GARSTANG FOOTBALL CLUB THE TOWN TEAM IN THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY v Bury AFC

Wednesday 28th October 2020 NWCFL Division 1 North

Welcome

Welcome back to The Riverside this evening as we entertain Bury AFC in what should be another exciting match under the lights.

Tonights visitors have made incredible strides from formation to playing in a very short time and they are testament to the power and importance of supporters in Football. Too often supporters have been and remain the poor relation in football matters. Sometimes owners and regulators need to be reminded that football without supporters is nothing.

It is widely reported that the NWCFL could be hosting another phoenix club with Macclesfield joining the league next year and it reflects well on the NWCFL that its member clubs are welcoming to new clubs born out of difficult circumstances.

Richard’s team come into tonight’s fixture on the tail wind of two consecutive wins including a great win at Nelson last week with Jonny Hothersall standing out from such a great team performance bagging 4 goals. More of the same please tonight!

After tonights game, we are back in action on Saturday again at The Riverside as we welcome another tough opponent in the shape of Prestwich Heys who always give us a competitive game.

It will be busy tonight, please observe the Covid guidelines, stay safe and enjoy the game.

Chairmans Message

Hello everyone and welcome to The Riverside for this highly anticipated clash with Bury AFC.

I was saddened to see such a long established North West Club as Bury FC go out of business but it is huge credit to the people of the town that they have formed this new club. Special praise should go to the Chairman, Chris Murray, and his volunteers for the blood, sweat and tears they have put over the last year.

I had the pleasure of watching our last match away against Nelson and what a game it was. Both teams played attractive, attacking football in difficult conditions and we secured a win by the odd goal in seven, hopefully we will see more of the same tonight.

Everyone's safety in these troubling times remains the club's priority, so I would ask that you spread out around the three sides of the ground and adhere to the social distancing rules.

Hope you all enjoy the game and have a safe journey home. Fixtures

31/10/20 Prestwich Heys Home (15:00)

03/11/20 Atherton LR Away (19:45)

The Managers View

Since my last programme notes we have had two tremendous victories on the bounce. The first against Ashton was a real dogged performance with the win secured by two great goals. This was followed by the win at Nelson where we were pegged back twice and then just before half time lost a third goal to go into the break 3:2 down. The lads dusted themselves down, listened to what we had to say and took their performance to another level by scoring 2 more goals and repealing attack after attack from Nelson. It was a great team effort back to front and everyone in the match day squad contributed. I must mention Jonny who on the night Nelson found to be unplayable as he scored all four of our goals.

The squad and I are looking forward to this evenings game as much as you are supporters and we will do our best to deliver the right result for you.

Richard

Todays Visitors

Bury AFC were formed in 2019 following the expulsion of Bury FC from the .

Created and managed entirely by volunteers with the slogan "By the fans, for the fans" the Club is owned by a Community Benefit Society, the Shakers Community Trust, whose Board is elected by its members.

As the club set out on the 2020/21 league season, the 3rd October is a poignant date with which the team take their first steps out on the grass at the Neuven Stadium. Today, it is exactly a year to the day when volunteers at what was known as ‘Bury Phoenix Club’ met for the first time.

Held at the Stanley Conservative Club, a stone's throw from Gigg Lane, around 150 fans congregated to see if they could provide football for the town of Bury. As had been the case for the previous 134 years at that point. Most, if not all, hurting from a summer of anguish, and ultimately despair. Top-level football had ceased to take place in the town and there was little prospect of this changing any time soon.

The aim following that meeting. To start a new club.

October 2019: The first meeting of Bury fans to discuss and build the organisation of those volunteering to help with this goal. Initially, fans who turned up were spoken to by members of LOFT (Leyton Orient Fans Trust) and the FSA (Football Supporters Association) on their experiences of creating a club from scratch. By the end of the evening, individual teams were created to cover the important sections of the football club. From finance to governance, commercial to media & legal matters too. To receive a league placement for the 2020/21 season, an application was required to be submitted in early December 2019. With the original club due in the high court, for the first of what turned out to be many appearances across the winter, and impending doom looming, our band of volunteers set to work. The clock was ticking.

