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Behind Closed Doors Ticket Update

We have set in motion the process to refund single tickets bought for the games played behind closed doors, as we have an existing process via our ticketing company for this. Season tickets do not have an equivalent process.

Unfortunately, on a practical level it is impossible for us to offer a straight forward refund for season ticket holders. It would require us to gather and hold everyone’s bank details and take many months to process, as we do not hold bank or card details for supporters.

We don’t have the resources to pay refunds promptly, and it poses a security risk if we hold bank details for a significant period of time. This is another reason why we would have preferred a fine, rather than a stadium closure.

For this reason our preferred options are:
  A large number of supporters have told us they want us to keep the money. We are obviously grateful for this and hope the ability to live stream both games behind closed doors offered some value in return. We have also been asked about donations to compensate for loss of revenue. We would prefer supporters to waive form of credit than donate money at this stage. There is a possibility we may need to navigate our way through the play-offs. This would give us at least one additional home game and maybe other tickets which we could add into the season ticket in lieu of the games missed. If the above options are not taken, we will offer a ‘gift card’ which supporters can use to offset the cost of next season ticket or against any other single tickets including friendlies and cup games. This also allows us to spread the financial burden over a number of months, and we are able to administer it, as it offers credit and doesn’t require a bank transfer.   We appreciate some supporters may prefer a straight forward refund but on a practical level we cannot manage this process en masse. Clearly the options above require an assessment of the situation at the end of the season, so are not immediate.

We have a member vote coming soon on the away kit design for next season and will include an advisory vote on this matter to allow members to approve or reject the broad policy stated above.

Thank you for your continued support.


Neil Sears
General Manager & CEO
   
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GAME OFF: Ramsbottom United (H)

The Gigg Lane pitch today We are sad to report that following heavy down pours overnight, our game with Ramsbottom United due to take place this evening, has once again succumbed to the weather.

A local referee was called in this afternoon when concerns were raised about the surface when reviewed this morning, despite clearer weather forecast.

It has been no secret that the pitch at Gigg Lane has suffered considerably through the wet winter period. There have been regular postponements within this time, with water often sat on the surface and the pitch struggling to drain without the benefit of a long period to dry out.

The effort to get games on has been considerable, with ground staff working up against it on many occassions. Playing two home games over the last Tuesday and Saturday, has led to significant deterioration. The rain falling during the game on Saturday, as well as the significant down pours overnight have left the surface unplayable.

Works to improve the surface between now and our next game on Easter Saturday are ongoing. We are all praying for less rain at the same time!

Another new date for this fixture will be confirmed in due course, and tickets will be valid for the rearranged fixture.
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Incoming: The Gaffer Adds Two

As we head into the final few games of the season Dave McNabb has added two players to bolster his squad in the push for promotion.
Max Harrop
Firstly we would like to welcome back to Gigg Lane, midfielder Max Harrop, who signs from Avro.

Max Harrop is a name that will be familiar to Shakers fans as he played in the Bury Youth system going on to make first-team appearances in the Football League between 2010 – 2013.

Max has gone on to play at several clubs around non-league spending a considerable spell at Altrincham in the National League.

Max will no doubt add another level of technical skill and ability to Dave McNabb’s midfield.

 
Keenan Ferguson
The talented 22-year-old spent time in the Academies at Sheffield United and Tottenham Hotspur in his younger days before joining Boston after starring during a pre-season trial in 2021, he moved on to Spennymoor in June of 2023.

Ferguson went on to become a mainstay in The Pilgrims’ line-up during his debut campaign, operating on the right and the left as they made it to the National League North Promotion Final.
A hard-working defender with the ability to get forward and supply crosses into the box, Ferguson will no doubt be a great addition down the right.


We hope that you will give them both a massive Bury welcome.

The signings are subject to league approval and we hope to have them available to face Ramsbottom as we continue our push for promotion. We would like to thank both of the player’s former clubs for assisting in getting the signings over the line.

