The fans of a small northern club deserved better than to witness their club destroyed by bad management and financial speculationFootball is about more than money, however much lucre has come to shape the beautiful game. Over this summer, English top-tier clubs had spent a total of £1.41bn, with Manchester United shelling out a world record fee on a defender of £80m for Leicester City’s Harry Maguire. Yet these amounts and the teams that spend them are symptoms of an unsentimental business model that is indifferent to tradition, place and practice. It is eroding the sense that many football clubs are a central and vital part of people’s identity.That is why the end of Bury Football Club after 134 years is important. Before it was shut, 400 supporters had volunteered to mop and sweep the Gigg Lane ground hoping to show that the true value of their football club cannot be counted in pounds and pennies. Bury FC was the town’s pride until 5pm on Tuesday. The club disappeared after prospective buyers said that there were “systemic failings” that could not be overcome. With capitalism increasingly dominating community as the driving force in modern football, other clubs could risk a similar fate. Continue readingreadfullarticle
