Council intends to pay £450,000 towards new pitch at Bury FC’s Gigg Lane stadium

Bury Council has restated its intention to invest £450,000 in a new pitch at Gigg Lane stadium. The council cash would contribute towards the cost of installing a 3G pitch at Gigg Lane which would make make the playing surface available to be hired by the public.

In a report going before the authority’s cabinet this week, Bury Council said the potential £450,000 grant was approved in July 2022 but since that time, not all conditions for release of the funding had been met.

The council has also said that it will also need to exercise a degree of control over the lease for the stadium to ensure a commitment to community use. The stadium was originally purchased by a combination of the Bury Football Supporters Society and a group of private individuals, the Founders.

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Public funding was provided by central government through a community ownership funding grant. Following the award of that grant an immediate challenge was that Bury Football Supporters Society owned the stadium, and a separate group, the Shakers Community Society, operated a football club, AFC Bury.

That club had been established following the demise of Bury FC. They secured a position in the football pyramid and successfully established a football infrastructure from scratch. In October 2022 the two societies fell short of the two-thirds majority required for a merger to proceed.

The council said a merger was a pre-requisite for a council investment and in May 2023 the two societies voted to merge and allowed a name change to Bury FC. The merger allowed the club to open the 2023/24 season with a home fixture at Gigg Lane.

Following the return to their traditional home, crowd numbers have remained buoyant. A