On another note, we say goodbye to Harry Brockbank who departs back to Radcliffe, following the end of his 28-day loan. We thank Harry for all his efforts whilst turning out for the Shakers.
  #BuryFC | #PartOfIt
 
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Be #PartofIt – Ramsbottom United

Can’t be at Gigg for our crunch game against Ramsbottom United? Don’t worry, we have you covered with our Live Stream of the game via Bury FC TV.

For supporters looking to gain access to the pay-per-view Live Stream of Tuesday night’s game, this can be found by clicking HERE.

The cost is £6.99 (inc. VAT), with options to pay more for those who wish to do so.
  Click here to access the Live Stream   Following payment, the page will re-direct to the broadcast of the game with coverage beginning at 7.30pm on Tuesday evening. If this page is lost at any point, supporters can access this again by clicking on the link provided in the email receipt which is issued at point of payment. This avoids requests to need to pay again.

Season Ticket Holders: As part of our commitment to season ticket holders, all games that are able to be live broadcast are included for FREE as part of their purchase. Access to this will be sent direct to the email addresses of season ticket holders in the lead up to the game.

For issues related to gaining access, both season ticket and general sale, please email the club by clicking below:
  Email the Club   #ShakersTogether | #BuryFC | #PartofIt
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Match Info: Ramsbottom United (H), Tue 19th Mar, 7.45 pm KO

We go again! And we try again, for the third time in fact, as we have the visit of Ramsbottom United this Tuesday under the Gigg Lane lights.

Dave McNabb’s squad will be keen to put matters right after a disappointing week which only yielded a single point from our three games, and set us up against it in the battle for top spot.

But battle they must, and with fans returning to the stands, the players won’t be short of encouragement following the frustration of having to miss out on two big games on the run-in.

Dec Daniels hobbled off and will be a doubt for this Bury derby game, but the return of Andy Briggs as a second half substitute this weekend would have brought smiles to the Shakers faithful. The manager mentioned Briggs’ impact in his post-match interview, available below. You can also catch up with our first competitive match-up with the Rams earlier this season, with our highlights of the penalty win in the Macron Cup also below.
  Post-Match with Dave McNabb
  Last Time Out – Ramsbottom United (a)
  For all the details of this big local derby as we finally meet in the league, can be found below in the full match information pack. Head down for opposition details, tickets, parking and live match coverage.
  In Opposition – Ramsbottom United
Beginning life in 1966, Ramsbottom United began life as a local amateur side building a junior setup that remains an integral part of the club over 50 years later. You can’t say Ramsbottom United without immediately thinking of current (and forever!) Chairman Harry Williams. Involved from the start, you can still find Harry behind the scenes on a matchday, whether it be in the ticket booth, or dishing out pies in the food hut. A stalwart of the club and ex-manager of the first team (1966-1985), who’s name adorns the stadium that the Rams have been based at since 1980. We continue to wish him well after a recent fall has meant some time in recovery. We certainly hope he is well enough to visit Gigg Lane for this special local fixture.

Following success in both Bury Amateur and Bolton Combination leagues through the late 60s and 70s, the club made the step up into the Manchester League in 1989 before applying to join the NWCFL in the mid-90s. The ground received its grading, with the club gaining promotion from Division Two in 1997, at the same point as they acquired floodlights from local rugby side, Oldham Rugby League Club.

The Rams remained competitive until tradegy struck in 2001 when manager of the time, Ken Bridge, collapsed and died following a game against Cheadle Town. This stunted some of the club’s progress, before in 2009, Harry handed the reins to players at the time – Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson, for their first tilt at management.

They made their name in fine style, earning promotion for the first time to the NPL in 2012. Further progression and development of both the ground and playing squad occurred and after just two seasons at the elevated level, they achieved a further promotion following a play-off campaign which first overcame favourites Darlington and then Bamber Bridge to reach the third tier for the first time.

Bernard and Jonno left for the ‘Class of ’92’ and Salford City later that year, sending the club in a spin which they were unable to turn around until ex-player Chris Wilcox was appointed in October 2018. An FA Trophy run into the last-16, defeated only by high-flying AFC Fylde, was a highlight for the Willcock’s tenure which without the onset of Covid-19 would no doubt have earned the club a further promotion in that period.

