tv Bury BBC News October 25, 2020 10:30am-11:00am GMT
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the footballer marcus rashford's campaign for free school meals during the school holidays. uk ministers consider reducing the 1a days isolation period for those in contact with people who have the virus. as six us states see record numbers of infections — the vice president's chief of staff tests positive for coronavirus. a mass mobilisation of police officers is ordered in nigeria — as violence and unrest continues across the country. and lee kun—hee — the korean businessman who turned samsung into one of the world's biggest electronics companies — has died at the age of 78. now on bbc news — when bury football club collapsed last year, a group of locals made it their mission to bring football back to their town against massive odds. bury fc is one of the oldest clubs in english football. cheering
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but in august 2019, it was expelled from the football league. we were heartbroken. bury till i die! just gutted. one group of fans decided to do something about it. i want my kids to be able to grow up with a football club. come hell or high water this is, you know, it's the right thing to do. we would 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. it's the most stressed i've ever been. it was a dream. you know, it's now becoming a reality. we are very impressed with the candidates. we're too nice. not getting paid anywhere near as much as the premiership players. everyone here is doing it for the love of it. i know we didn't, but we've got to say we did... with divisions in the fan base...
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thieves, looters. ..and in a year where football has faced its biggest crisis... all uk football matches have been cancelled. we could have picked a better time to do this, couldn't we? ..the fight to bring football back to bury. what a goal! come on, bury! a group of bury fc fans have started a new club from scratch. they are local builders, marketers and engineers. with no experience of running a football club. people see it as being a serious thing. they don't see it as being, oh, this is just a group of 13 to 15 idiots. this is what i wanted, football, but it's never going to be bury fc.
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it's already divided. i don't know what's going on here, i'm waiting for this to all kick off massively. you've got to get behind it. there will be football in august, no matter what. bbc news, football postpones its professional programme. all uk football matches have been cancelled. i'm working out of my kids' bedrooms. next was management recruitment. we can't control it. we willjust carry on doing what we're doing until we are told otherwise, really. i saw on linkedln that you have updated your job status. needs must. you know, there's things you need to do. i needed to put something out for where we get the best training equipment from the players and it was like, i was thinking, people are just going to think, this isjust some nobody who is asking for help with it. so i thought, yeah, i'll put the official title. it's been confirmed, they had elected the board, it was all sorted. it was great. we've put the badge out for a vote, we put the kits out for a vote to the members, we had a great
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uptake on that. we've got over 500 members now, which is brilliant. with lockdown restrictions eased, bury afc have started securing sponsorship deals. and today, they are holding interviews for a manager. we had eight people that we interviewed and now we've got it down to the final three. it's a big decision for you to make. yeah, it's massive. yeah. oh, it's massive. what happens if you get it wrong? then, sack the board. so, shortlist centre half. who are you thinking? where do you think you can take the role? how would you manage the expectations of those fans? you know, it is new to me as well, just fire in at any point. we'll go get him. see if he's ready.
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come on, sir. right, thank you for agreeing to come back in and see us today. do you think you would be confident in having, you know, a team out for that first friendly and then working on it for the start of the season? what would you do differently if you were to get this job? in terms of you, then. ambitions. what are your ambitions? see you later. i think i know which one would be the number one i would go with. i think we sort of all agreed who it would be. i think it's the full package, isn't it? it's the right fit for now and the position that you are in. it's dead exciting. it is. so exciting. see if we can get a team for that first friendly.
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no pressure. yeah, no pressure, lads. cool, cheers, guys. it has been a bit of an eye opener, really. the first time interviewing anybody since the days when i used to work at kfc. i would have been 21, i'm 33 now, so yeah, it's been about 12 years since i've done an interview. i know it's a bit different serving chicken and serving on a football club. but yeah, i feel good after that. this is happening. this is happening now. while bury afc are waiting to find out what league they are accepted to, steve dale is pursuing a league place for bury fc as well. the club has no league placing. no infrastructure. it's got no players, no manager, no staff. and we have not heard from them in months, apart from the odd article that goes out in the paper. bury fc still exists, still owned by the unpopular steve dale, but there is no prospect of any football being played by this club. last week, it was denied a place in the national league. bury fc‘s league application was rejected. but bury afc have been accepted into the north west counties league, division one.