By the end of the month, our social media profiles & website were set up and starting to inform those on what we were doing and the steps required to move the project forwards.

November 2019: As discussions with a consortium looking to save the original club developed, an initial 'launch' of the football club was put on hold to give these discussions chance to move forward. However, work in the background continued to ensure that the deadline for an application could be met. We conducted our first survey on fan-ownership, asking for feedback on the direction supporters wanted us to take, based on various financial models. Fundraising activities began a pace, with regular evening meetings at the Stanley Club & Rose & Crown pubs. Merchandise and community events, including support provided at the Saturday afternoon supporter gatherings, were proposed. Also, the first draft football club budgets were being developed, alongside work on possible ground- sharing arrangements with local non-league clubs. As the month drew to a close, we also set up our first democratic vote to select our club name. December 2019: With 58% of the supporter vote, our name was secured as ‘Bury AFC’. A was agreed in principle and the application was ready to be submitted. It was sent to the Manchester FA on the 9th December. We were also present at the Town Hall meeting arranged by Forever Bury to inform attendees on our progress, alongside the plans presented for Bury FC. This was the first chance since the summer for supporters to listen to proposals for football in the town and ask questions of the various parties on the stage.

January 2020: The new year started with our first event, all the ticket proceeds from over 100 paying attendees at the ‘Arcade Club’ day were donated to Bury AFC. The volunteer group gathered again for a meeting in late January for an update on progress and the North West Counties acknowledged that our application had been made and was being considered for inclusion in their leagues for the 2020/21 season. The first big step had been negotiated.

February 2020: Volunteers arranged and offered support to the 'Evening with Derek Spence' night in early February in what ended up being quite a month for the coffers at the pubs close to Gigg Lane. After initial visits from Sunderland fans in the autumn of 2019, two separate convoys of Rotherham United fans descended on the town on route to away games at Accrington & Rochdale. The coaches of fans were split between the Stanley Club & Staff of Life pubs, bringing much needed revenue to the pubs which had lost so much without regular football at Gigg Lane. This will not be forgotten.

March 2020: In early March, we announced two new fundraising events. Ricky Tomlinson was confirmed to be in attendance at a screening of ‘Mike Bassett: England Manager’ in April, as well as a ‘Bury Legends’ match to be played at fellow fan-owned Chester FC’s 1885 Arena in mid-May. By the end of the month, both events were cancelled as the onset of Covid-19 hit the country. With games postponed in football leagues across the world, the realisation dawned on us all that our path to playing in August was not going to be as straight-forward as we had hoped.

We were informed at the end of the month that the group of Bury fans seeking to purchase the original club had withdrawn their offer. We informed the fan-base that we were ready to go, whenever that may be!

April 2020: Our membership scheme, ‘Shakers Community’ was launched on Easter Sunday. For an annual fee of £60, members are given the option to vote on pivotal long-term decisions. The membership quickly grew to 300-strong. Members could also put themselves forward for a spot on the board for elections, due in May / June. Fan-engagement was kept as high as possible during the lockdown period with our ‘World Cup of Away Kits’, which sought to discover the fans’ ultimate away strip. The winner was the 2010-11 Surridge Maroon & Gold kit, the design of which has been used as inspiration for our inaugural away kit this season.

May 2020: In ordinary circumstances, we would have been informed of the situation on our league place by the end of this month. However, with the growing uncertainty around the world of how the impacts of the pandemic would affect a restart to competitive sport, fans were required to sit tight. With leagues across the country ending early or looking to resume to finish with no crowds, we continued to build in the background. Co-ordination meetings were transferred to video calls, dialogue resuming via email or WhatsApp groups and discussion a plenty continued over the various social media profiles and message boards.

June 2020: After receiving 12 applications from members for positions on the first ‘Shakers Community’ board, online voting took place to narrow this down to nine in early June. This board were constituted to work on behalf of the membership in building a sustainable foundation for the football club to thrive. The first job was to appoint the chairperson of the football club, Chris Murray. Chris pulled together his board to manage the creation of the football side of the club. The search for a manager was started immediately, and this caused a stir right across the football world with over 750 applications for the top job received!

