Contracts exchanged for Bury fan group to buy club and Gigg Lane

Bury fan group Est.1885 has exchanged contracts to buy both the club and their Gigg Lane stadium.

Bury were expelled from the English Football League in August 2019 after long-standing financial difficulties and the consortium hopes to complete the deal before the end of January.

A statement from Est.1885 said: "The deal to acquire Gigg Lane and the club's history, name and memorabilia has moved a significant step closer.

"Contracts have been exchanged with completion expected at the end of January. We have been granted a licence to begin our clean-up of the ground immediately. We'll be calling upon all volunteers shortly.

"We appreciate the significant progress Bury AFC have made over recent years and have formed a working party with their representatives together with the Football Supporters Association and the Council to discuss the way forward.

'This will return football to Gigg Lane and our aim is under the name Bury FC'

After the EFL had withdrawn Bury's membership, supporters formed a separate club, Bury AFC, which was admitted to the 10th tier of the football pyramid, North West Counties League Division One North, last season.

A Bury AFC statement said: "We are delighted to hear that contracts have been exchanged for the sale and purchase of Gigg Lane and recognise the hard work which has been invested to get this far by those involved.

"The next stage of the process is legal completion of the transfer at which point the balance of the purchase price will become payable.

"We are in discussions with both parties, and the Council, to move through the fine detail on how this could work going forward.

"Once we are able to bring some detail to our members for a vote we will, but in the meantime there is no reason for concern about the club, players or staff as they are all at the heart of any future plans.

"There is no intention to discontinue this club or its progress to date, and remain committed to ensuring there is one club representing the town next season."

Est.1885 and fellow supporters' group Forever Bury received a £1million government grant in December, funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.