tv Bury BBC News October 19, 2020 1:30am-2:01am BST
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this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump is addressing his followers in carson city, nevada, on the latest stage of his election campaign. joe biden has been addressing a campaign rally in north carolina, where he accused his rival of lying to americans about the state of the coronavirus pandemic in the united states. vigils and rallies have been held across france after a teacher was beheaded in an islamist attack close to his school in a paris suburb on friday. prime minister, jean castex, says france is not afraid and will not allow itself to be divided. tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of bangkok for the fourth day in a row, demanding political reform. the rallies took place in defiance of a government ban on gatherings there. the protesters, who are mostly young people, want power to move away from the military and the monarchy.
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now on bbc news, when bury fc collapsed in august of last year, a group of supporters made it their mission to bring football back to the town — against massive odds. bury fc is one of the oldest clubs in english football. but in august 2019, it was expelled from the football league. we are heartbroken. just gutted. one group of fans decided to do something about it. come hell or high water, this is the right thing to do. kick ourselves if we didn't. this is bury, this is bury. with complete access for 12 months, we see what it really takes to build a football club. more stressed than i've ever been. it was a dream. it's now becoming a reality.
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we're very impressed with the candidates. we're too bleep nice. not getting paid anywhere near as much as the premiership players. everyone here is doing it for the love of it. ..but we didn't, though. i know we didn't, but... with divisions in the fan base... started calling us rats, thieves, looters. ..and in a year where football has faced its biggest crisis... all uk football matches have been cancelled. could have picked a better time to do this, couldn't we? ..the fight to bring football back to bury.
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i want my kids to be able to grow up with my football club. that's my reason for getting into this. making sure that pretty much every kid in bury is able to watch a bury team. if he'd have sold the club when he had the opportunity to, this divide wouldn't be there. i didn't even know there was a football team called bury, to be honest with you. he went on the radio and on the tv and said, "i'd never heard of bury. i didn't even know there was a football club there." i'm not a football fan. not being funny, why would you buy a football club if you never knew that there was a football club there, you have no interest in football, you don't know anything about it? why would you buy
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a football club? so the answer is no, you're notjust in it to make a fast buck? there is no fast buck to be made in football. he's come into a football club and he's ruined it for a community. if there's not a football club, we've got nowhere to go, nothing to do. it's almost like a member of the family's died. i mean, it's dead to me now. i don't want to watch any football. chanting: bury tilli die! i'm bury till i die! yeah, if it wasn't for steve dale, we probably wouldn't be in this position. i wouldn't be chairing the football and i can't change that, really. this is the show that looks at the money behind the beautiful game with me, kevin day, and football finance expert at liverpool university, kieran maguire. we're talking about the demise of bury. bury football club is the story of two men. the first was called stewart day. while his other businesses were successful, everything was fine, everything was hunky—dory. while his other businesses were successful, everything
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was fine, everything was hunky—dory. stewart's other businesses then collapsed. i wanted to do a bit of a video with regards to what's going on at bury football club. i worked at the club briefly in, like, a self—employed role and i had a few issues. the start of a new era for bury football club, led by the man on the left. when steve dale came in, i thought, "all right, 0k, things are changing, things are looking up." you can't buy anything for £1 these days, let alone a football club with 130 years of history. we're going to restructure the debt, that's the main thing, but what i'm not is an atm. and within about six weeks, he also stopped paying the wages for the staff, players, everybody else connected with the club. it's dismay. there's people worried about their families and how they're going to support them, because we've not been paid, it's running into 12 weeks now. we're all here to save bury football club and i'm prepared to go to any means.
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stop it! it's noisy here, it's angry here. if i go, don't come back and blame me. steve dale had to prove to the football league that he had enough money to run the club or sell it, otherwise bury fc would have to stop playing football. things have developed, actually, just in the last few minutes. we've just had a statement from the efl which says that bury fc have had their membership of the league withdrawn. for it all to end like that — just so sad. it's devastating, just not to the fans of bury but the entire community of bury, really. for me to walk away from bury and never go back is a very easy thing to do. 134 years of history brought to an end, a community in shock. i didn't realise how much i missed gigg lane and how much it means to the fans.
