Shake(r)s and Radders - Bury's fairytale FA Cup run so far, summarised
Fri 4th October 2024 | Bury | By Jay Cooper
It's been nearly a week since Bury FC made history by progressing to their joint-furthest stage of the FA Cup since the club's official rebirth in the summer of 2023.
Dave McNabb's side have only played one game since, so it would be easy to imagine that the high of the result is still fresh in their minds. But it's not just the fact that the Shakers are now one win away from the First Round Proper of England's oldest competition.
It's the way they did it, and who they did it against.
Let's circle back to the attempt at completing a season of football that was the NWCFL in 2020/21. No, this is not a retelling of the story of the return of Bury, as Bury AFC, but the key context is this - Bury AFC, a phoenix club created by fans of Bury FC after the club was run into the ground years earlier, were playing officially sanctioned English Football Pyramid football for the first time.
And where were they playing this football? With Gigg Lane locked and the keys in the hands of a different Bury-based football organisation, a deal was eventually brokered between Bury AFC and NPL Premier Division side Radcliffe FC. Both Radcliffe and Bury AFC would use the Neuven Stadium as their home turf.
This groundshare was one that continued for nearly three full years, until a particularly nasty winter between 2022 and 2023, coupled with the Shakers' success in Cup competitions, led to a fixture schedule so tight that it wasn't feasible for Bury AFC to complete their fixtures whilst making way for their landlords to do the same. Instead, Bury AFC played out the rest of their home games for 2022/23 at Mossley AFC's Seel Park.
For three years, Bury AFC couldn't go home. For three years, Radcliffe shared their home with someone else. While the relationship between the two clubs is still friendly from a professional standpoint, this kind of closeness inevitably fuels a rivalry, especially between fans.
Heading into 2023/24, Bury AFC were no longer that. They were Bury FC again, following a merger between the phoenix club and the company that had ownership of Gigg Lane and the Bury FC trademarks and memorabilia.
A full season of Gigg Lane football in the NWCFL passed for Bury, who finished 3rd in the Premier Division and lost out on promotion in the narrowest of defeats to Wythenshawe Town. In the NWCFL Premier Division play-off final, the game finished 1-1, and Wythy won 3-2 in a pretty objectively dreadful penalty shootout.
Meanwhile, Radcliffe, under the new stewardship of Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson, absolutely trounced the NPL Premier Division. They won the league by a country mile and earned promotion to the National League North.
With the two clubs now physically separated after the end of their ground share, the gap between them in the English Football Pyramid had also widened with Radcliffe's promotion.
Enter the FA Cup.
Speaking to Bury FC manager Dave McNabb, a potential FA Cup run for the club was "a bonus. The FA Cup still has its magic, particularly at these early stages, so it always feels special when the fixtures come around, but we just wanted to give a good account of ourselves against higher opposition."
To have this mentality at the start of the season is fairly common among managers at this level, it's easy to assume. Bury's first game in the FA Cup this season was against Congleton Town in the Extra Preliminary Round. In a match between two sides who often do well in cup competitions, the Shakers were superior, winning 4-2.
Next was Avro in the Preliminary Round, a team promoted from the NWCFL very recently. This game ended in a 3-1 win to Bury, and they were drawn away to Garforth Town in their first official qualifier. As members of the NPL Division One East, Garforth were an example of "higher opposition" that Dave McNabb mentioned, but that didn't stop Bury putting them to the sword and winning 2-0.
In the second qualifying round, Bury travelled away to Blyth Spartans, who themselves have been the centre of famous FA Cup runs in the past - most recently in 2014/15, when they played host to then-Championship side Birmingham City. They fell to Birmingham then, and they fell to Bury this time around, with Dave McNabb stating that his side's 3-0 win was "their best performance of the season to that point."
So the draw for the Third Qualifying Round was made - Bury were to play away from home again, but they wouldn't have to travel very far. They had drawn Radcliffe.
The game itself was historic before tickets were even put on sale. It was the first time that these two teams had faced off in a competitive game since their groundshare. "The FA Cup does have a history of throwing these types of games up that have a rooted history and backstory. It was certainly one that captured the imagination of the fans, so that bit was brilliant," said Dave McNabb of the draw.
More history was made when the game sold out long before matchday. For the first time ever, a Radcliffe match at the Neuven Stadium had sold out to its capacity, with 3,000 fans expected for the game. I was lucky enough to be one of those.
Although I didn't feel so lucky watching the first half, which both sides will probably tell you was a drab one. Beyond a quick counterattacking goal for Radcliffe to break the deadlock, very little happened, and the Shakers went into the break losing. Half time gave Dave McNabb the opportunity to change things up.
"It actually turned out that the game plan we had pulled together wasn't working at all, and we had to rip it up and come up with something different at half time. It's always a gamble coming away from what you know, and from a set way of playing, but it's cup football, and we didn't think we had enough to cause any real problems without making some changes."
