CLUB GUIDE: Bury

Bury Football Club are an English association football team based in Bury, Lancashire. The team are currently playing in Football League Two.

The club was formed in 1885, and took a lease on a pitch at Gigg Lane, which remains their home today. 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 Division One.

Bury have won the FA Cup twice. On April 21,1900 they beat Southampton 4-0 at Crystal Palace and before returning to the London venue in 1903. The latter 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 April 18.

They are nicknamed ‘The Shakers’, but some argue as to where this name comes from. It came either as an offshoot from the Religious Society of Friends, the Shaking Quakers, originated from around Bury in the North West of England or from one of its first chairmen, JT Ingham who, before a Lancashire Cup game with Blackburn, said ‘We will shake them. In fact, we are the Shakers.’ Local rivals include Bolton Wanderers, Oldham Athletic, Rochdale and Stockport County.

Bury have produced many, many great players over the years, including Dean Kiely, Terry McDermott, Alec Lindsay, Colin Bell, Lee Dixon and Neville Southall. Perhaps Bury’s most famous player has been 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. Another Great Player is David Nugent who is currently playing for Preston North End. David is a good example of the quality players Bury can produce.

Recently Bury became the first football club to score a thousand goals in each of the top four tiers of the English football league.

In 31-year-old Chris Casper, Bury currently have the League’s youngest manager. In the past, they have been managed by Mike Walsh, Stan Ternent, Neil Warnock and Andy Preece.

Well-known players to have worn a Bury shirt include Chris Lucketti, Dean Kiely, Colin Bell, Stan Bowles, Brian Flynn and Lee Dixon.

Their home, Gigg Lane, is also home to Manchester United’s reserve and youth sides.