Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

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buryfc1990
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Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by buryfc1990 » Fri Aug 28, 2020 10:20 am

Hi all, long time (suffering) Bury fan - who now lives in the north east (Sunderland to be precise).

As I'm sure you're aware, Bury FC is - at best - on life support and efforts have been to assemble a phoenix club (Bury AFC).

Given the sad period in Darlington's history, which close resembled ours, I'm just wondering, and reaching out really, to see how you all felt about taking that first step to supporting 'another' club. I'm currently finding it almost offensive that people have readily-accepted the fate of the Football Club, even though it hasn't 'technically' died, but I don't know if I'm simply swimming against an inevitable tide. I'll add that I've got a 3 year old lad, who I'm desperate to teach about football that exists beyond the Premier League. I know he's going to end up supporting SAFC, as all his school-friends will be Black Cats fans, but I would like him to know more, and ideally follow, football in Bury.

Any help would be gratefully received, and all the best for the season.

AndyPark
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by AndyPark » Fri Aug 28, 2020 10:24 am

We didn't take the 'first step' to support a 'new' club.

We never died, we just got a name change forced upon us. We are still the same Darlington FC we were 10 years ago. Good luck with the fan-owned club.

buryfc1990
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by buryfc1990 » Fri Aug 28, 2020 10:37 am

Ah I see. Fair enough. Thanks for clarifying that anyway. :)

eek
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by eek » Fri Aug 28, 2020 10:57 am

Not quite AndyPark - Darlofc did die as we lost as we lost the golden share which meant we needed to start again why lower down the leagues than might otherwise have been the case.

In the case of Bury the only difference is that Raj disappeared, stopped paying the bills and kept that golden share. The current owner of Bury FC in theory has that golden share but none of the leagues accept that said share means anything. So while Bury FC still exists I very much doubt it will ever play a game of football again.

So while Bury AFC isn't exactly the same club as Bury FC is - it's as good as you are going to get and it may well eventually be able to retake the name of Bury FC...

buryfc1990
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by buryfc1990 » Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:22 am

eek wrote:
Fri Aug 28, 2020 10:57 am
Not quite AndyPark - Darlofc did die as we lost as we lost the golden share which meant we needed to start again why lower down the leagues than might otherwise have been the case.

In the case of Bury the only difference is that Raj disappeared, stopped paying the bills and kept that golden share. The current owner of Bury FC in theory has that golden share but none of the leagues accept that said share means anything. So while Bury FC still exists I very much doubt it will ever play a game of football again.

So while Bury AFC isn't exactly the same club as Bury FC is - it's as good as you are going to get and it may well eventually be able to retake the name of Bury FC...
So when you lost that golden share, what was the process of getting a club together? Was all the infrastructure the same?

eek
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by eek » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:23 pm

buryfc1990 wrote:
Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:22 am
eek wrote:
Fri Aug 28, 2020 10:57 am
Not quite AndyPark - Darlofc did die as we lost as we lost the golden share which meant we needed to start again why lower down the leagues than might otherwise have been the case.

In the case of Bury the only difference is that Raj disappeared, stopped paying the bills and kept that golden share. The current owner of Bury FC in theory has that golden share but none of the leagues accept that said share means anything. So while Bury FC still exists I very much doubt it will ever play a game of football again.

So while Bury AFC isn't exactly the same club as Bury FC is - it's as good as you are going to get and it may well eventually be able to retake the name of Bury FC...
So when you lost that golden share, what was the process of getting a club together? Was all the infrastructure the same?
No we started afresh - which is exactly what Bury AFC is doing.

Literally the only difference is that Raj disappeared with the share and in your case the owner of Bury FC is able to admit that he has the name, a ground and absolutely nothing else including no league in which to play...

buryfc1990
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by buryfc1990 » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:31 pm

eek wrote:
Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:23 pm
buryfc1990 wrote:
Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:22 am
eek wrote:
Fri Aug 28, 2020 10:57 am
Not quite AndyPark - Darlofc did die as we lost as we lost the golden share which meant we needed to start again why lower down the leagues than might otherwise have been the case.

In the case of Bury the only difference is that Raj disappeared, stopped paying the bills and kept that golden share. The current owner of Bury FC in theory has that golden share but none of the leagues accept that said share means anything. So while Bury FC still exists I very much doubt it will ever play a game of football again.

