Bury FC administrator Steven Wiseglass has placed the club’s Gigg Lane stadium up for sale in a bid to return football to the venue.
The 12,000-seat stadium has served as the home of Bury since opening in 1885 but has not staged any matches since the club was expelled from the English Football League (EFL) in 2019.
Bury has been in administration since November and there are plans for the club to re-enter the football league system. Wiseglass, who represents Inquesta Corporate Recovery & Insolvency, said talks are taking place with a number of potential stadium buyers.
“Bury FC is a club with a rich history and a loyal and enthusiastic fan base, and I do hope that a suitable buyer will be forthcoming to secure the future of football at Gigg Lane,” Wiseglass said, according to the BBC.
“It is understood there may be an offer from a community interest group to purchase the stadium and trading name as a result of the chancellor’s announcement in the recent budget to provide matched funding for purchasing assets of community interest. There are other potential parties interested in acquiring the business and assets, and I am liaising with them.”
Inquesta has appointed chartered surveying firm Fluerets to sell the stadium. Any sale would include the ticket office and club shop.
The last Bury match at Gigg Lane was the 1-1 draw against Port Vale at the end of the 2018-19 season, which saw the club promoted to League One. The future of the club, which reportedly owes more than £12.2m (€14.2m/$17.2m) in unsecured debt, remains up in the air but it is hoped the stadium sale will return football to the venue in some capacity.
Following Bury’s expulsion from the EFL, a phoenix club named Bury AFC was formed by fans. The club currently plays in the North West Counties League but other Bury supporters remain hopeful that the original club can be kept alive.
Image: Dom Fellowes/CC BY 2.0/Edited for size
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