Willcock moved on in 2021 to Workington and the club’s results faltered afterwards, with Lee Donafee struggling to maintain a position in the top half of the league and being replaced, with incumbant David Chadwick unable to keep the Rams in the NPL, with the side slipping back into the NWCFL last summer.

Former Northwich Victoria manager Steve Wilkes took over the reins for this season, and has the team sat in 18th, with 11 wins and 8 draws from 35 games so far. They have struggled of late, with a single point in the last five games coming courtesy of a 3-3 draw on Saturday away at Burscough. However, it was a game that they were leading 3-0 at the break.
  Tickets & Admission

  General sale tickets are available online HERE, which includes hospitality tickets in the Main Stand.

We recommend purchasing a ticket ahead of the game to allow us to plan appropriately in the ground.

Please follow requests from volunteers and stewards for directions if unsure.

Prices*: £10 adult, £5 16-18, £3 Under 16s & Free for Under 5s.
1885 Suite: £40* per ticket
* plus booking fees
Buy Tickets HERE   Pay on the Gate: Whilst encouraging supporters to buy online ahead of the game, turnstiles will be available to take cash & card payments.
  Season Ticket Holders: We have recognised the requests from some season ticket holders who wish to be sat in the Main Stand, instead of the currently allocated South Stand. The first 250 season ticket holders who wish to watch from the Main Stand, can do so by admission at the turnstile.

Please arrive early to secure your seat, with allocations made on a first-come, first-served basis.

Click here to purchase online tickets. Read here on how to access your tickets digitally.
  On the Day & In the Ground
Travel: Gigg Lane is accessible by car and is well served by public transport, please see our page on the TfGM website, which advises the best travel routes to the stadium. Directions can be sourced via Google Maps below.
  SatNav Postcode: BL9 9HR
WhatThreeWords: ///issues.skins.span

  Parking: Our new car-park policy for this season is now in force.
  Due to the limited space within the car park at Gigg Lane, it is reserved for the following:
Team Playing Staff and Management Match and Competition Officials Club Staff and volunteers transporting matchday equipment Members of the 1885 Suite  Sponsors Blue Badge Holders   If you have a blue badge or mobility issues please email the club secretary at secretary@buryfc.co.uk at least TWO days before the game.  Blue Badge holders shall be prioritised for a parking space.
  Entrance to the car park is strictly controlled and includes the areas within and in front of the fenced area.  Please contact the Club Secretary with any other related queries.
  There is on-street parking in the residential areas surrounding Gigg Lane, with supporters reminded to be respectful and considerate of the local residents at all times, as well as being mindful of and adhering to the parking permit measures in place in close proximity to the ground.
  Stadium Entry: Gates will open at 6:30pm.
  Our matchday volunteers will be on hand, both outside the turnstiles and inside the ground, to guide supporters to where they need to be. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask those who are there to help the day.
  Matchday Programme: You can purchase a programme online now, to collect at the merchandise stall ahead of the game or head to the sellers in and around the ground. Price of £3.

Pound for the Ground: Our ‘Pound for the Ground’ half-time raffle tickets will be on sale in and around the ground, £1 per entry. Sellers accept cash or card, with 40% of the total pot going to the winning ticket with results announced over the PA system and on the scoreboard.

Food / Drink: Our catering partner, Quirky Catering, operate the kiosks throughout the ground, and are accessible for supporters under the stands. A selection of hot and cold snacks will be available. Alcohol will be available again, with sales halting at the start of the second half. For full details, see here. Please respect the advice from stewards on managing this process on the day.
  Starkies bar Starkies: For those with tickets in the Main Stand, access to Starkies will be available from when the gates open. The bar is limited to a set number and this will be managed by stewards through the day. New availability for the following drinks from this week:
Carling Dark Fruits Doom Bar Pale Ale
After the game, supporters from other areas of the ground can gain access to Starkies via the ground floor entrance in that corner of the ground – subject to the maximum capacity not being exceeded.
  Keep #GiggGleaming: With so much work gone into Gigg Lane to get us to this point, we want to keep it that way and a lot of work goes into turning the ground around between games each weekend. We have a team of volunteers lined up to clean the stands following the game.

