Skip to main content

Plans A, B and C at Bury

Shakers fans have three plans on the table as they seek to revive their club:

  • Plan A: a consortium interested in buying the club in its present form.
  • Plan B: the purchase of Gigg Lane, valued at £3.8m, by entrepreneur Robert Benwell, either out of liquidation or by way of repossession. Talks are continuing with mortgage holder Capital Bridge Financing.
  • Plan C: A supporter-led phoenix club named Bury AFC to apply to join the North West Counties League from next season. They would seek a ground share, possibly with Radcliffe.

As far as Plan B is concerned, Benwell has said that he would invest £800k of his own money to pay off a percentage of the ground's mortgage. He claims to have an agreement in principle with Capital Bridge Financing for £4 of every ticket, potentially priced at £15, to pay the interest on the rest of the mortgage.

Chair of the Bury Phoenix Group Chris Murray told The Football League Paper, 'I wasn't totally on board with the Benwell idea when you do the maths on it because it doesn't sound like it would pay the mortgage off completely'. A possible Plan D would be for Benwell and the phoenix club to merge to play at Gigg Lane, but supporters understandably have reservations given their past experiences.

Owner Steven Dale settled a debt with HM Revenue and Customs out of court, but Bury will back in court on 16th January having entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement believed to be worth £1m.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...
Post a Comment
Read more

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...
1 comment
Read more

A poor financial record, but new hope at Everton

I recently saw an amusing video online in which a group of Everton fans were rebuked in jest for being hopeful.  Football fans in general tend to swing between excessive optimism and excessive pessimism, but for many it seems that moaning is in their bloodstream (Spurs fans probably take the trophy).  However, Everton fans have had plenty to moan about on and off the pitch.   Let’s hope that a new era is about to begin for this grand old club. Everton’s 2023/24 financial results covered a fairly momentous season, when they ended up 15th in the Premier League, though they would finished three places higher if they had not received an 8-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR). It was a worrying time for Everton fans, as the club faced a “perfect storm” of issues, including large financial losses, an ever increasing debt burden, a challenging stadium build and the tortuous sale of the club. There were eve...
Post a Comment
Read more