BURY fans have been told there is NO chance of a reprieve after the Shakers were booted out of the League.
The Gigg Lane outfit’s 125 years of Football League membership was ended soon after 11pm last night after potential saviour C&N Risk Solutions called off their attempt to buy out owner Steve Dale.
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EFL bosses were accused of ignoring a final possible buyer, who contacted League chiefs at 1am this morning.
That raised the hopes of Bury fans that there could be life after footballing death.
But EFL executive chair Debbie Jevans officially confirmed the death knell of the club as she said: “There’s no appeal process.
“It is within people’s rights to write to us, we await any correspondence, should it arrive. But there is no appeal process.”
Jevans and the EFL have been accused of a premature rush to consign Bury to the history books but she added: “This isn’t a situation that has arisen over the past 24 hours. It’s not been two or three days.
“This has been constant work, rightly, for weeks and months, numerous conversations with the board and Mr Dale trying to find solutions.
“I feel devastated, sad, disappointed, any number of adjectives and I understand what I’ve heard the fans say. At what point in any situation do you say ‘enough’?
“We’ve already postponed five games and each of those impacts other teams in the league. Do we postpone six, seven, eight, nine – at what point do you stop?
What Bury’s EFL Exit Means For League 1 and League 2 Promotion And Relegation
BURY have been expelled from the EFL but an appeal is likely to be launched.
If the Shakers’ expulsion is upheld, it would leave League One down to 23 teams and affect promotion and relegations in two division.
“The board was flexible, it has met over 10 times, every board member has given up time with a desire to find solution.
“But we have duty of care to the 23 other clubs in League One and equally all of the clubs in the Championship and League Two.
“That decision was made, the share has been revoked and is now with the EFL.”
SJ Global International claimed they were ready to save the Shakers and were in the process of agreeing with the EFL the best way to transfer £7million in funds.
But lawyers for the Brazilian-owned firm believe the EFL wrongly thought the last-minute deal had broken down and pulled the plug on it last night amid confusion about how the fees would be paid.
C&N pulled out citing factors that had arisen when they began their due diligence of the club’s books.
Bury had to come up with £2.7m to get the green light to play – to pay off approved creditors and meet their bills for the rest of this season, including wages.
But C&N suggested significant concerns had ensured there was no way they could proceed with a purchase, hinting at potential contact with the Police or even the Serious Fraud Office.
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Jevans said: “Recent decisions at Bury, no question, have caused a number of people significant financial distress.
“Clearly we do need to look at those and those matters do require further investigation.
When C&N were given time to do their due diligence, as they have said publicly, they discovered a number of things.
“They have offered to share it with us and we’ll be taking up that offer. That’s all I can say.
“We’ll receive the information. we have committed that we will do an investigation.
“Aligned to that, when I say investigating what I mean is that we need to look at how we ended up in this situation.”
While Bury were buried, neighbours Bolton have a further 13 days to satisfy the League over their financial state, with hope at EFL headquarters that the Trotters can avoid the same fate.
Jevans explained: “The board has the right to suspend the 14-day notice after a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement has been agreed.
“We did that and worked with Bury and eventually started that process. The 14 days ran out on Friday.
“It’s exactly the same with Bolton.
The last communication on Bolton was just after 3am, then again at 9am, so there is constant communication as far as Bolton is concerned.“
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