Bury looked like a totally different team in the second half, and equalised via Sam Coughlan from a set piece ten minutes after the restart. From there, if you'd asked an out-of-the-loop bystander which team was from the higher division, they'd have probably assumed it was Bury.
Reuben Jerome scored a stunning solo goal within the final 10 minutes of the match, but that lit a bit of a fire under Radcliffe, who equalised moments later thanks to Josh Wardle. However, Wardle would go from hero to villain very quickly when he was slow to clear a loose ball right after kickoff. He dragged down his man right on the line of the penalty area, and the referee gave Bury a deserved spot kick.
Up stepped Bryan Ly - a favourite of the Bury faithful since his arrival from Wythenshawe FC in the summer - to send Mateusz Hewelt the wrong way, and send the away end of the Neuven Stadium into raptures. An agonising 13 minutes of injury time followed, which saw Radcliffe's Matt Sargent receive his marching orders, but eventually, the full time whistle was blown, and Bury had done it.
What was there to say after a match like this? Turns out, not much, according to Dave McNabb. "After a win like that, the players aren't in the right headspace to receive any detailed information. Sometimes it's better to just let people enjoy an achievement like that.
"It still feels quite surreal. I was expecting to wake up on Sunday to the realisation that we got beat. I'm just really pleased for the players for the work they put into the game and the season so far. That win was for all of the people behind the scenes at the club and, most importantly, the fans. Bury fans have had so much hardship over the last 5 years, and days like Saturday show a glimmer of hope that things are improving, and will continue to get better."
It's Harborough Town next, again away from home. Harborough are members of the Southern League Premier Division Central, which is one rung below Radcliffe in the English Football Pyramid. They're currently 15th out of 22 after nine games played, so they may not scare Bury FC as much as they might've done before the Radcliffe match.
Speaking on the potential of this cup run, Dave McNabb said that, "we have an unbelievably tough league schedule for the week ahead, so our full focus needs to be on those games now. We will start to plan in the background for the 4th Qualifying Round against Harborough Town, and the players' focus will only be shifted to that game a few days beforehand at training."
It's been nearly a week since Bury FC made history by progressing to their joint-furthest stage of the FA Cup since the club's official rebirth in the summer of 2023. At the time of writing, both Longridge Town tomorrow and Glossop North End next Tuesday pose as hurdles for Bury to get over. Then it's that all important cup tie.
If Bury win, the possibilities for who comes in the next draw are far-reaching. Birmingham City, Wrexham, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Reading, Bradford City - I could keep going, but this article is long enough already. The final word simply has to be: best of luck, Bury. We're rooting for you.
Shake(r)s and Radders - Bury's fairytale FA Cup run so far, summarised
Fri 4th October 2024 | Bury
By Jay Cooper
It's been nearly a week since Bury FC made history by progressing to their joint-furthest stage of the FA Cup since the club's official rebirth in the summer of 2023.
Dave McNabb's side have only played one game since, so it would be easy to imagine that the high of the result is still fresh in their minds. But it's not just the fact that the Shakers are now one win away from the First Round Proper of England's oldest competition.
It's the way they did it, and who they did it against.
Let's circle back to the attempt at completing a season of football that was the NWCFL in 2020/21. No, this is not a retelling of the story of the return of Bury, as Bury AFC, but the key context is this - Bury AFC, a phoenix club created by fans of Bury FC after the club was run into the ground years earlier, were playing officially sanctioned English Football Pyramid football for the first time.
And where were they playing this football? With Gigg Lane locked and the keys in the hands of a different Bury-based football organisation, a deal was eventually brokered between Bury AFC and NPL Premier Division side Radcliffe FC. Both Radcliffe and Bury AFC would use the Neuven Stadium as their home turf.
This groundshare was one that continued for nearly three full years, until a particularly nasty winter between 2022 and 2023, coupled with the Shakers' success in Cup competitions, led to a fixture schedule so tight that it wasn't feasible for Bury AFC to complete their fixtures whilst making way for their landlords to do the same. Instead, Bury AFC played out the rest of their home games for 2022/23 at Mossley AFC's Seel Park.
For three years, Bury AFC couldn't go home. For three years, Radcliffe shared their home with someone else. While the relationship between the two clubs is still friendly from a professional standpoint, this kind of closeness inevitably fuels a rivalry, especially between fans.
Heading into 2023/24, Bury AFC were no longer that. They were Bury FC again, following a merger between the phoenix club and the company that had ownership of Gigg Lane and the Bury FC trademarks and memorabilia.
A full season of Gigg Lane football in the NWCFL passed for Bury, who finished 3rd in the Premier Division and lost out on promotion in the narrowest of defeats to Wythenshawe Town. In the NWCFL Premier Division play-off final, the game finished 1-1, and Wythy won 3-2 in a pretty objectively dreadful penalty shootout.
Meanwhile, Radcliffe, under the new stewardship of Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson, absolutely trounced the NPL Premier Division. They won the league by a country mile and earned promotion to the National League North.
With the two clubs now physically separated after the end of their ground share, the gap between them in the English Football Pyramid had also widened with Radcliffe's promotion.
