a week before election day in the us, 69 million people have already voted and the rivals for the white house are campaigning hard — the pandemic the topic of the day. donald trump claimed to voters they had a choice between a trump boom or a biden lockdown. mr biden visited georgia, a state not won by democrats for decades, and accused mr trump of mishandling the crisis. researchers at imperial college london have found levels of protective antibodies in people who've fought off coronavirus "wane quite rapidly" after infection. the team say the drop was most noticeable in people over 65 and in those who hadn't shown any symptoms. extra police as well as the national guard are being deployed in philadelphia, as the us city sees another night of unrest after the fatal police shooting of a black man. there are reports that protests have turned violent and that shops and properties are being looted. now on bbc news — when bury fc

collapsed last august 2019, 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. but in august 2019 it was expelled from the football league. we are 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 my football club. 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. most stressed i've ever been. it was a dream. it's now becoming a reality. 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. couldn't have picked a better time to do this, could we? ..the fight to bring football back to bury. commentator: what a goal! come on, bury! a group of bury fc fans have decided to create a new club from scratch. they're 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 isjust a group of 13 to 15 idiots. this is what i wanted, football, but it's never going to be bury fc. football postpones its professional programme... all uk football matches have been cancelled. i'm working out of my kids' bedrooms. we'lljust carry on doing what we're doing until we're told otherwise, really. interviewer: i saw on linkedln that you've updated your job status. needs must! you know, the things you need to do! i needed to put summat out for, like, trying to find where we get the best training equipment from for the players. and it was like, people are just going to think, "yeah,

this is just some nobody who's asking for help with it." so i thought, "yeah, i'll have the official title of it now." it had been confirmed, they'd elected the board. it was all sorted. it was great! we've put the badge out for a vote, we've put the kits out for a vote to the members. we had a great uptake on that. i mean, like, we've got over 500 members now, which is brilliant. with lockdown restrictions eased, bury afc have started securing sponsorship deals... ..and today they're holding interviews for a manager. we had eight people that we interviewed, and now we've got it down to being that it's now 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, if you're short of a centre—half, who are you ringing? where do you think you can take the role? how would you manage the expectations of those fans? you know, cos it's new to me,

as well, and it'sjust "fire in at any point". i'll go in, see if he's ready. come on, sir. right, thank you for agreeing to come back in and see us again today. do you think you'd be confident in having, you know, a team out for that first friendly, and then work on it for getting 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's your ambitions? see you later. cheers. i think i know which one‘d be the number one that i'd go with, and i think we sort of all agreed with who it'd be. i think it's the full package, isn't it? i think it's the right fit for now and the position that you're in. it's dead exciting.

it is. so exciting. see if he can get a team out for that first friendly. yeah, no pressure! "no pressure on you, lad!" cool cheers, guys. it's been a bit of an eye—opener, really, first time of interviewing anybody since the days when i used to work at kfc. i'd 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 to running 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're accepted to, steve dale is pursuing a league place for bury fc, too. the club's got no league placing, it's got no infrastructure, it's got no players, no manager, no staff. and we've not heard off him 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's 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. ..meaning we start off at, like, 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's another step closer to getting football played again in the borough of bury. and today, bury afc are announcing their new manager. huge! the screen doesn't fit. just trying to, you know, make it look professional, make it work as a brand, cos technically we don't have an office at the minute. never had to pull them apart. i've only ever had to put them up. there we go! bang. 0h! local news outlets are here to report the announcement, and they're getting a first

glimpse of the away kit. away kit. da—daa! oh, wow! from my office, ready to go for the friendlies. catch. i'm delighted to bejoined by bury afc's first manager, andy welsh. this town is a ha rd—working town. that's what i'll demand as a minimal out of a player. first season, there's no doubt about it, we're up against it straight away because we've got a short period of time to build a squad. laughter. adam is working on the press release. "andy was someone we saw..." "the moment we met him... "he's a footballer..." "shone through..." "shone through to create a team that the fans can be proud of." i don't write press releases very often, so... ..we're drafting something, researching his history, you know, 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. and, yeah, it's hard work. we are at goshen sports centre, and it's where we've hired for the year for the training facilities for the team. quiet chatter. it's a big pitch, an‘ all. oh, it's spot—on. yeah. the guys have done a tremendous job. you know, there's a box ticked now, and now it's player recruitment for me. i've got to look them in the eyes and see if they've got that hunger and desire to represent this football club. we're happy to trust andy with bringing in who he thinks will fit that mould. unbelievable work to get to this stage. mm. it was a dream. you know, it's now becoming a reality.

