Bury FC kicked out of FA Cup first-round draw as fans discuss ways to raise club from the ashes
EFL chair Debbie Jevans confirmed that the inability to reschedule more Bury fixtures played a role in the club not being granted any more time to try and salvage its long-term future
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Your support makes all the difference.Bury Football Club have been kicked out of this season’s FA Cup after their expulsion from the English Football League, the Football Association has confirmed.
The Greater Manchester club were expelled from League One on Tuesday after failing to comply with the EFL’s demands over their financial standing before the 11:59pm deadline, with a last-minute takeover bid collapsing.
As a result, the club have been removed from the rest of the EFL season, and the FA have announced that they will need to plan for the club’s FA Cup exit given they were due to feature in the first round draw in October.
An FA spokesman said: “This is without a doubt a sad day for Bury FC, their supporters and the local community. We appreciate how hard this decision has been for all parties involved.
“Following on from their expulsion from the English Football League, Bury FC will no longer be able to participate in the Emirates FA Cup for the 2019/20 season. We are therefore now consulting with our stakeholders regarding the first round proper following their exit from the league.
“If the club re-forms we look forward to them applying to make an application for The Football Association to re-join league competition further down the English football pyramid from the 2020/21 season.”
With the club having its league status revoked, Bury fans have discussed what their next steps are, with the possibility of the club being revived at Gigg Lane in a new format eligible to see it return to competition from next season – albeit at the bottom of the English football ladder.
Dave Giffard, chair of Forever Bury Supporters Club, told BBC Breakfast that the fans are discussing their next move. "We have got a meeting this morning to look at our next move. What we would like to do is try and save this football club," he said.
"If we have to restart as a phoenix club we would like to get hold of this ground. We have the support of the council."
Giffard added: "It has been a difficult four months. We thought we had got over the hump on Friday when we finally got a buyer accepted and everything looked rosy.
"But it fell apart at the last minute. The annoying thing is we had three more buyers there and the League wanted exclusivity with the one deal to concentrate on getting that through.
"So we threw the other three in on the table last night, the proof of funding was there. Why they couldn't give us that little bit more time to get one over the line, we don't know.
"They have made their decision. Whether we have a right of appeal I don't know."
However, the EFL’s executive chair Debbie Jevans has since confirmed that part of the League’s thinking depended on where Bury’s postponed matches were going to be played, having already missed their opening five matches of the season and facing a sixth game this weekend if the EFL granted the club more time.
"This is an action that was taken, that was done with much regret and I'm feeling devastated to be here talking to you,” Jevans told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. "We simply ran out of time, having already postponed five matches, it would have been six matches. We were struggling to fit that in and it was with deep regret that we just couldn't go on anymore.
"We went into everything that was sent to us with detail, trying to do everything that we could to save the club."
Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee and MP for Folkestone and Hythe Damian Collins has said the role of the football authorities and any possible changes to power will be reviewed in the House of Commons next week, while Jevans did concede that the EFL must look at itself and “learn some lessons” over what could have been done to prevent the situation – which could include a future salary cap for lower-league clubs.
"We need to sit back, we need to look back, we need to learn some lessons,” she added.
"I'm speaking personally, I'm speaking for myself here. I think absolutely we need to look at the spend of clubs as much as the revenues, and looking at salary caps is absolutely something that I think the clubs should consider."
The Professional Footballers’ Association has also vowed to stand by those impacted by the club closure at what they say is a “desperately sad time”, with players both past and present set to be given support where needed.
A PFA statement said: "We will continue to support all our members who have been impacted by the current situation, including former players, the remaining players who are contracted at the club and also those who were hoping to sign contracts.”
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