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we start off at the very bottom of the non—league pyramid. it's the tenth tier of english football and seven steps below where bury fc were. but it is another step closer to getting football played again in the borough of bury. and today, bury afc are announcing their new manager. just trying to make it professional, make it work with the brand because technically, we don't have an office at the minute. i've never had to pull them apart, i've only ever had to put them up. there we go. uh! local news outlets are here to report the announcement. and they are getting a first glimpse of the away kit. away kit. wow. ready to go for the friendlies. i'm delighted to be joined by bury
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fc's first manager, andy welsh. this town is a hard—working town. that's what i will demand as a minimum from the players. first season, there is no doubt about it, we are up against it straightaway because we have a shorter period of time to build a squad. adam is working on the press release. andy was someone... from the moment we met him because he did love football. shone through. it's a great team. the fans can be proud. i don't write press releases very often, so. drafting something, researching his history, remembering where he played and what we want to say and the message we want to get out. i started it and it took ages, so, you know, i was up late doing that last night. it's hard work. we are at the sports centre and it is where we hired for the year for the training
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facilities for the team. it's a big pitch. it's spot on. the guys have done a tremendous job. that is a box ticked now and now it's player recruitment for me. i have to look them in the eyes and see if they have that hunger and desire to represent this football club. we are happy to trust andy with bringing in who he thinks will fit that mould. unbelievable work to get to this stage. it was a dream. you know, it's now becoming a reality. i've had messages saying, if you are currently stood with the manager, please can you say, welcome. almost a year ago, bury fc were expelled from the football league.
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i lost my team. back then, joy hart handcuffed herself to gigg lane, and she has decided to return. every day, ifeel the pain of losing bury football club. joy's father was a player and manager at the club for decades. they named the south stand after my father. she's good. yeah. isn't she? do you miss it? oh, my goodness. it's awful. it really truly is like, it was like a death. and it still is, isn't it? we are still mourning. it doesn't go away, does it, the hurt? the pain and the anger. it doesn't go away. i have nothing against the phoenix club. nothing at all. i am a bury football club girl. there is only one bury football club.
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let me stress that. she doesn't want anything other than bury football club, which is fine. that's not a problem, i get that. there is a lot of fans that want bury football club at gigg lane. bury afc won't play at gigg lane, because the ground still belongs to steve dale. he shows no sign of selling bury football club, and even if he did, the club comes with enormous debts. i said this numerous times to people, if we had the money to pay off the debt that was put forward by steve dale and stewart day, then we would have sorted it. but we physically can't, so we have had to look at other options. bury afc have agreed to share the ground of nearby radcliffe instead. the neuven stadium. manager andy has managed to put his team together in three weeks. i'm just checking the everton score.
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what is the score? they are down 1—0. are they? yeah. bury afc's new player recruits include two best friends. i'm liam mcdevitt, i'm 25 years old and i'm a forward. i'm tony whitehead. i'm 24 and i'm a midfielder. he can't get rid of me, we live in the flat next door to each other, so i'm pretty much gate—crashing him and his missus' plans all the time. we first met in ireland. i went to trial with his league of ireland team. liam moved to manchester and i kind of followed him over, to be honest. as soon as i heard about the club that had formed, i got straight on contacting the club. it was a no—brainer to sign here. i don't see why bury shouldn't have a football club and we hold the pressure of that on our shoulders.
