Menu Close

Newsletter Update: 15/10/2019

Firstly may I welcome you all to the first Phoenix Club Update. Secondly I would like to thank all the fans who have already stepped forward to help in our efforts who now number over 170! But we still need more! If you want to help, please let us know.

Important dates for your diary.

Wednesday 16th October

At the High Courts of Justice, London. A big, though worrying day, for Shakers everywhere. As always, we hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Regardless of the outcome, we will continue our preparations for the Phoenix Club, as no matter whatever is agreed, we know it could all go wrong! It usually does when Bury FC are concerned!

Sunday 20th October

An exciting date for Bury Fans when the Bury FC legends game takes place at Radcliffe FC’s Neuven Stadium. The BuryXI team of Chris Murray, Dean Mason and Ben Miles have done an outstanding job of securing some Bury greats and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity – not to be missed. You can still purchase tickets online at: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/radcliffe/radcliffe-f-c/bury-f-c-legends-xi-vs-bury-f-c-all-stars-xi/2019-10-20/13:00/t-ngqlxv

It also gives us a chance to test what it might be like to groundshare if needed!

Saturday 26th October

We want to ensure as many of you can participate as possible, so next SATURDAY we have a meeting at 11am in the Stanley Conservative Club. This session is for all, especially those who couldn’t make our first meeting, those who wish to volunteer and, those who just want an update and to see how we work. There will be a Q & A; the more questions the better.

So what’s been happening with the Phoenix preparations?

We have working groups for all the main area and each of them is working hard on the tasks at hand. So here’s a short round up:

The Ground

The most complicated area needs a number of different approaches, so we have been liaising with a number of high net worth individuals, looking at what it would cost to continue the mortgage payments and also how we might get a combination of finances including money from us fans, to buy the ground. The ground will almost certainly be the last piece of the jigsaw to work, yet we recognise its importance to Bury Fans, please bear with us.

In the meantime we are having fruitful negotiations about a temporary groundshare and as soon as we know if an agreement in principle has been agreed we would let the wider fan base know and get your approval if needed.

Fundraising and Commercial

Working with the Bury XI team and ensuring that that game is successful is a fantastic test bed to put some of our commercial and fundraising thoughts into action. We need an army of volunteers and no little amount of co-ordination to make it work. From badges to replica shirts, and from turnstile operations to ball boys – having this opportunity to practice is invaluable. This is happening in conjunction with some significant fundraising planning which we know will take time. If you can help on Sunday then let us know! Ian Pearson and Jon Wiggans team are super human at times! If you can help out on Sunday please email Chris Murray directly: Chris@phenomenalgroup.co.uk

Governance

We will put options around how the club will be governed to the wider Bury FC fanbase but the work here is incredible. Phil Young and his team have worked with the Football Supporters Association and borrowed from the experience of other fan owned clubs, as so many have volunteered their help. We already have a clear recommendation for a structure which would safeguard the club for the future and remove the possibility of asset stripping, along with a series of options for us to decide on as a group as to how we would run the club on a democratic and manageable basis. We do need and want your opinions on this. If we need to launch the Phoenix I am confident you will see a transparent and inclusive club which is light years away from what we’ve experienced in recent years.

Communications & Marketing

Under the leadership of Adam Ingram I am constantly reminded that this is perhaps our most important area and one where a Phoenix club will live or die because we recognise that without our fans we are literally nothing and without you being informed, consulted and communicated with we literally can’t do anything and our collective dreams will not go forward. So I am pleased to say that we will shortly be launching our phoenix club website, social media channels and Frequently Asked Questions page where we hope to keep a permanent record of developments and give you an opportunity to join in and help us on the sheer number of things that need to happen. We really need your help!

Application

In order to get into a league there are some fairly complicated rules, procedures and areas that are not as clearly defined as you would imagine. With the help of the FA, FSA and our internal team we are making strides to ensure we are accepted into a county FA, then a preliminary application into a number of leagues then a full application and business plan before the FA decides which league we should be in. Although the final date for a full application is end of January 2020 there are steps and applications that need to be filled in now. Scary, exciting and making the journey very real!

Legal and Finance

Much of this work, as you can probably imagine, is done in terms of thinking and preparing. We are concentrating on some very basic steps such as a temporary legal structure, bank accounts and getting legal opinion on the ground. We have a finance meeting on Wednesday evening and if you have any ideas around business planning / finance / league finances then please contact me and I will send you a formal invite.

Thats all for now – I hope you have read this far. It will be great to meet as many of you as we can next Saturday (26th) at 11am. We really appreciate your support, but we need people to come down and volunteer too. That will make the whole process much easier to get us over the line if the current Bury FC cannot be saved.

Thanks once again,

Dominic