unremunera-

ted playing and safety staff led to

a 14-day final deadline, with the

adminis trator Paul Appleton told to

sell the League One club or prove it can

be funded for the test of the season.

In a statement Appleton said:

“This has been one of the most com-

plicated administrations I have been

involved with, but I am delighted to

say we have fi nally reached a satis-

factory conclusion with the sale to

Football Ventures.”

As late as Monday Appleton had

revealed there was no money left to

fund the club after a takeover bid by

the FV consortium had stalled, and

though talks continued on Tuesday

in an attempt to broker a deal before

the 5pm deadline, the EFL still felt

compelled to enforce a 14-day notice

to withdraw Bolton’s membership.

The sticking point during talks

was believed to be a dispute between

Bolton’s most recent owner, Ken

Anderson, and their biggest creditor,

the family trust set up by millionaire

businessman and benefactor Eddie

Davies before his death last year.

Anderson was already struggling

to keep the club afl oat before the

situation was complicated by a fresh

takeover bid from Laurence Bassini,

who was briefl y involved at Watford

but has twice been declared bankrupt

and was once banned for three years

for fi nancial misconduct.

Even when unpaid bills and an

inability to complete fi xtures saw the

club placed in administration, Apple-

ton’s attempts to conduct a sale to

preferred bidders Football Ventures

were delayed by what the administra-

tor referred to as “unhelpful” inter-

ventions by Bassini. The administrator

reserved most of his scorn, however,

for the departing owner Anderson.

▼ The University of Bolton

Stadium will continue to

host League One football

PETER BYRNE/PA

Bolton saved after

Fo otba l l Vent u re s

completes takeover

Paul Wilson

Appleton said: “At times some of the

hurdles appeared to be insurmount-

able and the frustration felt has been

immense, not least by supporters who

have had to endure too many weeks of

uncertainty. I would like to pay parti-

cular tribute to the Eddie Davies Trust

and their legal team, who throughout

the whole process have been willing to

do everything in their power to unsure

Eddie’s incredible legacy was main-

tained and not sullied.

“It is testament to their unfl inching

determination that we were able to

complete the deal, because some of

the circumstances and demands they

faced were wholly unreasonable,

but they were not prepared to allow

Eddie’s beloved Bolton to suff er any

longer at the hands of Ken Anderson.

Sadly Mr Anderson used his position

as a secured creditor to hamper and

frustrate any deal that did not benefi t

him or suit his purposes .”

Football Ventures said in a state-

ment: “We remained focused on

completion of the deal, even when

at times it was diffi cult to keep our

counsel, with further damage to the

club being infl icted by delays outside

of our control. Now we are excited to

begin restoring this magnifi cent club

to its rightful position, and securing

its future for the fans, the staff and

the players.”

Though there was obviously relief

that Bolton had not followed Bury

into oblivion, there is still plenty to

be done before anyone can start cele-

brating. Beginning the season with

a 12-point deduction for going into

administration, Bolton will be rooted

to the bottom of League One for some

time after taking only one point from

their fi rst four matches.

Football Ventures

‘Now we are

excited to begin

restoring this

magnifi cent

football club to its

rightful position’

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