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my son is buried in the cemetery next to gigg lane. we had a little boy, he passed away 20 minutes after he was born. i used to obviously go to the cemetery and then go and watch the game, and ijust have them few moments because where his headstone is facing, it points towards the ground. it was my release from what happened. hopefully one day, we can be back there and i can do the thing of going and seeing my little one before a game again, but this time as chairman instead. normally, i'd park my car, go in through that gate, go and take my seat, usually about three to four normally, i'd park my car, go in through that gate, go and take my seat, usually about three to four rows away from the away dugout so that i could give grief to the
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away manager. you think about the good times that you've had here, the games that you've watched, the fun that you've had with your mates. heartbreaking, really. it's why i try to avoid coming down, in all honesty. newsreel: there can no doubt where many thousands of the town's citizens are on a saturday afternoon. this is gigg lane, home of bury‘s league football team. bury fc has been part of the community since 1885, the winners of two fa cups and one of the oldest clubs in england. # if you want me, why won't you give me a sign? # if you need me, why won't you jump into line? # if you
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want me... commentator: and there is the final whistle! the shakers are the champions! great end to the season, carnival time all day. we knew we were promoted and, yeah, it's been a great day. it's not many times you get to finish champions in the league and be captain for the day. going to party tonight? yeah, certainly will, i'll have a few beers tonight. it's been three weeks since bury were kicked out of the league. the stanley club was a match—day pub for many fans, including adam, his sister hannah and their friend helen. this used to be hustling and bustling before matches. and it was packed, you couldn't even get to the bar. yeah. ourfamily, going back, it's
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years of following this team. it is a community, and when that gets taken away and it's out of your hands, that's what's the really frustrating and the heartbreaking thing about it. they have asked about at what point we come back and at the moment they can't give them an answer, so that's the heartbreaking thing, because you always want to be able to give your children an answer. yeah, big part of life ripped away. in october, bury fans get one day of football back. one of my friends basically said, would i be interested in helping him put something on? chris has helped organise a charity football match to raise funds for the future of football in bury. we're still raw, it's still raw for people. we're still upset and worried. the match isn't at gigg lane. the ground and bury fc belong to steve dale, so the game is at the neuven stadium nearby in radcliffe instead.
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you know, we wanted to give them something to smile about. i think it's a brilliant coming together of community in celebration and recognition of the club. i'm supposed to be being induced, and they wanted me to be induced asap, and i said, "can it wait till monday?" because i wanted to be here. bury means so much to us all. brilliant honour. fantastic honour. both teams are made up of ex—bury players. # i'm the kind of lover i wanna give you what you need... i didn't see any of the game. i was too busy. offside. i think the only time i actually properly saw the grass that they were playing on was when i was walking round at the end of the game. they've managed to raise over £14,000. a lot more people are feeling a bit more positive... ..cos i think today, what has happened today, shows people, if we all get
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involved, what we can do. i'm feeling a bit emotional now, at the moment. all i can say is, bury football club will be back. we'll rise. one, two, three... # let's go get the party started. # you'll know how to get it going. # i'm so fired up...# after the charity match, a group of fans — including chris, adam and jon — decided to create a new club from scratch. they're local builders, marketers and engineers with no experience of running a football club. we sat there and spoke about what the plan was,
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how we wanted to work, you know, we wanted it to be for the fans, by the fans. some fans get on board with the idea of a phoenix club. for others, only the return of the original bury fc at gigg lane will do. i want bury football club back at gigg lane. it's as simple as that. i felt like i had a bit of a responsibility to the people of bury, to actually look to try and help in whatever way i could. interviewer: where are we going at the moment? we're going to newton's. we're going to my office. chris is working on the phoenix club in his spare time, and everyone involved is a volunteer. it was not an intention when i first got involved to be doing this right now at all. it was born out of frustration of steve dale not doing what he needed to do with the football club. you think about it and go,
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"well, i've got two young boys at home," and you've obviously got three kids who are all bury fans, and ijust look at it and go, "look, i'm doing this so that my two lads have a football club to support. " we're doing it... ..because we'd kick ourselves if we didn't. christmas is approaching, and the first major decision for the phoenix club has been made. the fans have voted, and it now has a name — bury afc. but tensions are rising in the town. the original bury football club has no team and no manager, but it still exists, and some people think the focus should be getting bury fc back on its feet instead of starting a new club. it's always a good start when somebody comes over to me and goes, "i'm going to ask you some awkward questions. it's nothing personal." fans are here to discuss the options for bringing football back to the town.
