Bury AFC: Phoenix club given non-league place for 2020-21 season

New fan-owned club will enter North West Counties Division One North, seven promotions below original club's position

(Reuters)

The phoenix club set up in response to Bury’s demise have been granted a place in the sixth-tier of non-league football for the 2020-21 season.

Bury AFC will play in the North West Counties Division One North, seven promotions away from the original club’s previous place in League One.

More than 500 supporters have signed up as members of the new fan-owned club in order to fund its creation and the process of appointing a first-team manager is underway.

Bury FC – which still exists as a legal entity but has no league membership – was expelled from the EFL at the beginning of the 2019-20 season amid longstanding financial difficulties.

The original two-time FA Cup-winning club remains at risk of liquidation, despite surviving Her Majesty Revenue and Customs winding-up petitions in December and February.

An independent review held earlier this year concluded that the EFL could not ultimately have prevented Bury FC’s collapse but recommended strengthening financial fair play regulations and fit-and-proper persons test.

The EFL’s version of the fit and proper persons test – their Owners’ and Directors’ Test – has come under fresh scrutiny in recent weeks following the administration of Wigan Athletic, who face a 12-point points deduction and potential relegation from the Championship.

An investigation by The Independent last week revealed that few EFL clubs would support introducing a stricter test . Any changes to the test must be voted through by both a majority of EFL clubs and a majority of Championship clubs.