August 23 – The clock is ticking on Bury football club but they could be given a 48-hour extension to save themselves.
Officially the English League One club have until midnight tonight to avoid being expelled from the English Football League, the first time in 27 years that this has happened to any club in the top four divisions of the domestic game.
Maidstone United and Aldershot were both liquidated during the 1991-92 season but no club has ever dropped out of the third tier before.
Founded in 1885 and first elected to the English Football League nine years later, Bury, situated close to Manchester, have not been in the top flight since 1929 but were in the second tier Championship as recently as 1999. They won the FA Cup twice, in 1900 and 1903, the latter of which was won 6-0 against Derby County, a record for the final equalled this year by Manchester City’s victory over Watford.
It has now emerged that four parties are interested in an 11th hour takeover of the financially-threatened club who have yet to play a first-team match in 2019-20 after having each of their first six fixtures suspended including tomorrow’s game against Tranmere.
“If something credible came through, I’m sure the board would look at it,” said EFL chief executive Debbie Jevans. “We’ve already suspended five matches and those five matches will have to be fitted into the rest of the season. We could potentially look at 24 to 48 hours but two to three weeks is simply not possible. The clock is ticking, there’s no question. Nobody wants to see this club disappear out of the league.”
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