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i don't know what's going on here. iam waiting i am waiting for this to all kicked off massively. chris needs to put forward the case for the phoenix club. i understand that it's a case of you want to watch bury fc. i want to watch bury fc. last year was the first season i was able to take me eldest lad to watch a game. he absolutely loved it. this year, i can't. it's killing me. but he has competition. the phoenix club isn't the only option on the table. i'm a big supporter of the underdog, and i think, at the minute, bury is the ultimate underdog. you could tell there was a lot of emotion in the room, which is understandable, given the situation. there's people whojust want bury fc as it is, in its current form. i think that we will all come together. i really do. and that's all we need for gigg lane to rise again. the problem that it is when people have different opinions, it splits the fan base, and it is already split. people
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are venting. you know? yeah, sure, some of the stuff that gets sent is horrendous. they started calling us rats, thieves, looters. it doesn't bother me, some of the things that get said, it really doesn't, because, you know, i'm a big boy, i can handle comments. when we get a football club out, hopefully they'll change their mind and start to come and watch again. there hasn't been a football match at gigg lane for eight months. today, supporters of yorkshire club rotherham are making a stop in bury before their away game in rochdale. you know, we've come to support them and, as we're told, their team, you know, to
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keep them in business, keep the community going. and if we can help, we'll help, cos it's a shame, what's happened to the club. we're going to win 2—0! up the millers. up the millers! jon and another bury afc volunteer, simon, organised the visit. we have gatherings in here, with meetings and stuff, and there's been, like, about four people playing snooker in the back room. we all got up at six o'clock this morning, we met in our local pub at eight o'clock. we've had a breakfast, we've travelled here. we'll be back home for 6:30 tonight. that is football. that is what football's about. and these poor lads are missing out on it.
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all the pubs around our old ground completely shutdown. they don't exist any more. we've seen exactly what it's like, and it's horrible. it's so important to just keep these going so then, when we do get back in september — august, september — first game of the season, we can all come in here and say, you know, "we tried, and we kept them up and we kept them going." you know, we live in a cynical age. i think once people really realise in the town what the phoenix is trying to do, they'll get behind it. we've started to see more and more that people see it as being a serious thing. they don't see it as being, "oh, this isjust a group of 13 to 15 idiots that are involved in creating something, that are just trying to drive something." our club has a second chance. the efl? not fit for purpose, not fit for purpose. it's very easy to sit in a committee room somewhere and lose a 135—year—old club. and they seem to not hold themselves responsible. and i hold them responsible. and so it's us, the people,
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who will make sure that football gets played again. damian collins is an mp. he chaired the committee that investigated why bury collapsed. it's really brought home that football league clubs in particular are nothing without their local fans. they cannot function as businesses without fans coming through the turnstiles to watch them play. and what's shocking about the way football is run is that fans often have no or little voice in how their club is run, who's allowed to acquire it. and yet they're the ones that pick up the pieces on behalf of the community when it all goes wrong. the football authorities faced some tough questions after bury was expelled. ..the football league, the football association and the premier league... mps want to know what financial checks took place before steve dale bought the club. it's just stunning to me that somebody takes over and doesn't have to... ..really just has not to provide you with anything... ..any sort of financial plan or anything before you get
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the go—ahead to take over the club. i mean, i find that extraordinary. don't you find that surprising? he was then asked to provide the financial information. he didn't do that. he did not do that at that point. but he had already purchased the club at that point. the efl said that steve dale bought the club without showing them he had enough money to run it, something mr dale disputes. if the football league had imposed its own rules properly, i believe bury would still be playing in the football league today. it's time for the rotherham fans to go to their match in rochdale. it shows that, even though maybe the football organisations might have forgot about bury football club, the fans and the football family hasn't forgot about bury football club. i was, like, more or less crying again today, just seeing the crowd that were in,
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and the passion that they had is what we had with the bury fans. and it's so sad when they all go, thinking, "well, next week, it's going to be closed," and you've got nothing like this now. it's such a shame. in september, you didn't know if you were ever going to see bury again play football. now we're in march, it looks a lot more bright. there'll be football in august, no matter what. ..bbc news. football postpones its professional programme... all uk football matches have been cancelled. professional football in england, scotland, wales and northern ireland has been suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak. the fa's postponed all premier league, english football league, international and women's games... the coronavirus pandemic means that every football fan across the country gets a taste of what bury supporters have been experiencing since last august — life without football. three weeks into quarantine now, and i can very much assure
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you that life is not the same without football. i tell you what, i am missing football so badly. not being able to talk to your mates about what the result was... i've been trying to keep busy. boy, do i miss not being able to go and watch them on a saturday afternoon. that match on a saturday is a bit of escapism for everybody. trying to make sure that my football skills are still in place, ready for when all this finishes. and there are worries some clubs won't survive the pandemic. we are now the bookies‘ favourites to follow bury out of the football league. we've lost bury, which was a real tragedy, a famous club that i'm very fond of. nearly lost bolton. there's others that are hanging in there by threads. i don't think another bury is likely, i think perhaps dozens of burys are likely. there's no if, it'sjust a case of how many. i'm working out of my kids‘ bedrooms.
