BURY FC will officially return to the football pyramid in August after four years out in the cold.
The expelled EFL club will be in the ninth tier competing in the North West Counties League Premier Division following a fans’ vote at Gigg Lane on Friday night.
Members of the Bury Football Club Supporters Society and the Shakers Community Society overwhelmingly decided in favour of merging.
BFCSS own the Bury FC name, stadium and history while the SCS own the breakaway team Bury AFC, which was set up in the immediate aftermath of the Shakers’ expulsion in 2019.
The FA had rejected a standalone application from BFCSS to enter Bury FC into the pyramid this season — but will rubber-stamp the club competing in the pyramid with both supporter groups merging to run it as one entity.
The ground-breaking vote means that the club will have access to another £300,000 from the government’s levelling up fund, having already received £700,000 to upgrade the stadium.
Also Bury Council will grant the club a further £450,000 towards making Gigg Lane a community hub.
A spokesman at the club told SunSport: “This is an historic night for Bury FC.
“Supporters have fought hard to get football back to Gigg Lane and now this is definitely going to happen for next season.
“It’s been a big journey with a lot of people putting their time, money, support and effort into making this happen.
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“Now Bury FC once again has one voice, one identity and can truly start the climb back up the divisions with our plan being to win back our EFL status.”
To do that Bury FC will need to win five promotions.
A board will be appointed after a further vote of the membership — in a model which will be a minimum of 51 per cent fan owned, to avoid a repeat of a single owner running the club into the ground.