i've 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. i've lost me key! back then, joy hart handcuffed herself to gigg lane, and she has decided to return. every day, i feel 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, the les hart stand. she's good. yeah. isn't she? you do miss it. oh, my goodness, it's awful. it really, truly is like... ..it was like a death. and still is, isn't it? we're still mourning. it doesn't go away, does it, the hurt and pain. and the anger 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. let me stress that. she doesn't want it. she doesn't want anything other than bury football club to be going — which is fine, that's not a problem. i get that there's a lot of fans that are going to 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've 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'd have sorted it. but we physically can't, so we've 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.

he gives instructions. i've just taken the everton score. what is the score? they're down 1—0. right. yeah. bury afc's new player recruits include two best friends. liam mcdevitt. i'm 25 years old and i'm a forward. i'm tony whitehead, i'm 24 and a midfielder. so, yeah, 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's 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 the club had formed, i got straight

on to contacts in the club. honestly, it was a no—brainer to sign here. i don't see why the town of bury shouldn't have a football club, and we hold the pressure of that on our shoulders, of giving this town something to cheer on again. i mean, the day we signed, the welcome we got from people who support bury afc was just incredible. at the level bury afc are at, most players get around £35 a game. a lot of us work really long hours, and then, we still train twice, three times a week, play a game on a saturday, game on a tuesday. i have a girlfriend at home, and she has long days on her own, so... not quite getting paid anywhere near as much as the premiership players, so it is time—consuming. nowhere near it. at the end of the day, everyone here is doing it for the love of it, and just to be part it's so big! it's massive, isn't it? so, this is zachary, and this is ben. so, zachary‘s six, ben's three. actually, i'm six—and—a—half, almost seven. 0k, six—and—a—half,

almost seven. these are my two little boys. 0h! zachary was stood in the yard in school, weren't you? yeah. and maxwell's daddy told you that your football club was dead, didn't he? he said my football team's never coming back. that was it, football team's never coming back, weren'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. can't wait to see them play today, their first match. i wish the original club was still here, to be honest, obviously, but i'm just glad i can watch, support bury back in a football league, to be honest. this is what i wanted, football, but it's never going to be bury fc.

it's already divided the town. there will be divides, there will be divides. definitely. but why? what are the divides about? because there's people just don't want to come and watch afc because it's gone, bury, and they still believe that there's life there. that's what i mean, yeah, is because bury fc‘s not dead, so... and he's still there. who's he? steve dale, yeah. dare you to say the name! yeah, i know. this evening on roch valley radio, we're live from the neuven stadium, for radcliffe against bury afc. radcliffe in their home blue kit, bury in their away maroon and gold. he shouts out. number 11 takes a shot and hits the post. chance here for radcliffe. the striker's through, the keeper's come out quite far. the ball's knocked to the left.

there's a chance here for the man on the line, and it's a goal! radcliffe take the lead! give me a minute. fans sing. pull your pants up! hey! great save. it's going to be a tap—in there for radcliffe. a lovely ball played through, and it's a great goal. referee‘s whistle blows. and that's it, that's full time as radcliffe beat bury afc 3—0. # ..love you!

# 0h, bury, we love you! come on! it felt good to be back. to be watching some football i actually cared about just felt good. any football's good for me. you had fans behind the goal singing "we love you, bury" and "come on, bury" and all that stuff. and in that moment, i thought, "that's great." that's what i was hoping for when getting involved in it. it makes it worthwhile, in my opinion. all the hours that are going in behind the scenes, to have nights like tonight, you feel like, "this is worth it, and it's going to be good." good show, that, definitely. yeah, i'll see you saturday. the reality of it is, i think, speaking to you guys three or four weeks ago, and we didn't even have a team. idid. you didn't! idid. fans sing: # come on, chris murray! i did, as well! it were brilliant. it really got the hairs on the back of my neck

sticking up when, you know, you hear fans shouting that chant that we've not heard for so long. what are the main emotions right now? tiredness. tired. for the last ten months, the news section of the bury fc website has been quiet. 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's also a bury afc. he can come out and put those statements out all he wants.

that's fine. we'll all read it, we'll have a chuckle at the things that are funny in it. he's been our best salesman for our memberships, to be fair. it's the day that bury afc have been working towards for months. long road, isn't it, to get here? they now have well over 1,000 members, sold over 1,000 shirts. what a goal! they've won some friendlies... an absolute thunderbolt, that one. ..they‘ve lost some friendlies, but today is the big one. the first competitive game. my dad said it was the first time he's ever got up and actually thought about football for a long time. covid restrictions mean only 45 bury fans have tickets for the cup game — away at west didsbury & chorlton in the fa vase. it's bittersweet, really. it would have been nice to have all the fans here, and everyone that wanted to participate and join in. muzza! you're on the healthy snacks! well, it's lunchtime, isn't it? i haven't eaten for 48 hours, and for somebody who is my