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ijust want my office back. i was doing me roof. i looked over, and you can see gigg lane. itjust seems like a ghost town, like, over there. we were going to have a launch event, then obviously everything happened with the coronavirus. despite the pandemic, bury afc decide it's time to launch and allow fans to become members. it's £5 a month, and they'll get a say in the club's future. we said, well, if we got 250 members in, like, the first six months, then we'd be happy. we've got 325 people signed up. so we've already surpassed one of the targets that we wanted to hit in six months. we've done it in, like, seven days, near enough. and they've begun to hold their meetings online. next was management recruitment. we can't control it. we'lljust carry on doing what we're doing until we're told
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otherwise, really. see if he can get a team out for that first friendly. "no pressure on you, lads!" not quite getting paid anywhere near as much as the premiership players. everyone here is doing it for the love of it and just to be a part of this project. this is what i wanted, football, but it's never going to be bury fc. it's cos bury fc's not dead. he's still there. who's he? steve dale.
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weather, but low pressure is taking over. the weather fronts are gathering, and although there will be some sunnier days in the week ahead, there'll be some very wet days around as well. and it's getting windier, too. and for monday, some of the heaviest rain will be in scotland and northern ireland. this is how it looks as the day begins. some outbreaks of rain into parts of northern england, particularly, to begin with. and there may be a bit of a lull in the rain first thing in northern ireland, but it will come back. heavy, persistent rain. outbreaks of rain across scotland, heaviest and most persistent in the west. so, through western scotland and northern ireland, as the rain continues into monday night, there is a risk of some flooding and some travel disruption. see some rain pushing back in towards north—west england into the afternoon. patchy rain reaching into parts of wales, whereas elsewhere a bit of hazy brightness around. temperatures just creeping up a few degrees, but it's getting windier. as we just look into monday evening, this area of rain will start to just push in across parts of south west england.
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overnight monday into tuesday, well, it's this weather front that will bring a splash of rain across those parts of england and wales that stayed dry during monday. and the rain continuing in scotland and northern ireland, though by end of the night, it should be easing from northern ireland. so, on tuesday, then, some early rain affecting parts of eastern england slowly pulling away. further heavy and perhaps prolonged downpours running in towards particularly northern ireland and scotland, just fringing north wales and north—west england as well. windy and wet still across the far north of scotland and northern isles, easterly winds here. mild south—westerlies elsewhere, and temperatures, particularly across much of england and wales, into the mid to high teens with sunny spells and a few showers. but gales through the irish sea. as we look through tuesday night and into wednesday, focus for the heaviest rain will be shifting into parts of england and wales. could well be some quite heavy rain moving through, exact position of this uncertain at this stage, but some of that may fringe northwards towards northern ireland and scotland again as we go through wednesday. so, we'll keep an eye on that. it could be quite windy again with that, too. so, again, it is all change. our weather's been quiet. it isn't any more. some of the rain this week
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welcome to bbc news — i'm james reynolds. our top stories: addressing their supporters — joe biden holds a campaign rally in north carolina, as president trump attends his second rally of the day in nevada. thousands gather in cities across france in support of the school teacher beheaded after showing cartoons of the prophet mohammed to pupils. as protestors defy a ban on gatherings for a fourth day — thailand's prime minister says the government is ready to talk. and israel and bahrain sign an historic agreement on establishing diplomatic relations in the bahraini capital manama.
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