Bury A.F.C.

Bury Association Football Club is a fan-owned English association football club representing the town of Bury and based in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. It was established in December 2019 as a phoenix[1][2] of Bury F.C., which had been expelled from the English Football League (EFL). Bury AFC is currently a member of the North West Counties Football League Division One North and the team play their home games at Stainton Park in nearby Radcliffe through a groundshare agreement with Radcliffe F.C..

Crippled by mounting debts, Bury F.C. was expelled from the English Football League (EFL) on 27 August 2019 because of its inability to furnish proof of its financial viability.[3][4] Although the club continued to exist,[a] fears grew that it would be liquidated and, in December 2019, a group of supporters resolved to form a phoenix club which they named Bury Association Football Club (Bury AFC).[5][6]

Some 300 Bury FC fans came forward to help[6] and they formed a company registered as Bury Football Club (2019) Ltd (trading as Bury AFC), with its office in Rawtenstall.[7] The club is fan-owned on the basis of one member one vote. Their motto is: “By the fans. For the fans”.[6] The new club immediately applied to the North West Counties Football League, the tenth tier of the English football league system, for membership in the 2020–21 season.[8][9] The league approved the application on 21 February 2020.[10][11] The club then also applied to play in the FA Vase.[12] Membership increased and had exceeded 650 by early August 2020.[6] It reached 1,000 in October, when the team started playing, with each member paying £5 per month.[5]