size, that's not very good. i've been busy, getting moaned at left, right and centre about different things. the most stressed i've ever been. the competition's one that, obviously, the final's at wembley. that's a long way away but we've all got that in our heads. since we last met adam's sister hannah in the stanley club, she's had a baby. we've already 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's talking about it because everybody's talking about the fact that gareth bale's coming back to spurs. i'm like, bigger picture. we're starting to get people coming in, starting to fill up a little bit. i've got a buzz on me now byjust watching them warming up, and seeing people, and seeing what's going on. once they kick off and you can get behind the team, that will be when football's back, for me. does it feel like your team yet? it does because it's representing the town, and it's the people. i've known chris for 15, 16 years. it's nice actually seeing people you know taking it over. i've been going to bury,

like, i went 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, just to take my... this her first football game as well, so, hopefully, in the future, we'll be able to 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 a 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'll have done just that. this fact alone makes us all extremely proud. referee‘s whistle blows. commentator: it's a chance. oh, it hits the post. come on.

oh, it's in! cheering. it's a great looping header, and west goes into the lead. it's their first real chance of the game, it was almost a half—chance. referee‘s whistle blows. 45 minutes to go, see what happens. come on, bury!

fans sing. oh, it's cleared. the keeper inside his box requested clear here. if they can get a good counterattack, they... there's an open goal to aim at. can he do it? he's got the pace for it. oh, this is brilliant footwork. 0h, he scored! what a goal... it's all going off! the players, the fans celebrate together! referee‘s whistle blows, fans cheer.

as bury put it away for 2—1, is it too late? and there's the final whistle. west have done it. i tell you what, we are too nice. some of us are running round like we just don't know what's going on. they argue. and don't tell me that we're not working on something. it's the first game and the best thing about that is the only way is up. laughter. you was running it in, though. he'll get a penalty or a free kick or he's in the box. that's what a good striker does. he could have got us a penalty. he should've gone down. yeah. he should've gone. you know what's great about this, though?

take a step back, and talking about football again. i know. yeah. # we love you bury! you know, we've been here today, the fans have been together. they've been chanting, they've been singing, there's been shouting. it's brilliant to see everybody coming together again. you know, the results might not always go in our favour, but we're doing this together and, you know, come hell or high water, it's the right thing to do. and it'sjust going to be epic. i mean, what an amazing thing to say that you've been putting a football club together, that you've helped 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, not bothered that we've lost — which is rare. it'sjust, after over a year of having no football to watch, it's just nice to watch some. it's good to see the passion today and, you know, long may it continue. i'm proud, i'm disappointed. but i think that just makes it real. you know, it is a real thing we've done. so, i can happily go

home and have my tea, possibly have a beer. it was entertaining, i'll give it that, with how feisty it was, and how the fans were and, you know, some of those people giving abuse to players. if you want to just point your camerasjust over there, there's one who was doing it. it's not me. i don't know what you're talking about! we've done what we set out to do, we've created a football club. pat yourself on the back, mate. i'm too tired to even reach my own back at the minute! i'll get myself a massive pizza as well! right, let's google—map it home. it's been a pleasure, as always. ..goal last time. this time it's into the penalty area! and he's scored! tommy greaves! cheering drowns commentary. and bury lead! 3-2!

oh, my days! oh, what a turnaround!

hello there. it's going to remain very unsettled for the rest of this week thanks to areas of low pressure which will bring spells of rain and gales at times. today also very unsettled. we've got sunshine and blustery showers, these heavy and thundery across western and southern areas. all tied in with this area of low pressure which actually contains the remnants of what was hurricane epsilon. some extremely strong winds on its southern flank racing across the north atlantic and that is generating some very big waves today across some western coastlines. you could even see some disruption to the ferry services for western scotland at times. and if you are walking out near the coastline in the west, just take extra care. now, lots of showers

will be affecting many western portions of the uk. the best chance of seeing the lengthier sunny spells will be across the eastern parts of england but it will be a cooler day today than we what had yesterday, 10—13 celsius. the showers continue on for a while during wednesday night but then they begin to fade away. the skies clear and it turns a bit chilly in the far north

welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: with one week to go until the us election, campaigning intensifies for donald trump and his rivaljoe biden. we are going to have a great red wave. people that want to go out and vote, vote. the divisions in our nation are getting wider. angry people are upset. anger and suspicion are growing. a warning from scientists that levels of covid—19 antibodies in people who've been infected diminish rapidly. crowds build on the streets of philadelphia as the city braces itself for another night of protests over the killing of a black man by police. an american cult leader who had women branded with his intials and forced them to have sex with him is sentenced