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 English Football League. 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 groundshare 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.