July 2020: In the lead up to the board elections, the membership swelled to over 500 which gave the club a solid base to move forward towards the new season. With a slow relaxation to the lockdown rules through July and expectation that leagues could soon resume, we were given an indication from the FA that our league status would soon be known. With manager interviews being conducted, sponsorship deals being signed and the release of our new crest and home & away kits, things suddenly began to move quickly after months of waiting. Then we received the news that we had all been waiting for….

The club had been accepted into the North West Counties Football League, Division 1 North.

All the hard work from the volunteers, members & board had been worth it. Within a matter of days, ex- Ossett United manager Andy Welsh was appointed following a two-stage interview process involving both football board and ‘Shakers Community’ board members to make a unanimous decision that Andy was the right person to be appointed the club’s first manager.

August 2020: Traditionally the start of the regular football season for many, but this strange period meant that pre-season was only just getting underway for most. Andy Welsh and the team are under pressure to form the squad straight away, the first training session taking place on 1st August. Our ground-share with Radcliffe FC is announced (in one of the world’s worst- kept secrets), alongside the first signing for the club – Adam McWilliam, a 25-year-old Scottish midfielder with a habit of banging in some long-range free-kicks at his past clubs. An abundance of further footballing talent walks through the door as the month progresses, most coming to Bury with experience at least a league or two above our current level.

The pre-season fixture list was drafted numerous times through July & August to account for the managers training schedules needs and consideration of the ‘behind-closed doors’ setup required for games in August. This meant some of the more lucrative fixtures planned were scrapped and alternative arrangements made. A last minute change to allow restricted levels of fans into grounds, meant that at least 150 fans were in attendance at Daisy Hill on the 26th August, as Bury AFC took to the field for the very first time. Recording a 5-0 opening victory, right-back Matty Williams leapt into our record books, slamming home a loose ball at the back post from 12-yards to record the team’s first goal. We were #OnOurWay.

September 2020: Another victory away at Coppull United three days later, this time coming from behind to win 2-1, ahead of the tough task of playing our first game at ‘home’, but really we were ‘away’. The Neuven Stadium was bristling with a maximum attendance of 600 as our landlords, Radcliffe FC, played host to us on a gorgeous late summer night. Under the lights, we succumbed to our first defeat against a strong Radcliffe team, 3-0 despite holding our own for large periods against a team three-leagues above us. A 1-1 draw against fellow Step-10 opposition, Nostell Miners Welfare FC & a 4-1 win over local Manchester League side, Walshaw Sports FC was preceded by our first set of league fixtures released on 5th September.

A last-minute 2-1 loss to Division 1 South team, Abbey Hey, the following week led the team into their first competitive fixture against fellow southern division team, West Didsbury & Chorlton FC in the FA Vase, 1st Round. A feisty encounter on a warm afternoon in the South Manchester sun, as both sides ended up with 10-men during the second half but one that saw ‘West’ victorious despite the visiting side knocking on the door plenty as the game drew to a close. Greg Daniels became the first player to score a competitive goal for Bury AFC, slamming home an injury time penalty, which ended up being merely a consolation in a 2-1 defeat.

Garstang FC Squad Bury AFC Squad

Red/Black/Red White/Blue/Blue

Edward Wilczynski Sam Kellett

Kai Calder Bank Park Dan Birch

Matthew Williams Phil Nagy

Scott Metcalfe Martin Grundy

Jimmy Moore Kieran O’Connor

Bailey Sloane Rob Hanslip

jono Hunt Billy Akrigg

Kamar Moncrieffe Andrew Murphy

Jordan Downing Reece Barrett

Lewis Gilboy Cameron Ross

Tony Whitehead Sam Maddox

Tom Greaves Danny Squires

Kris Holt Jonny Hothersall

Aidan Chippendale Shaun Sailor

Liam MacDevitt Joseph Noblet

Tommy Lent Ben Reader

Joe Stanley

Greg Daniels

Referee: Daniel Sims

Assistants: Oliver Reynolds & Christopher McCann