27th minute solidarity with Bury FC supporters

Just FYI, the FSA is asking supporters to join in a nationwide minute of applause during the 27th minute of this weekend's matches in solidarity with Bury FC supporters:

http://www.fsf.org.uk/latest-news/view/fsa-calls-for-27th-minute-show-of-solidarity-with-bury-fans

I’ll be at home listening to BCIR so doubt I’ll take part.
However, is it just me who finds these things a bit naff?

I know these things might seem a bit pointless. I don't know if the Bury fans would appreciate the fact that people are doing this to show solidarity with them . . . . . If they do appreciate it then I say "Yes, lets do it". I certainly feel sorry for the Bury fans, especially as someone is supposed to have come forward at the last minute to offer them the money to get out of debt and it was deemed by the FA to be too late. I think that is despicable . . . . every effort should have been made to save the club. I feel for the fans who may have supported the team all their lives. Just imagine how bereft we would feel if there was no Bath City ! Let's do all we can to show them we care. . . . even if it seems futile.

Midsomer-chris wrote:I certainly feel sorry for the Bury fans, especially as someone is supposed to have come forward at the last minute to offer them the money to get out of debt and it was deemed by the FA to be too late. I think that is despicable . . . . every effort should have been made to save the club.

The offer came in after the deadline, or something like half an hour before it was required, so I don't blame the FA for that bit. Was obvious for months they were in trouble so to come in with something that late is ridiculous. They even extended the deadline several times. It shouldn't have come to all these postponed games, they should have rectified all this in the summer and not messed other clubs around with the cancellations.

In respect to what else has gone on, the owner shouldn't have been able to take control and I hope it'll drum some sense into those that sanction it. But I very much doubt it will.

As for the clapping, I'll be too busy commentating anyway.

stillmanjunior wrote:

Midsomer-chris wrote:I certainly feel sorry for the Bury fans, especially as someone is supposed to have come forward at the last minute to offer them the money to get out of debt and it was deemed by the FA to be too late. I think that is despicable . . . . every effort should have been made to save the club.

The offer came in after the deadline, or something like half an hour before it was required, so I don't blame the FA for that bit. Was obvious for months they were in trouble so to come in with something that late is ridiculous. They even extended the deadline several times. It shouldn't have come to all these postponed games, they should have rectified all this in the summer and not messed other clubs around with the cancellations.

In respect to what else has gone on, the owner shouldn't have been able to take control and I hope it'll drum some sense into those that sanction it. But I very much doubt it will.

As for the clapping, I'll be too busy commentating anyway.

Deep down inside I'm sure there's a big altruistic heart beating away there ... somewhere.

stillmanjunior wrote:
As for the clapping, I'll be too busy commentating anyway.

Let's hope, as a member of the press, you get in for nothing tomorrow.
Hopefully, Joe Raynes will score a screamer in the 27th minute and all the ground will applaud for 27 seconds/minutes/hours/days (or whatever it is)

kermit wrote:

stillmanjunior wrote:
As for the clapping, I'll be too busy commentating anyway.

Let's hope, as a member of the press, you get in for nothing tomorrow.

Indeed I will - is that an issue? Couldn’t work out if it was a subtle dig, I might have missed something.

Would I prefer to see clubs like Bury still in existence rather than heavily financially backed vanity projects buying promotion? Yes, I would. If this situation ever happened to City I’ll be devastated, obviously. But in the unlikely event that I had sufficient funds to save the club before a certain deadline, I wouldn’t pipe up with half an hour of it remaining.

As a Coventry supporter I will always have empathy with Bury fans as it was Bury that colluded with Coventry to save them from demotion from the league almost exactly 100 years ago. Unfortunately my memory is a bit hazy of the actual events but both clubs were fined.
From what I have read the difference between Bury and Bolton is that the people buying Bolton could demonstrate they had the money to complete the purchase and finish the season. The people offering to buy Bury on the other hand couldn't. The current owner paid £1 for the club and generally avoided shelling out any of his own money. Players were eventually paid out of the league fund. It is quite remarkable that they got promoted really. But having not scrutinized his take-over, the League could hardly then allow him to sell to another associate to avoid winding up.
Of course all this has nothing to do with the football, which is the bit fans are interested in. I'm not sure people clapping on Saturday will give Bury fans any comfort. But it might salve the conscience of people who administer a system that allows it to happen.

kermit wrote:
Let's hope, as a member of the press, you get in for nothing tomorrow.

I'm a member of the press and I never get in for nowt!

I wonder if the supporters of Mansfield will be clapping, given they were denied promotion by Bury spending money they didn't have to get promoted last season. Or supporters of Colchester, who missed out on a play off place for the same reason.

As is normally the case the League is being made out to be the bad guys here, when it seems to me they did everything they could to give Bury a chance to sort themselves out. I am not surprised the EFL refused to look at bids that appeared on the day Bury were due to be expelled, especially as the main one was from a mate of the goalkeeping coach. How much longer were they supposed to give them? I don't see that the league had anything to gain from kicking them out.

Had they been a non-league club they would have been kicked out before the season even started to avoid having to postpone games left, right and centre.

Yes, it is sad that Bury fans won't have a team to support for this season before than can sample the delights we've all enjoyed over the years. They can then see their team steamroller little clubs for a few seasons before they reach the Conference level when they'll find unless you have a lot of money (though maybe the goalkeeping coaches' mate will have come through with the money and still be there) you can get stuck.

For what it is worth I won't be clapping on 27 minutes (even if we've just scored) as it makes the photos really blurry and as someone who also gets in for free I don't want to seem ungrateful by not doing the job I'm there for.

BenE, you say that your memory of an event almost 100 years ago is a bit hazy. Blimey, just how old are you ????

As my mum used to say I am as old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth.

Thanks everyone, just to clear up any confusion here is the rationale for the move offered by the Football Supporters Association (formerly Supporters Direct / FSF):

"Why a minute of applause on the 27th minute? Because on 27th August a football club was expelled from the league for the first time in 27 years. Let's show that we care and we are angry that this situation has been allowed to happen.

The FSA is lobbying hard to protect our clubs from unscrupulous or incompetent owners - conflicts of interest have to be removed as owners have shown they cannot regulate themselves and our clubs deserve special protections more in line with those afforded to listed buildings. Football clubs are not just another business.

We'll need your support for that campaign in the weeks and months ahead, but for this weekend, let's start by showing supporter solidarity with Bury fans on the 27th minute"

I agree that these sorts of gestures sit uneasily with non-league terrace culture, mind, and I'm not particularly advocating that anyone does it, just wanted to share it.