So while Bury AFC isn't exactly the same club as Bury FC is - it's as good as you are going to get and it may well eventually be able to retake the name of Bury FC...
So when you lost that golden share, what was the process of getting a club together? Was all the infrastructure the same?
No we started afresh - which is exactly what Bury AFC is doing.

Literally the only difference is that Raj disappeared with the share and in your case the owner of Bury FC is able to admit that he has the name, a ground and absolutely nothing else including no league in which to play...
With that being the case, what was the feeling of the fanbase? Were there any people who were unhappy at the idea of starting afresh, or was it unanimously supported? I'm genuinely interested, as - like you said - Bury AFC probably is going to be as good as it gets, but I don't feel any affinity to it.

Old Git
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by Old Git » Fri Aug 28, 2020 1:41 pm

We had no alternative but to rally round the reformed club there was no option for us.
Along with many others I was not sure if the affinity with the club would still be there and it only came with attending matches. Fortunately we got off to a flying start and it was enjoyable just watching the team winning and scoring goals. I knew the feeling was still there when we lost for the first time 4-1 away at Guisborough and it really hurt.
It is a long road ahead and it will be bumpy at times but just enjoy the journey.

buryfc1990
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by buryfc1990 » Fri Aug 28, 2020 3:42 pm

Old Git wrote:
Fri Aug 28, 2020 1:41 pm
We had no alternative but to rally round the reformed club there was no option for us.
Along with many others I was not sure if the affinity with the club would still be there and it only came with attending matches. Fortunately we got off to a flying start and it was enjoyable just watching the team winning and scoring goals. I knew the feeling was still there when we lost for the first time 4-1 away at Guisborough and it really hurt.
It is a long road ahead and it will be bumpy at times but just enjoy the journey.
I hope you're right. I guess I just feel a bit like I'd be betraying Bury FC, by supporting another club - even though the one I love is an ever-increasingly distant memory. It sounds daft, I know that. I appreciate your words, though, as someone who is completely neutral. There's a real 'us and them' atmosphere amongst people who, once upon a time, had a shared bond.

eek
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by eek » Fri Aug 28, 2020 4:42 pm

buryfc1990 wrote:
Fri Aug 28, 2020 3:42 pm
Old Git wrote:
Fri Aug 28, 2020 1:41 pm
We had no alternative but to rally round the reformed club there was no option for us.
Along with many others I was not sure if the affinity with the club would still be there and it only came with attending matches. Fortunately we got off to a flying start and it was enjoyable just watching the team winning and scoring goals. I knew the feeling was still there when we lost for the first time 4-1 away at Guisborough and it really hurt.
It is a long road ahead and it will be bumpy at times but just enjoy the journey.
I hope you're right. I guess I just feel a bit like I'd be betraying Bury FC, by supporting another club - even though the one I love is an ever-increasingly distant memory. It sounds daft, I know that. I appreciate your words, though, as someone who is completely neutral. There's a real 'us and them' atmosphere amongst people who, once upon a time, had a shared bond.
While it's hard to accept I think the issue is that Bury AFC are the realists who grasped that Bury FC is in reality dead and buried in all but name, BUT because Bury FC still exists others continue with the hope that a miracle will occur and Bury FC will be magically resurrected.

I suspect the latter is never going to occur but it's going to take a long time for people to accept that and even longer for them to accept the Bury AFC are the rightful successors.

eddie-rowles
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by eddie-rowles » Fri Aug 28, 2020 4:46 pm

You have a ground to share and play on, you have a manager who is hopefully putting a team together and most importantly fans who will volunteer; fans who cannot attend many matches but wish to support from afar. Based in Sunderland you are going to travel a fair bit but like Darlo in evostick when majority of teams were in the NW, you will visit some lovely smaller grounds, meet fantastic supporters who like you, support a non league team.
You have to tap into this genuine love and hopefully generate income with shares in the club, merchandise, hospitality, season tickets, lotteries etc to climb back up the leagues until you find your sustainable level.
You are going to make mistakes, spend money where you shouldn't on infrastructure, players, staff and some will pick up the money but not really care about Bury, but the majority will. Get friends and other fans involved and bloody good luck.

buryfc1990
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by buryfc1990 » Fri Aug 28, 2020 7:07 pm

Thanks guys. You've been really open and honest. It's really appreciated and it's nice to talk to 'proper' football fans again.

