Below are questions related to the merger proposal. If you have any enquiries not covered please make contact using the dedicated page – HERE
If there is a merger, the new board when elected by the supporters will be responsible in their duties and will represent the membership in delivering the budget and objectives set out within the proposal.
The CBS will have ultimate control via a block vote on the board of The Bury Football Club Company Limited. The CBS will regularly engage with its membership to ensure that members have input into the clubs future direction.
If members vote through the merger, all the current board members will stand down and fold into a new CBS.
The only ‘agenda’ we all have is that we have the club’s best interests at heart, and as such if an amalgamation is voted through, we are all committed to standing down from our positions and the society will ultimately fold into a new CBS.
This will give the opportunity for members to put themselves forward for nomination to form the board of a new society to take the club into its next phase. The new board will ultimately be voted on by members.
I think most people understand that we are working hard to just bring fans the information they need to make a decision on the future of their club. Everyone has put their time in for free, many also putting their monies in and sponsoring events so it’s costing them time and money, and all to try and get the club back where it should be based on their love for Bury.
Both CBS have already delivered so much for the community. Bringing a fantastic stadium back to life for the community that the town can be proud of, and the creation of a new football team when it was sadly taken from us as a result of the actions of previous owners.
The ultimate decision for an amalgamation is with the members and as communicated previously we will execute their decision.
The proposal represents a true merger in that all assets of the CBS’s are combined which includes the company name and number that the current Bury AFC team trades from. The company name is Bury FC (2019) Ltd and it trades as Bury AFC. This company upon merger will come under The Bury Football Club family and the trading name will change to Bury FC.
As part of the merger Bury FC (2019) Ltd will be fully owned by The Bury Football Club Company Ltd.
If we created a new legal entity, we would lose the playing licence, league position and cash within that existing company. It would leave these with Bury AFC and their Community Benefit Society rather than merge them into the one organisation.
As a merged company it will ultimately still be a Bury FC team owned by Bury FC and this is the most effective and quickest way to achieve football as Bury FC within the league pyramid at a good level.
Within the proposal we look to move forward together as one under Bury Football Club and in future years the only reference to a split fan base or different companies is part of a story of how all the fans as a collective managed to overcome the problems created by previous owners and re-establish our great football club.
Post-merger the new CBS are able to remove, change or elect new board members to Bury Football Club (2019) through their majority vote in The Bury Football Club Company Limited. These directors will normally be a small number of the elected CBS board members as they are required only to perform the statutory obligations required of the role such as filing accounts, signing paperwork, and processing bank payments. They do not make any key decisions in their own right, they are simply executing the decisions made elsewhere and fulfilling the mandatory legal obligations of a company director. Any existing directors will resign their directorship if they are not elected. We expect that the new CBS will already have been set up and new board members elected prior to the merger finally completing so that all documentation can be amended at the together at the same time, however the timelines are being checked by the FSA’s lawyers to ensure that all guidance of both societies are followed and will be distributed once agreed.
In the event that the amalgamation goes through, those that were not 100% behind it as members of Bury FC Supporters Society can still be involved as a member by purchasing a membership in the new Community Benefit Society which will own Bury FC. It will work on a one member one vote basis. . That is the beauty of fan ownership, you can still have ongoing input and vote towards the direction you wish to see personally longer term.
We respect the vote outcome, but there is always chance for everyone to have future input ongoing and we appreciate all our members’ views. Like any democratic organisation we progress forwards based on the majority result.
Together whatever the outcome we will be shaping this great club into a sustainable club and playing team that best represents the membership.
The decisions start with a vote on a Merger but won’t stop there, fans will be having input ongoing and therefore having a huge impact on decisions and the future journey of Bury Football Club. This is a major vote but with ultimate control, collectively fans can have a great input into what club they want to see going forwards.
