After four years apart, Bury FC and Bury AFC are finally set to be reunited after the vote to merge the two clubs officially passed on Friday 5, May.
Despite a merger vote failing to meet the requirements back in October, members of both Bury FC Supporters’ Society and phoenix club, Bury AFC, have finally agreed to bring the two organisations back together under the original club’s name and return to their historic Gigg Lane stadium from next season.
The vote passed with over 97% of participants voting to amalgamate; the same amount insisted that the club return to Gigg Lane for their home games and a further 92% agreed that they would once again be called Bury Football Club, pending full confirmation by the FA.
That’s right, The Shakers are coming home.
⚪🔵 Vote Result – We are delighted to announce that the vote to amalgamate The Shakers Community and Bury FC Supporters Society has passed by an overwhelmingly POSITIVE margin. 🗳
Bury FC were expelled from the English Football League (EFL) after 125 years back in 2019 following their inability to pay off significant debts and in the wake of a failed takeover bid — one of several clubs who faced the chop around that time in the North West, specifically.
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Although many passionate Shakers went on to form Bury AFC, the club still maintained its original name and trading rights, with supporters even managing to bring Gigg Lane under fan ownership back in February 2022.
Now, though, with the merger finally greenlit and the two clubs becoming one after what has been described as “four years of hell“, they will be able to receive levelling up funds from the local council and the government — an estimated total of £1.3 million, in fact.
Speaking after the successful merger, Bury FC issued a heartfelt statement to the fans, declaring that “it means so much” to see the vote pass “after all the hurt since 2019…”
“We are grateful for the way you, the footballing world supported us through the difficult years, and now equally thankful for your words of support and celebration on our comeback. We hope you will continue to follow our journey…
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“Thank you to all the #Shakers fans who have worked so hard and never given up. The comeback story of a lifetime starts NOW.
Happy to have you back, boys, and we look forward to seeing you back out on the pitch for the 2023/24 season!
"It's not just about this generation. It's about all the generations past and all the generations in the future"
Manchester’s National Football Museum to screen England’s Euro 2025 matches for free this summer
Emily Sergeant
England’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 matches are to be shown on big screens for free in Manchester this summer.
As England women’s national football team look to retain their title and continue to build on their ever-growing success as one of the best national football teams in the world, Manchester‘s National Football Museum is set to host a series of family-friendly watch parties after hours for the UEFA Women’s Euros this summer.
Visitors of all ages are welcome to support and celebrate England as they kick-off their campaign against France in the group stages on 5 July, followed by matches against the Netherlands on 9 July, and Wales on 13 July.
As Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses head to Switzerland with the hopes of being crowned European champions, you can head to the National Football Museum for some safe and inclusive fun.
Not only will the matches be shown in all their glory for free on a big screen, but you can also expect an on-site bar, and even the option to pre-order pizza ahead of time to feast on while you’re watching the action.
Watch parties will be taking place at the National Football Museum on the following dates:
France v England – 5 July at 8pm
England v Netherlands – 9 July at 5pm
England v Wales – 13 July at 8pm
To mark the beginning of the tournament, the museum will also be hosting a vibrant weekend of events on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July, so get ready to strike a pose in Lionesses’ kits, create your own dazzling banner, and drum-up support with your very own chant.
Manchester’s National Football Museum is screening England’s Euro 2025 matches for free this summer / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“This promises to be an exciting summer for football,” said Tim Desmond, who is the CEO of the National Football Museum.
“We want to bring the powerful sense of community that tournament football delivers to our museum, helping both new and returning visitors understand why football matters, and witness the impact our pioneering Lionesses can have in inspiring generations of budding young footballers.
“That’s why we are so delighted to be able to offer watch parties for this year’s tournament, providing a safe, inclusive, and exciting place for all fans to cheer on England.”
Featured Image – Molly Darlington / The FA (via England on Facebook)
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Manchester City confirm fourth signing of the summer as spending spree continues
Danny Jones
Manchester City have officially revealed their fourth signing of the summer window after confirming the transfer of top target Tijjani Reijnders.
The highly sought-after Serie A midfielder joins the club from AC Milan on a five-year contract for an initial fee of approximately £46.5 million, after having been tracked by a number of clubs across Europe over the past season or so.
Reijnders, 26, registered 15 goals and five assists from central midfielder last season (more than any other player in the league) with Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki stating that he models his game on Kevin De Bruyne, making him the perfect replacement for the Belgian – on paper, at least.
Finally unveiled on Wednesday, 11 June, he is arguably the statement signing of what looks to be a continued spending spree which began back in January.
With Man City splashing roughly £200m to kick off the 2025 calendar year as they brought the likes of Omar Marmoush and a trio of defensively geared players in Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and CDM Nico Gonzalez, it seems like they started as they mean to go on.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak assured fans that the club would be picking up “several players” in a recent interview after he argued they hadn’t been aggressive enough last summer, and given that the current main window hasn’t even been open for a fortnight yet, we’d say he’s sticking to that promise.
This year actually marks a rare instance of the transfer window being broken up into two parts due to the FIFA Club World Cup (which City are among the favourites to win) and will then re-open on 16 June.
Nevertheless, the Blues look to have got plenty of their business done already, not only with the arrival of Reijnders but the acquisition of left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri earlier this week, plus another attack-minded midfielder, Rayan Cherki.
The second player of Algerian descent and the second signing of the summer window was quickly announced by the Man City social media team just before the Dutchman.
Along with the signing of a new shotstopper, Marcus Betinelli from Chelsea – set to replace former reserve goalkeeper Scott Carson, who left the club after six seasons on Monday – that makes it four new incoming already.
Once again, not only do these latest additions to Pep Guardiola’s squad take their transfer total to over £300m on new talent in 2025, but there is still plenty of time for City to sign even more players with the summer window not closing until 7pm BST on 1 September.
Although the club have now acquired all of the players they have been most publicly linked with so far, it’s unclear whether their spending will continue or if the focus now turns to the Club World Cup getting underway this month and preparing the current squad for next season.
What do you make of Man City‘s latest recruits? Don’t forget, there have been some new arrivals in the backroom as well.
Danny Jones -
7th May 2023 
