Cod Almighty | Article

by Mike Worden

24 July 2006

Bury? Who might they be?
In his 1995 book Football Grounds of Britain, Simon Inglis described Bury as the corner shop that we all wish to see survive in the face of the superstore of Old Trafford just down the road. Since then the two clubs have polarised even further, with Bury struggling for survival and American businessmen taking over in Stretford. It is with a degree of irony – and no doubt some satisfaction from their fans – that instead of letting out Gigg Lane to Manchester United reserves to play their fixtures as they had done previously, Bury FC now groundshare with FC United of Manchester, the club borne of frustration and anger with the Glazer takeover.

It wasn't always like this. Bury won the FA Cup twice in the 1900s and were an established first division side until 1912.

Bury are nicknamed 'the Shakers': a name that stems from remarks made by their chairman many years ago. He is reported to have said: "We're going to give Everton a good shaking. In fact we are the shakers." The name stuck. Just as well that in those days club officials were a bit more careful about describing what they were going to do to the opposition; otherwise the nickname could have been a lot more interesting. How does 'the Twatters' sound?

Talking of officials making comments before a game, Neil Warnock was manager here before moving to Sheffield United. The fans still hate him, blaming him for looking after his mates and taking the club into relegation. Allegedly he once turned up at an official Bury occasion wearing a Sheffield United tie.

Last season
The struggle of all struggles. One victory in nine games at the start of the season cost manager Graham Barrow his job. Youth team coach Chris Casper was appointed as caretaker and then on a permanent basis from October to steer the club to safety. He did so, but only just. It all went down to a stressful last day at Meadow Lane where the clubs shared the points to both stay in the league.

It could all have been a bit less stressful had not the club not been deducted one point with just four games of the season left. The Football League took exception to the Shakers fielding a player against Lincoln 24 hours after his contract had expired. Casper says he and secretary Jill Neville, mother of Gary and Phil, have learned from this "genuine mistake". With relegation a distinct possibility, Casper showed true leadership and decided not to tell the players about the point deduction immediately. Bet they got a shock when they read the Sunday papers.

Last season's leading scorer Simon Whalley joined Preston for a very welcome £250,000 in January. The fact that nobody could then overtake his total of seven goals shows just what a poor season it was.

Anticipate with relish
The Bury matchday experience is a kind of compensation for staying in the fourth division. Easy parking, friendly fans and stewards, decent pub near to the ground and good views from the away end. Amusingly for a club called Bury, the ground is next to a cemetery. 

The opportunity to boo Dave Challinor is something you may look forward to as well.

Anticipate with dread
Town fans will dread Marc Goodfellow having a great game and scoring the winner against us. You can't see it happening really, but somehow you fear it might.

The Gigg Lane pitch had some serious drainage problems towards the end of last season though not as severe as those of Spotland just a few miles to the east. During the last few weeks the ground staff have been working seven days a week to give it a makeover and Casper is confident that it will facilitate a better standard of football. Hopefully Graham Rodger will have noted that the new-look pitch will suit his on-the-deck style on 26 August.

The Bury staff have also been busy over the summer redecorating the away dressing room, apparently known as one of the worst in the division. Casper told the Bury Times: "The away team dressing room didn't help us at all last season. It wasn't a very pleasant room to be in, so when teams went in there, they knew they had to roll their sleeves up. I think that cost us a lot last season, because teams were going out on to the pitch wanting to get a result and get away from the place." Perhaps it was the visit to the away dressing room at Blundell Park in March that got Casper thinking.

The way forward
Chris Casper has made a number of changes to the squad and took the unusual step of naming his striking targets in May. Great things are expected of the striker he did secure: last season's top scorer in the Conference, Andy Bishop, who has joined from York City. He has told the Bury Times that he's aiming for 20 goals this season and that Casper's attacking tactics will lead to the play-offs at least. Shakers fans hope the ex-Walsall man will form a scoring partnership with Matt Tipton, who scored a 30-yard screamer in July's friendly against Everton.

Also playing well against the Toffees was Alan Fettis, signed in the close season from Macclesfield. Despite playing well at the end of last season – including an excellent game against Town on the penultimate weekend of the season – Fettis was not offered a new contract at the Moss Rose. Fettis recently told the Bury Times of his shock at not getting a new deal and of his desire to keep on playing as long as he can.

Chris Casper has also invited the oldest outfield player in the Football League, 42-year-old David Eyres, to train with the club with a view to a deal. Eyres is the Peter Beagrie of Lancashire and has been released by Oldham. Should make Fettis feel younger, if nothing else.