With this in mind, we urge all supporters to make sure any rubbish is processed in the correct manner, using the available bins where necessary, or if possible please take any rubbish away with you.
  Designated Smoking Areas: Supporters are not allowed to smoke / vape anywhere within the stands at Gigg Lane. Designated areas are set aside to do this, follow guidance from stewards on this and only smoke / vape within these areas.
  #NonLeagueDogs: For now, dogs are NOT permitted in the ground.
  Match Coverage & Live Stream
If you are unable to make it to the action at Gigg Lane, we’ll have all the live coverage across our media platforms.

Live Stream: A live stream of the game will be available via Bury FC TV for £6.99! Get access to this on the day of the game from the homepage of the website here.

Season ticket holders will be informed by email before 7pm on how to access the game for FREE.
 


Keep up-to-date with all our video content via the club’s YouTube Channel. Click to subscribe and never miss highlights and match reaction across the season.
  Audio Commentary: Roch Valley Radio will be providing commentary for this game. Join the team from the press box at Gigg Lane. Click here ahead of kick-off to listen live. Audio commentary will be provided for every game of the season, so you will never miss a piece of the action.
  Social Media: Our team will also bring you in-depth text commentary via the club ‘MatchDay Live‘ Twitter feed, with team news and score-line updates available also on Facebook and feel like you are there with our match galleries and imagery available over on Instagram.
  Whatever the weather, wherever you are across the globe, we have you covered.
  Up the Shakers!
  #ShakersTogether | #BuryFC | #PartofIt
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Match Info: Charnock Richard (H), Sat 16th Mar, 12.30pm KO

We’re back at Gigg Lane on Saturday, but again not as we know it, for an early Saturday clash against Charnock Richard. This game will once again be played out in front of empty stands at Gigg Lane as the second game of our stadium bans comes into force this week after the appeal against the sanctions, was rejected earlier this month.

Dave McNabb and his team will be looking to get back to winning ways after our last outing in which we fell to a second defeat in a row to Barnoldswick.

Despite having over 70% of the possession, and shots on target being in double digits, The Shakers failed to capitalise on a late onslaught of Barlick’s goal with the visitors managing to find the net twice, leaving Gigg Lane with all three points and inflict the first home league loss under McNabb’s tenure.

With Charnock have seemingly been a bit of a bogey team for The Shakers this season. After we led twice in away fixtures in the league and FA Cup, we only gained a point following a late equaliser, and worst still a last minute winner knocked us out of the cup. Compound this with being beaten at Gigg Lane in the Macron Cup 1-0, the team will be focused on a big performance and getting back to the form that saw us go unbeaten in the league between December and March.

We are once again gutted that you can’t be with us again for this fixture but know that you will be with us in spirit! Wherever you are we ask you to show your support and tag us in your #ShakersSelfies across social media!
  Post-Match: Dave McNabb
Last Time Out – Charnock Richard (A)
  In Opposition – Charnock Richard
In 1933 the Chorley Sunday League became the Chorley Alliance League and a Charnock Richard village team was entered, but on the outbreak of the Second World War the league and team were temporarily suspended. At the end of the War, in 1945, the Chorley Alliance League was reformed along with Charnock Richard F.C. The team proved to be a tremendous success, eventually winning the league title in the 1947-48 season, losing only two games, and scoring 107 goals. This success prompted them to try and run two teams, but they ran into difficulties and the club closed at the end of the 1948-49 season.
 
In 1955, under the leadership of Ron Wilcox, the present club was reformed, and once again played in the Chorley Alliance League.
 
