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Bury fans face an anxious wait to hear if their club has been saved after the possible 11th-hour sale of the League One outfit.<\/p>\nBury fans face an anxious wait to hear if their club has been saved after the possible 11th-hour sale of the League One outfit.<\/p>\n
The Shakers had been poised to be expelled from the English Football League for failing to prove the Gigg Lane outfit\u2019s financial viability.<\/p>\n
But the EFL is considering extending Friday\u2019s expulsion deadline after being informed a deal had been struck to sell the embattled club.<\/p>\n
Just minutes before the League One side were due to lose their Football League status, the EFL announced owner Steve Dale had accepted an offer from C&N Sporting Risk.<\/p>\n
The governing body said it was in \u201cdiscussions with the potential purchaser and await information to allow the board to consider a request for an extension to Friday\u2019s deadline\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dale had been given until 23.59 on Friday to either provide proof to the EFL he could fund the Shakers this season or hand the club over to someone who can.<\/p>\n
Extinction was the option if not but, after a day of claim and counter-claim, Dale told the PA news agency on Friday night he had agreed a deal.<\/p>\n
Rory Campbell and Henry Newman\u2019s C&N Sporting Risk, whose bid was made on Friday, have been working closely with Bury North MP James Frith.<\/p>\n
Before the EFL\u2019s announcement, Campbell and Newman told PA in a statement: \u201cWe can confirm that over the past 10 weeks we have been in discussions with Bury FC, the EFL and others with a view to putting forward a proposal to buy the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a very complicated scenario and there remain a number of outstanding legal and other issues that have to be addressed. Our background is in football and data analytics and it should therefore not be surprising that we are taking a very detailed forensic look at the realities of Bury FC finances.<\/p>\n
\u201cA club like Bury ought to have a viable long-term future even if the short-term future is clearly very challenging. To that end, we have been in discussions with the EFL about an extension so that we can continue to explore the prospects for a purchase. We will be making no further comment at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dale\u2019s declaration of a sale came just before 10pm, with a little over two hours remaining before the deadline.<\/p>\n
The Cheshire-based businessman said throughout the day he had a buyer lined up but was unsure if a deal could be concluded before the deadline, having also asked fans to pledge money, while MP Frith had said a \u201ccredible bid\u201d would be lodged along with proof of funding.<\/p>\n
Discussing the likelihood of an extension on BBC Radio 5 Live on Saturday morning, Frith said: \u201cI think if the EFL need anything more than they\u2019ve got right now, then they\u2019ve raised the bar higher than I believe it needed to be in order to suspend the expulsion order.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe the EFL will want to consign Bury to history and I think both Steve Dale and C&N Sporting Risk and those of us involved in this for as long as we have been, I think we\u2019ve provided more than enough reason to extend.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut equally, the practicalities of this could yet be the reason why things don\u2019t happen in time, so we\u2019re still not clear of all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dale bought Bury for \u00a31 in December after previous owner Stewart Day ran up huge debts following years of overspending at Gigg Lane.<\/p>\n
Having initially claimed to buy Bury for \u201cphilanthropic\u201d reasons, Dale put the 134-year-old club into administration this summer and engineered a debt repayment scheme.<\/p>\n
The scheme, known as a company voluntary arrangement, would see creditors paid only 25 per cent of what they are owed, with him and his associates being the main beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
His plan, however, depended on Bury being allowed to start the season \u2013 with a small squad and skeleton staff \u2013 and the EFL handing over the club\u2019s share of its central income.<\/p>\n
That, as desperate Bury fans are well aware, has not happened.<\/p>\n
Having previously greeted each EFL postponement of a Bury game \u2013 five league fixtures and an EFL Cup tie so far this season \u2013 with an angry statement on the club website, Dale announced he was willing to listen to offers for the club early last week.<\/p>\n
England women\u2019s team manager Phil Neville revealed that his mother Jill, who had been Bury\u2019s club secretary, resigned from her job on Friday.<\/p>\n
The former Manchester United defender, whose late father Neville has a stand named after him at Gigg Lane, told BBC Radio 5 Live: \u201cMy mum has worked there for 30 years, my dad\u2019s got a stand named after him and to consider that today they might not have a football club is so upsetting.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum\u2019s devastated. She resigned on Friday because she couldn\u2019t work with the current ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n