Bury F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Bury


nickname = The Shakers
founded = 1885
ground = Gigg Lane
Bury
capacity = 11,840
mgrtitle = Manager
manager = flagicon|Wales Alan Knill
league = League Two
season = 2007–08
position = League Two, 13th
pattern_ra1=
pattern_la1=
pattern_b1=_bluesleevelinesandsides
leftarm1=ffffff|body1=ffffff|rightarm1=fffffff|shorts1=1226E6|socks1=fffffff
pattern_la2=
leftarm2=dd0000|body2=dd0000|rightarm2=dd0000|shorts2=dd0000|socks2=dd0000|

Bury Football Club is an English association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team are currently playing in the 4th division, Football League Two.

History

The club was formed in 1885 at a meeting after which the club took a lease on a pitch at Gigg Lane.

In 1889 they were founder members of the Lancashire League, before joining the Football League Second Division in 1894, which they won at the first attempt. They beat Liverpool in a play-off to clinch promotion to Football League Division One. They stayed there until 1912.

Bury have won the FA Cup. On 21 April, 1900 they beat Southampton 4-0 at Crystal Palace, and before returning to the London venue in 1903. The second win was achieved without conceding a goal in the entire competition, including a record FA Cup Final score of 6-0 over Derby County on 18 April, which remains the highest ever victory in an FA Cup Final.

In 1923 they were promoted again, and in 1926 they achieved their highest League position ever, 4th in the First Division. But two years later they were relegated and never played top flight football again. Steady decline followed and by 1971, they had reached the Fourth Division for the first time.

The main local rivals of the club are Bolton Wanderers, and there are also rivalries with Oldham Athletic, Rochdale, Stockport County and Radcliffe Borough F.C..

Bury have produced a large number of players over the years, including Les Hart, Dean Kiely, Terry McDermott, Colin Bell, Neville Southall, Craig Madden, Lee Dixon, David Nugent and Roger Stanislaus.

Perhaps Bury's most famous player was David Adekola, a Nigerian who came to Bury after successfully convincing football officials that he was a former Nigerian international player with top flight experience in Europe, though no records of such claims exist. Their recent history has witnessed some success with youth development, with players such as David Nugent moving onto a Premiership side.

The clubs greatest benefactor was Hugh Eaves, a local benefactor under the stewardship of whom Bury were promoted to the second tier of English football.

In 2001-02, the club was relegated to League Two. It was a difficult season, including a notable 4-0 hammering by Stoke City, in which an incredible 30 yard diving header was scored by Jurgen Vandeurzen.

In May 2005, Bury became the first football club to score a thousand goals in each of the top four tiers of the English football league. cite news| title = 1000 goals for bury| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2005/08/19/bury_football_club_1000_goals_feature.shtml| publisher BBC News| date = 2005-08-25| accessdate = 2007-10-01]

On 20 December 2006 they were the first team to ever be thrown out of the competition for fielding an ineligible player. cite news| title = Chester take bury's FA Cup place| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/6186407.stm| publisher = BBC News| date = 2006-12-20| accessdate = 2006-12-20]

After the FA Cup debacle, bury failed to win in 16 games, and relegation to the Conference for the first time in the club's history became a possibility. They survived the relegation battle of the 2006/07 season, where a 0-0 draw with Stockport County ensured they would stay up to play another season in League Two.

In Chris Casper, Bury did have the League's most up and coming manager. In the past, they have been managed by Graham Barrow, Mike Walsh, Stan Ternent, Neil Warnock and Andy Preece. During the close season, former Lincoln City manager Keith Alexander was appointed Director of Football.

It was announced on the 14 January 2008 that Casper and Alexander had left the club, the board terminating the pair's contracts simultaneously. A club statement said the pair had "lost the confidence of a large majority of the fans". Chris Brass, formerly the manager of the club's Centre of Excellence, was given the vacant manager's post on a caretaker basis. His first match in charge resulted in a cup upset, the Shakers knocking Norwich City out of the FA Cup in the third round. Despite this early success, results remained inconsistent, and a more full time solution was sought by the board.

On the 4 February, the club revealed Alan Knill to be their new manager. Knill had played as a central defender between 1989 and 1993. More recently, Knill had been employed at Chesterfield, as their assistant manager and had had a spell in charge of Rotherham United where he was relegated.Last season Bury finished 13th and went on a six game home unbeaten run at the end of 2007/08.

Honours

Leagues

*Football League Second Division/First Division/Football League Championship: champions 1895; runners up 1924.
*Football League Third Division/Second Division/Football League One: champions 1961, 1997; runners up 1968.
*Football League Fourth Division/Third Division/Football League Two: promoted 1974, 1985, 1996.