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of giving this town something to cheer on again. the day we signed, the welcome we got from people who support bury afc was just incredible. at the level that bury afc are at, most players get around £35 per game. a lot of us work really long hours and we still train twice or three times a week, play a game on a saturday, a game on a tuesday. i have a girlfriend at home and she has long days on her own, you know, so... we are not getting paid anywhere near as much as the premiership players, so it is time consuming. nowhere near. at the end of the day, everyone is doing it here for the love of it and just to be a part of this project. so big! it's massive, isn't it? so this is zachary, this is ben. so, zachary‘s six. ben is three. actually, i'm six and a half, almost seven. 0k, six and a half, almost seven. these are my two little boys. zachary was stood in the yard at school, weren't you? and maxwell's daddy told you that your football club is dead, didn't he?
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he said my football team is never coming back. that was it, yourfootball team is never coming back, wasn't it? we've got to that point where we've actually created a football club. yeah, but can't we just start the game or what? tonight, bury afc will be playing their first friendly game at their new home. i can't wait to see them play today. it's their first match. i wish the original club was still here, to be honest obviously, but i'm just glad i can watch bury back in a football league, to be honest. this is what we wanted, but it's never going to be bury fc. it's a new era. it's already divided the town. there will be divides. definitely. but why?
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what are the divides about? because there is people who just don't want to come and watch bury afc because they're just staunch bury and they still believe that there is life there. that's what i mean. it's because bury fc isn't dead. he's still there in... steve dale, yeah. can barely say the name. i know, yeah. this evening, we are live from the neuven stadium at radcliffe against bury afc. radcliffe in their home blue kit. bury in their away maroon and gold. bury! number 11 takes a shot and hits the post... chance here for radcliffe. the striker is through, keeper has come out quite far. the ball is to the left, chance here and it's a goal! radcliffe take the lead. come on, bury!
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give me a minute. a great save, but it's going to be a tap in there. for radcliffe. a lovely ball coming through and it's a great goal. a great play. and that's it, that's full—time. radcliffe beat bury afc 3—0. chanting it felt good to be back. it just felt, to watch football that i cared about, just felt good.
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any football is good for me. we had fans behind the goal singing, "we love you, bury, come on bury" and all that stuff. in that moment i thought, that's great. that was what i was hoping for when i got involved. it makes it worthwhile. all the hours that are going on behind the scenes, to have nights like tonight, you feel like this is worth it and it's going to be good. a good show, that. yeah. i will see you on saturday. the reality of it is that i was speaking to you guys three or four weeks ago, we didn't even have a team. idid. it was brilliant. i really got hairs on the back of my neck sticking up when you hear fans shouting that chant that we haven't heard for so long. what are the main emotions right now? tiredness. tired. we have done all this in ourspare time. for the last ten months, the news section of the bury fc website has been quiet.
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no official statements had been released since october 2019. but that all changed a few weeks ago. now, steve dale has released a number of statements. that's fine because there is only one bury football club, but there is also bury afc. he can come out and put those statements out all he wants, that's fine. we will all read it, we will all have a chuckle at the things that are funny in it. he has been our best salesman for our memberships, to be fair. it's the day that bury afc had been
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working towards for months. it's a long road, isn't it? to get here. they now have well over 1000 members, sold over 1000 shirts. what a goal! they have won some friendlies. an absolute thunderbolt! they have lost some friendlies, but today is the big one. today is the first competitive game. it's the first competitive game. my dad said it's the first time he's ever got up and actually thought about football for a long time. covid restrictions mean that only 45 bury fans have got tickets for the cup game, away at west didsbury and chorlton. it's bittersweet, it would have been nice to have all the fans here and everybody that wanted to participate and join in. you're on the healthy snack. well, lunchtime, isn't it, i haven't eaten for 48—hours. and for somebody who is my size, that's not very good. i have been busy getting moaned at left, right and centre about different things. more stressed than i've ever been. the competition's won, but obviously the final's at wembley. that's a long way away, but we've all got that in our heads.
