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Statement – Bury AFC 5th February 2020

We are aware of how the social media spotlight has focused on us recently, specifically on Dominic Martinez, John Risby & Alan Skelton and the suggestion that they have been working against other parties. We do not act on accusations without evidence to substantiate those claims. Having asked for this, we’ve had nothing beyond speculation.

In the absence of any evidence, we will move on and Dominic, Alan and John should be held blameless.

Accusations and rumours always circulate any football club, especially this one given the confused state of Bury FC. We have created a Whistleblowing Policy to handle accusations of improper behaviour, along with a Code of Conduct for players, fans and officials of the club. We will release this shortly and ask that everyone respects this.

As a club, we are working hard to create the right culture. Opinion and debate should be encouraged without fear of recrimination. Disagreement is healthy, provided it’s done in the right way. A personal opinion, does not represent our official response as a club. We were concerned and disappointed to see personal opinions, privately expressed, leaked and placed online without consent.

We do not condone abusive or aggressive behaviour targeted towards any individuals, and ask that personal attacks on Alan, Dominic and John stop. We would like to thank them for their work over the past six months.

We will continue to make democratic decisions as we move forward. This extends to outlining our election policy and terms of reference which clarify who (members, board, individuals) can decide on what.


On our progress so far, we continue to praise our volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We started our journey together in October and since then, we have worked tirelessly to build a structure and put together a team that can represent Bury in August 2020, should Bury FC not survive.

Today’s dismissal of the latest Winding Up Petition appears to make any acquisition of the club or ground post-liquidation impossible for the purposes of playing in the 2020/21 season. We are aware there is an interested party who would like to purchase the club pre-liquidation. We remain supportive of this and intend to meet with them to see how and where we could work with them if they are successful.

In the meantime, we still have plenty to do. Over the next few months, we will be focusing on:

  • Elections
  • Membership
  • Building relationships in the community
  • Developing our on-field operations

We hope that the next few months will be incredibly exciting as we build towards August.


The Derek Spence event this week is close to be a sell-out and a big thank you to has to go to everyone who has supported that event in both attendance and by purchasing raffle tickets. We’re planning similar future events and will advise further about these and others in due course.

On the field, we will be starting to recruit operations volunteers and working towards arranging some exciting pre-season friendlies. The football family has really reached out to us since our inception – we thank all who have for their thoughts and well wishes in our endeavours.

Most of all, none of this would have happened without the continued support and dedication of our fan base. The skillsets and expertise available amongst us all are nothing short of phenomenal and we are extremely grateful to those who have put these to good use for the benefit of all. 

Let’s all come together and enjoy the journey, wherever it takes us.

By the Fans, For the Fans,

Bury Phoenix Club / Bury AFC

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