Bury FC: Football chiefs extend deadline to complete takeover of club
The EFL gives Bury and its suitor聽until 5pm on Tuesday to complete the deal and satisfy football bosses of the club's viability.
Saturday 24 August 2019 14:48, UK
Football bosses have given Bury FC extra time to see if they can complete the sale of the debt-ridden League One club.
Bury had faced a deadline of midnight on Friday to satisfy the English Football League (EFL) of their financial situation.
But they asked for more time after receiving a late takeover bid.
Current owner Steve Dale said he had accepted a bid from London-based C&N Sporting Risk, which confirmed the company was in talks to buy the 134-year-old club.
Now, the EFL has given both parties until 5pm on Tuesday to complete the deal and satisfy football bosses of the side's viability.
The EFL said it had seen enough "credible" information to continue working with the club to achieve a "positive outcome".
Bury, who have been in the league for 125 years, had faced being booted out of League One if they could not prove they had the funds to stay in the EFL.
EFL executive chair Debbie Jevans said: "The Board has considered the evidence presented and has determined, in a final effort to allow the club the opportunity to survive, to grant an extension and work exclusively with the club and C&N Sporting Risk to see if a takeover is possible.
"No one wants to see a club lose its place in the League and we will now work with the potential purchasers over the weekend and ahead of the Tuesday deadline in an attempt to find the solutions required for a sale to take place."
Chairman Mr Dale, who bought the loss-making and heavily indebted club for £1 in December from the property developer Stewart Day, has said he has provided proof of funding.
He told Sky Sports News on Friday evening he "saved the club" and is not the "asset-stripper" some critics make him out to be, while blaming the league for the club's predicament.
The Shakers' last match at the club's Gigg Lane stadium was a pre-season friendly on 24 July.
Last season they won promotion from League Two.
But as the situation became increasingly dire over the summer, fans held protests, including one, former director Joy Hart, who handcuffed herself to a drainpipe.
Others left a coffin bearing the message: "RIP Bury FC 1885?"
Bury have had six of their competitive matches suspended so far this season, which the club began with a 12-point deduction imposed by the league when the CVA was sanctioned in July.