Charnock progressed to the North West Counties League in 2016-17 after finishing as runners-up in the West Lancashire League in the previous season and won promotion to the Premier Division of the NWCL in the first season when finishing runners up in Division 1. In the 21-22 season the club won the North West Counties League, League Challenge Cup.

Last season, Charnock finished 11th in NWCFL Premier Division. They currently sit in 9th, with 14 wins and 11 draws from only 31 games played so far. They recorded an emphatic 6-1 win against Squires Gate last weekend, before a draw in mid-week against West Didsbury.
  Programmes
  Matchday Programme: You can purchase a copy of the match day programme online now. Price is £3.

These programme copies won’t be available to collect until after the behind closed door games. Please head to the merchandise stall at future games to collect.

A downloadable copy will be made available for free for all supporters who access the match day stream. More details on the stream below.
 
  Match Coverage & Live Stream
As Gigg Lane is not accessible for the next two fixtures, we’ll have all the live coverage across our media platforms.

Live Stream: The game will be broadcast live by Bury FC TV on a pay-per-view basis, on buryfc.co.uk. Season ticket holders will recieve free access, as included within their ticket purchase. This access will be communicated ahead of kick-off. Access the pay-per-view link by clicking on the image below:
 

Keep up-to-date with all our video content after the game via the club’s YouTube Channel. Click to subscribe and never miss highlights and match reaction across the season.
  Audio Commentary: Roch Valley Radio will be providing commentary for this game. Join the team from the press box at Gigg Lane. Click here ahead of kick-off to listen live. Audio commentary will be provided for every game of the season, so you will never miss a piece of the action.
  Social Media: Our team will also bring you in-depth text commentary via the club ‘MatchDay Live‘ Twitter feed, with team news and score-line updates available also on Facebook and feel like you are there with our match galleries and imagery available over on Instagram.
  Whatever the weather, wherever you are across the globe, we have you covered.
  Up the Shakers!
  #ShakersTogether | #BuryFC | #PartofIt
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Kenny Hindle

Last week, the club were sad to bring news of the passing of long-term supporter Kenny Hindle. Over 70 years a follower of Bury Football Club and a familiar figure in the stands to many.

Kenny was like all of us back in 2019. Heart-broken. And at a loss as to how to move forward with such a big piece of his life being taken away. His comments to media outlets that visited Gigg Lane at the time, resonated with the wider public who had been drawn to the subject of the club’s battle for survival.

Such was his link to the situation, he was chosen to lead out the team’s of Bury FC Legends to raptourous applause at a charity fixture in October 2019. He was back at Gigg Lane for the early stages of this campaign as football returned after a four-season hiatus.

We were all delighted that he was able to re-take his seat and watch the football team that had been a mainstay of his life.

The club will be holding a minutes applause at our game against Ramsbottom United, on Tuesday 19th March.

Kenny’s funeral will take place on Monday 18th March. The funeral cortege will stop at Gigg Lane from 10am on the way to Radcliffe Crematorium, for anyone wishing to pay their respects.

Full details on the service can be found HERE. Supporters are advised that only family flowers have been requested and anyone wishing to make donations can do so to Bury Hospice at the below link.
 
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Update: Ticket Refunds

Firstly, thank you for the continued patience being shown by all supporters in relation to information on obtaining refunds for the Behind Closed door matches.

We appreciate that this affects single ticket purchases, season ticket holders, 1885 members and sponsors. We do not take your support for granted.

The systems/mechanics involved in processing any refunds is not a simple one.

As you can imagine the club has never had to deal with this situation before and with a club having a small number of full-time staff, it is taking some time to work through potential solutions. That being said, we could have communicated a update sooner and we acknowledge the fustrations that may have caused.

We hope to be in a position to give an update next week having worked through the practical considerations for actioning refunds and aim to offer some suitable solutions/options. I am sure you can also appreciate that these charges have caused a signifcant hole in the club’s finances and have provided logistical challenges that are beyond the scope of what can reasonably be expected.

We will communicate our plans next week and request your continued patience in awaiting further news on next steps.

Thank you for your continued support.

Neil Sears
General Manager & CEO
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