The first headline was stark: “Bolton Wanderers: Suspension on notice of withdrawal lifted”. The second even starker: “Bury FC: Membership of the League withdrawn”.
One famous British club is on the edge of the cliff. The other has gone over.
Everyone expected that Bury would find a buyer. Too symbolic to fail. These things usually run until the 11th hour, and then a saviour falls out of the woodwork. A lifelong fan with a big bank account nearly always saves the day.
Not this time. Bury are gone. This year, the 92-team pyramid will finish with 91 teams. If Bolton are executed, it will be 90.
Bury aren’t a powerhouse but they represent something sacrosanct. England’s lower leagues speak to us all: an unofficial extension of the community, some clubs have bigger identities than the towns themselves.
And thus, when we talk about clubs collapsing, we talk about communities collapsing. When we talk about communities collapsing, we are talking about something much deeper than football. This is a very real problem.
You wouldn’t believe it if I told you, but in the 1998-99 season, Bury were in the division above Manchester City. Of the four clubs who finished the season on 47 points, they were the only team relegated.
Talk about a sliding doors moment: Bury are dead and City are, perhaps, the most powerful force in the world’s biggest league. For the record, in 2005, Bolton missed Champions League qualification by inches.
Anyone who has lost a football club – especially one that is deeply embedded in the local football community – will tell you that it leaves a hole in your heart. Unfortunately, I know that feeling, and many other Australians of the NSL-era know it, too.
One of the problems of businessmen wading into a football club is their gross miscalculation of the game’s economics.
I’ve heard too many say that their experience in the corporate world will solve everything; they invariably add that clubs need to run more “like a business”.
But in the business world, you can execute a myriad of tricks when a business flounders. You can strip the assets, change the name, the location, even the industry. And if all else fails, you can shut it down in a reasonably straight-forward fashion.
Notably, some 43 of the 51 companies that Bury FC owner Steve Dale has been associated with have been liquidated.
Business acumen is useful in many ways but football acumen is entirely different.
Football clubs only become financially powerful when they possess income generating assets: a stable membership base, vibrant hospitality options, commercial rights and income from the sale of players. But those need initial investment and ongoing maintenance.
Others attempt to flip licences or sell facilities, but no owner should go into the current football market and expect to make money. It doesn’t work for a simple reason. They are not entering a level playing field.
The biggest teams in the English Premier League and even some in the Championship have created hugely valuable clubs but only after sinking in huge amounts of capital in the quest for glory. They can afford the gigantic losses. So long as that equation exists, the industry is unrealistically skewed.
Annoyingly, failed club owners quickly dust themselves off and move on to their next adventure. But not the fans.
For that reason, prospective owners of football clubs should be under more scrutiny than ever before. Special provisions should be considered for the local community to assume control of a club when an owner fails to meet certain obligations.
There is a silver lining in all of this. Bury FC will almost certainly reform as a fan-owned club and begin life at a lower place on the football pyramid.
There’s a nice blueprint developing there. Most famously, AFC Wimbledon have done it, but also Portsmouth, Chester and Halifax Town.
They have developed sustainable models, keeping an eye on the balance sheet and spending within their means each season. Ironically, that’s proven popular with fans, who are driving up attendances, and driving healthier-looking finances.
Of course, in a world of have-and-have-nots, these clubs are unlikely to ever become the former. But being the latter is far better than having nothing at all.
