134-year-old Bury expelled from English Football League
Historic club Bury, the first team to be expelled from the English Football League in over two decades, suffered a further blow yesterday when they were kicked out of the FA Cup.
The once-proud club, that only a few months ago were celebrating promotion to the third tier, were turfed out of the league yesterday morning (Singapore time) when a takeover bid fell apart shortly before the deadline set by administrators.
The club from north-west England are the first to be expelled from the league - comprising all the divisions below the top-tier English Premier League - since Maidstone United in 1992.
Yesterday, a further blow fell on bitter fans awaking to the stark realisation that efforts to keep the club afloat had failed.
"Following on from their expulsion from the English Football League, Bury FC will no longer be able to participate in the FA Cup for the 2019/20 season," read an FA statement.
"If the club re-forms, we look forward to them applying to make an application to The Football Association to rejoin league competition further down the English football pyramid from the 2020/21 season."
Bury's rivals Bolton Wanderers - one of the founders of the Football League but who have been in administration since May - won some breathing space yesterday when they were given 14 days to find a buyer.
For Bury, though, the bell has tolled on their time in the Football League, ending over 100 years of participation which yielded two FA Cups and produced players like former Manchester City and England great Colin Bell.
A BBC journalist at the club's Gigg Lane ground said that on hearing the news, fans burst into tears, with some so upset they were "crouching down to the floor".
Club captain Neil Danns told talkSPORT that Bury owner Steve Dale had "destroyed lives".
He said: "If you thought you could not move this club forward in a positive way, you should never have taken over because you've literally destroyed lives, because that's what this football club meant to so many fans." - AFP
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now