Enter the FA Cup.
Speaking to Bury FC manager Dave McNabb, a potential FA Cup run for the club was "a bonus. The FA Cup still has its magic, particularly at these early stages, so it always feels special when the fixtures come around, but we just wanted to give a good account of ourselves against higher opposition."
To have this mentality at the start of the season is fairly common among managers at this level, it's easy to assume. Bury's first game in the FA Cup this season was against Congleton Town in the Extra Preliminary Round. In a match between two sides who often do well in cup competitions, the Shakers were superior, winning 4-2.
Next was Avro in the Preliminary Round, a team promoted from the NWCFL very recently. This game ended in a 3-1 win to Bury, and they were drawn away to Garforth Town in their first official qualifier. As members of the NPL Division One East, Garforth were an example of "higher opposition" that Dave McNabb mentioned, but that didn't stop Bury putting them to the sword and winning 2-0.
In the second qualifying round, Bury travelled away to Blyth Spartans, who themselves have been the centre of famous FA Cup runs in the past - most recently in 2014/15, when they played host to then-Championship side Birmingham City. They fell to Birmingham then, and they fell to Bury this time around, with Dave McNabb stating that his side's 3-0 win was "their best performance of the season to that point."
So the draw for the Third Qualifying Round was made - Bury were to play away from home again, but they wouldn't have to travel very far. They had drawn Radcliffe.
The game itself was historic before tickets were even put on sale. It was the first time that these two teams had faced off in a competitive game since their groundshare. "The FA Cup does have a history of throwing these types of games up that have a rooted history and backstory. It was certainly one that captured the imagination of the fans, so that bit was brilliant," said Dave McNabb of the draw.
More history was made when the game sold out long before matchday. For the first time ever, a Radcliffe match at the Neuven Stadium had sold out to its capacity, with 3,000 fans expected for the game. I was lucky enough to be one of those.
Although I didn't feel so lucky watching the first half, which both sides will probably tell you was a drab one. Beyond a quick counterattacking goal for Radcliffe to break the deadlock, very little happened, and the Shakers went into the break losing. Half time gave Dave McNabb the opportunity to change things up.
"It actually turned out that the game plan we had pulled together wasn't working at all, and we had to rip it up and come up with something different at half time. It's always a gamble coming away from what you know, and from a set way of playing, but it's cup football, and we didn't think we had enough to cause any real problems without making some changes."
Bury looked like a totally different team in the second half, and equalised via Sam Coughlan from a set piece ten minutes after the restart. From there, if you'd asked an out-of-the-loop bystander which team was from the higher division, they'd have probably assumed it was Bury.
Reuben Jerome scored a stunning solo goal within the final 10 minutes of the match, but that lit a bit of a fire under Radcliffe, who equalised moments later thanks to Josh Wardle. However, Wardle would go from hero to villain very quickly when he was slow to clear a loose ball right after kickoff. He dragged down his man right on the line of the penalty area, and the referee gave Bury a deserved spot kick.
Up stepped Bryan Ly - a favourite of the Bury faithful since his arrival from Wythenshawe FC in the summer - to send Mateusz Hewelt the wrong way, and send the away end of the Neuven Stadium into raptures. An agonising 13 minutes of injury time followed, which saw Radcliffe's Matt Sargent receive his marching orders, but eventually, the full time whistle was blown, and Bury had done it.
What was there to say after a match like this? Turns out, not much, according to Dave McNabb. "After a win like that, the players aren't in the right headspace to receive any detailed information. Sometimes it's better to just let people enjoy an achievement like that.
"It still feels quite surreal. I was expecting to wake up on Sunday to the realisation that we got beat. I'm just really pleased for the players for the work they put into the game and the season so far. That win was for all of the people behind the scenes at the club and, most importantly, the fans. Bury fans have had so much hardship over the last 5 years, and days like Saturday show a glimmer of hope that things are improving, and will continue to get better."
It's Harborough Town next, again away from home. Harborough are members of the Southern League Premier Division Central, which is one rung below Radcliffe in the English Football Pyramid. They're currently 15th out of 22 after nine games played, so they may not scare Bury FC as much as they might've done before the Radcliffe match.
Speaking on the potential of this cup run, Dave McNabb said that, "we have an unbelievably tough league schedule for the week ahead, so our full focus needs to be on those games now. We will start to plan in the background for the 4th Qualifying Round against Harborough Town, and the players' focus will only be shifted to that game a few days beforehand at training."
It's been nearly a week since Bury FC made history by progressing to their joint-furthest stage of the FA Cup since the club's official rebirth in the summer of 2023. At the time of writing, both Longridge Town tomorrow and Glossop North End next Tuesday pose as hurdles for Bury to get over. Then it's that all important cup tie.
If Bury win, the possibilities for who comes in the next draw are far-reaching. Birmingham City, Wrexham, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Reading, Bradford City - I could keep going, but this article is long enough already. The final word simply has to be: best of luck, Bury. We're rooting for you.