Records

*Record League victory: 8-0 v Tranmere Rovers, 10 January 1970
*Record Cup victory: 12-1 v Stockton, FA CUP 1st rnd Replay 2 February 1897
*Record defeat: 0-10 Blackburn Rovers, FA CUP Premlim 1 October 1887, 0-10 West Ham United, FL Cup 2nd Rnd 25 October 1982
*Top goal scorer in a season: Craig Madden 35 Goals, 1981-82
*Top goal scorer overall: Craig Madden 129 Goals, 1978-86
*Most League Appearances: Norman Bullock 506 Games, 1920-35
*Record attendance: 35,000 v Bolton Wanderers FA CUP 3rd Rnd, 9 January 1960
*Record transfer fee received: £1.1 million David Johnson to Ipswich Town Nov 1997
*Record transfer fee paid: £300,000 Chris Swailes from Ipswich Town Nov 1997

Cups

*FA Cup winners 1900, 1903
*Football League Cup semi finals 1963
*Lancashire Cup winners 1892, 1899, 1903, 1906, 1926, 1958, 1983, 1987
*Lancashire Junior Cup winners 1890
*Manchester Cup winners 1894, 1896, 1897, 1900, 1903, 1905, 1925, 1935, 1951, 1952, 1968

Players

:"As of 8 August 2008."cite news
title = Squad Numbers confirmed
url = http://www.buryfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10422~1337495,00.html
publisher = Bury FC
date = 2008-07-02
accessdate = 2008-07-02]

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable players

Famous former players include: ;Benin
* Laurent D'Jaffo;England
* Joe Bacuzzi
*flagicon|England Colin Bell
*flagicon|England Luther Blissett
*flagicon|England Stan Bowles
*flagicon|England Norman Bullock
*flagicon|England Lee Dixon
* Martin Dobson
* Derek Fazackerley
*flagicon|England Garry Flitcroft
* Les Hart
*flagicon|England Billy Hibbert
*flagicon|England Keith Kennedy
* David Lee
* Alec Lindsay
*flagicon|England Chris Lucketti
*flagicon|England Terry McDermott
*flagicon|England Archie Montgomery
*flagicon|England David Nugent
*flagicon|England Jack Pray
*flagicon|England Peter Reid
*flagicon|England Charlie Sagar;India
* Baichung Bhutia;Northern Ireland
*flagicon|Northern Ireland Sammy McIlroy
*flagicon|Northern Ireland Danny Wilson
*flagicon|Northern Ireland Derek Spence;Republic of Ireland
*flagicon|Ireland Bill Gorman
*flagicon|Ireland Paddy Kenny
*flagicon|Ireland Dean Kiely;Scotland
*flagicon|Scotland George Ross;Turkey
*flagicon|Turkey Colin Kazim-Richards;Wales
*flagicon|Wales Brian Flynn
*flagicon|Wales Glyn Garner
*flagicon|Wales Neville Southall;Zimbabwe
*flagicon|Zimbabwe Bruce Grobbelaar

Past managers

*T Hargreaves 1887
*H S Hamer 1887-1907
*Archie Montgomery 1907-1915
*William Cameron 1919-1923
*James Hunter 1923-1927
*Percy Smith 1927-1930
*Arthur Paine 1930-1934
*Norman Bullock 1934-1938
*Charlie Dean 1938-1944
*Jimmy Porter 1944-1945
*Norman Bullock 1945-1949
*John McNeill 1950-1953
*Dave Russell 1953-1961
*Bob Stokoe 1961-1965
*Bert Head 1965-1966
*Les Shannon 1966-1969
*Jack Marshall 1969
*Les Hart 1970
*Tommy McAnearney 1970-1972
*Allan Brown 1972-1973
*Bobby Smith 1973-1977
*Bob Stokoe 1977-1978
*David Hatton 1978-1979
*Dave Connor 1979-1980
*Jim Iley 1980-1984
*Martin Dobson 1984-1989
*Sam Ellis 1989-1990
*Mike Walsh 1990-1995
*Stan Ternent 1995-1998
*Neil Warnock 1998-1999
*Steve Redmond 1999-2000
*Andy Preece 2000-2003
*Graham Barrow 2003-2005
*Chris Casper 2005-2008
*Chris Brass 2008
*Alan Knill 2008-

Interesting facts

*Nature film director Danny Boyle is a fan of Bury FC and watches the games at the Gigg Lane on a regular basis. [ [http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/celebs/broadcasters17.html Manchester celebrities] ]
*The radio broadcaster Mike Read is a regular fan as is musician Mark E Smith of The Fall.
*In 2002, club's press officer Gordon Sorfleet was awarded the UEFA Supporter of the Year Award for his work on behalf of the club. [ [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/supercup/news/kind=1/newsid=31567.html Zidane honoured at Gala night] ] [ [http://www.buryfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/History/0,,10422~405428,00.html Bury FC - Potted history] ]
*Actress and model Gemma Atkinson is known to be a supporter and appeared on BSkyB's 'Soccer AM' at the start of the 2007/08 football season as a 'soccerette', unveiling the club's new away shirt. [ [http://www.footballshirtculture.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=316 Bury FC new brown away kit 2007/2008] ]
* The club's nickname, The Shakers, was bestowed upon them by a nineteenth century club chairman, JT Ingham, who announced before a game with Everton, "We'll give 'em a shaking. In fact, we are the Shakers".

References

External links

* [http://www.buryfc.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://odebayo.blogspot.com/ Odebayo, a blog]
* [http://www.y3kshakers.co.uk/ Y3K Shakers site]
* [http://theconsortium.blogspot.com/ The Consortium]
* [http://www.buryfcyouth.co.uk/ Youth and Centre of Excellence official site]