Obviously, the situation isn't ideal, and I deeply miss my club but, hopefully, by starting to go I'll get the bug for it. It would be nice to go to some more remote places to watch football with true supporters. What's the worst that can happen?

Thanks again - and all the best for the season. :-)

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Spyman
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by Spyman » Sat Aug 29, 2020 7:25 am

Darlington FC didn't go bust - we're not a phoenix club.

The fans raised money paid the club's major creditors rather than allowing the club to fold. These debts were paid back over our first couple of seasons in the non-league pyramid. That meant the club remained. The golden share issue affected our league status, but not our existence.

The FA then, without precedent, said we couldn't use our previous playing name, which is why we had the temporary name change.

That said we did have to start again in terms of infrastructure, getting a club 'board' together to run things, finding somewhere to play and assembling a squad etc.

We've now been reassigned our original playing name of Darlington FC.

Good luck to Bury, I hope you're able to rebuild a club for the community to support.

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On Sunday April 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm, Darlo Cockney wrote:Sadly some people have nothing better to do that invent rumours.

We will be playing at the arena again next season - fact.

Quakerz - if you actually attended games and spoke to people you might actually find our facts, rather than spreading s*** on this board.

DC

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theoriginalfatcat
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by theoriginalfatcat » Mon Aug 31, 2020 8:44 am

If I cast my mind back - right at the start there were a number of people who weren't happy, and chipped away a bit with a dissenting attitude, but my overwhelming memory about this time is the fact that the vast majority of fans were very much onside. Personally I wasn't sure, and it took me a while to acclimatise to playing non league, being a fan owned club and everything being at a smaller scale.

However now,I much prefer our new status.

We were lucky at the start to have a manager (Martin Gray) who was able to power us up the leagues, he had the necessary drive/personality/experience for the job in hand. The manager you employ will be a key factor, as you need to hit the ground running.
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Spyman
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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by Spyman » Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:00 am

theoriginalfatcat wrote:If I cast my mind back - right at the start there were a number of people who weren't happy, and chipped away a bit with a dissenting attitude, but my overwhelming memory about this time is the fact that the vast majority of fans were very much onside. Personally I wasn't sure, and it took me a while to acclimatise to playing non league, being a fan owned club and everything being at a smaller scale.

However now,I much prefer our new status.

We were lucky at the start to have a manager (Martin Gray) who was able to power us up the leagues, he had the necessary drive/personality/experience for the job in hand. The manager you employ will be a key factor, as you need to hit the ground running.
Yes there were definitely dissenters and people who said they wouldn't go and watch us anymore. We've left them behind and their loss in my opinion as it's been a (mostly) positive ride over the last 8 years.

I also agree you need a manager who buys into what you are trying to do, that shares some kind of identity with the fans and what they've been through. Martin Gray gave as that as someone who had been at the club in various roles over the previous 10-15 years and had been through some pretty unpleasant fall-out as a player and a coach at the club.

Eventually our paths diverged and he wanted one thing while the club needed something else, but his original drive and determination to return the club to somewhere close to its previous level definitely played a big part in our success.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

On Sunday April 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm, Darlo Cockney wrote:Sadly some people have nothing better to do that invent rumours.

We will be playing at the arena again next season - fact.

Quakerz - if you actually attended games and spoke to people you might actually find our facts, rather than spreading s*** on this board.

DC

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Re: Bury FC fan - in need of some advice

Post by PierremontQuaker03 » Mon Nov 02, 2020 9:13 pm

It was difficult at first and I lost interest and fell out with the game for a while, but still kept an eye what was going on. However it was the first time I attended a game under our new name that I thought, do you know what, this is what its all about. We were sold a dream by George Reynolds, and had a series of owners who just wanted the stadium and the football was second.
Where Darlo are now - we are close to getting back to the football league - its been a long journey but that's all part of the fun. We have our dreams now but we are also realistic - no owners selling us a load of rubbish, complaining how much money they are paying out of their own pockets - its the fans who pay.
“If you can't hit a driver, don't.”
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