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since we last met adam's sister in the stanley club, she has had a baby. we already have got her a bury afc shirt. it's back. it's different, but it's back. the football pyramid, the foundations of it, are in bits. and nobody is talking about it, because everybody is talking about the fact that gareth bale is coming back to spurs and i'm like, bigger picture. starting to get people coming in. starting to fill up a little bit. i got a buzz on me nowjust watching them warming up. and seeing people and seeing what is going on. i think once we kick off and you can get behind the team, that is when football is back for me. does it feel like your team yet? it does because it's representing the town and it's the people. i have known chris for 15 or 16 years. it's nice seeing people you know taking it over. i've been going to bury with my dad and obviously i became a father injanuary when bury didn't exist and i thought, that's the one thing i wanted, to take her, so this is her first football game as well, so hopefully in the future,
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we can go together. ahead of the match, bury afc have a message for fans. to the people of bury, nobody would have foreseen the circumstances in which we now take to the field. with limited crowds and the world turned upside down. thousands of hours have been put into creating this club. it is by the fans and it is for everyone. if hard work conquers all, then we are already winning. you've urged us to bring football back to bury. at 3pm on saturday, we will have done just that. this fact alone makes us all extremely proud. it's a chance. groaning it hits the post. cheering oh, it's in! what a goal!
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oh, it's cleared. if they can get a good counterattack. .. there is an open goal to aim at. can he do it? he's got the pace for it. oh, this is brilliant. yes! he's... yes! what a goal! it's all going off! the fans celebrate together with the players. cheering has bury put it away? 2-1. is it too late? there is the final whistle.
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west have done it. i tell you what. we are too nice. some of us are running round like they don't know what's going on. good enough to deal with that. we did it, though. don't tell me that we're not working on stuff. it's the first game and the best thing about that is the only way is up. we'll get a penalty or a free kick, he's in the box. that's what a good striker does. he could have got us a penalty. you know what's great about this, though? take a step back. we're talking about football again. we've been here today, the fans have been together chanting and singing, there
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has been shouting and it's brilliant to see everybody coming together again. the results might not always go in our favour but we are doing this together and come hell or high water, this is the right thing to do and it'sjust going to be epic. what an amazing thing to say that you have put a football club together, you've helped to build this journey and hopefully in years to come we can look back and think, this has been brilliant. what a massive achievement. i'm not bothered that we have lost, which is rare. it'sjust after a year of having no football to watch, it'sjust nice to watch some. it's good to see the passion today and long may it continue. i'm proud and disappointed. but i think thatjust makes it real. you know, it is a real thing we have done. so i can happily go home, have my tea, have a beer. it was entertaining, i'll give it that with how feisty it was, i'll give it that.
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close by to our shores for part two of the weekend, so it remains unsettled, breezy or windy again with sunshine and blustery showers — and some of these will be heavy with hail and thunder in places, like we've seen across southern england this morning. so low pressure to the northwest of the uk. this is where we'll see the strongest of the winds, lots of showers rattling in off the atlantic, most of them affecting western scotland, northern ireland, some longer spells of rain here, and plenty of showers across southern and western portions of england and wales, especially across the south of england, with some heavy, maybe thundery ones here. best of the sunshine across eastern areas. these are the mean wind speeds. we could see gusts touching 50 miles an hour, particularly for western scotland. and it's going to feel a bit cooler this afternoon than it did yesterday — 10 to 1a celsius. monday, another showery, fairly breezy day. i think most the showers will become confined to the southern half of the country into the afternoon, perhaps something a little bit dry and less windy across scotland. but those temperatures ranging, again, from 10 to 13 celsius.
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this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. more pressure on the uk government as thousands of doctors back the footballer marcus rashford's campaign for free school meals during the school holidays. uk ministers consider reducing the 1a days isolation period for those in contact with people who have the virus. as six us states see record numbers of infections, the vice president's chief of staff tests positive for coronavirus. and lee kun—hee, the korean businessman who turned samsung into one of the world's biggest electronics companies — has died at the age of seventy—eight. sequins, samba and social distancing — strictly come dancing returned to our screens last night
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