Bury FC boss Andy Welsh expresses his excitement as the club unveil their new kits for the 23/24 season after a fan vote.
It was recently announced that the unified Bury Football Club would return to Gigg Lane in the new season following a vote by Bury AFC to merge.
After a failed vote, members of the Bury FC original and the AFC fan-run group merged.
The club announced that the FA has confirmed the name “Bury Football Club”, can be used for competitions, the first time since the collapse of the club in August 2019.
Some fans formed Bury AFC after the Shakers were kicked out of the EFL due to financial problems in 2019.
The club will now be called “Bury”, in accordance with the convention of the North West Counties League.
Bury fans signed a contract to buy their old Gigg Lane stadium in February 2022, while Bury AFC played their home matches at Stainton Park in Radcliffe.
A vote for merger was held in October of 2022. It narrowly missed the threshold, but a second vote passed, clearing the way for the return to Gigg Lane for 2023-24.
The club has announced that the abbreviation “Bury FC”, including for its women’s team Bury FC Women and reserve teams Bury FC Reserves, will be used wherever appropriate.
CLUB STATEMENT:
We are pleased to announce the results of our member vote on the kit designs and colours for the new season as we head into the 2023/24 season.
As we reported when the kit vote went live last month, the team at Hope + Glory had headed into the Bury footballing archives to bring the supporters three new kit designs to choose from for both home and away kits.
On the vote selection was also the question as to whether our new home kit would be trimmed in either ‘Royal’ or ‘Navy’ blue.
We are delighted to report that next season’s kits are displayed below. We will be in Royal blue with selection No.2 winning in both cases!
The background to the Hope + Glory EcoKit design can be found on our piece from last month here.
As a reminder to all supporters, we are due to keep the home kit design for two seasons, with the chosen away kit in place for only a season to allow us the ability to only change one kit at a time in future.
Our online shop should be up and running as soon as possible to enable supporters to place their order for the new kit! So keep your eyes glued to our social media for updates on this.
Pete Cullen, who is the author of the The Official History of Bury FC Pete Cullen writes:
“Despite playing in white shorts in the first two years of the club’s history, a shade of blue has been the predominant colour of this part of Bury’s kit since 1888.
“Navy was the colour of choice from 1888 all the way through to 1962. From then until 1986 the team wore royal blue, before the switch was made to a darker shade which lasted until 1994 when royal blue was reintroduced. Barring the 2009/10 125th anniversary season and the 2014/15 promotion season when white was the adopted colour, royal blue remained the colour of the team’s shorts until its last season in the Football League, when navy blue was chosen once again.“
Bury manager Andy Welsh, who started his professional football career in 2001 at Stockport County before playing in the Premier League with Sunderland and had spells as many other clubs in his career, was first appointed manager of Ossett United.
He joined Bury AFC as manager in 2020 and achieved promotion to the NWCFL Division 1 North Champions in his first full season.
Welsh won 69 of the 101 games for Bury AFC with a win ratio of 74.55% and a goal difference of +122.
When asked about the footballing philosophies he will be instilling at Gigg Lane, Welsh said, “Wherever I go, I want to win games.” He demands “High–energy entertaining football” and acknowledges the community and town who come to watch the games. “(The fans) don’t pay all their hard–earned money to come and watch a lethargic team that sits behind a ball. We go and get after it, and we make life hard for the opponents.
“It’ll be like Christmas time again. We want all those good feelings to come back for everybody. It’s about everybody coming together now. The history is always going to be there. It’s never going to go, but what we are in charge of now is creating our own future together.
“It’s a privilege. It’s an honour. Any player that pulls that football shirt on has to feel the same, but most of all we have to enjoy it together.
“It’s about making sure that the group of players we bring in work together and gel together. We’ve got to get used to playing together here at Gigg as well. My job as manager, our job as staff, is to get players used to playing at this club as quickly as they can, and to enjoy it as well.”
Here’s what Twitter users are saying as Bury FC boss expresses excitement as the club unveil their new kits for 23/24 after a fan vote…
@lukejoelfish9: Please give it a good sponsor I’m begging you
@mancbasturd: That purple and green throwback! 🤩
@MrLMJ1980: Liking both, but the away kit… take my money now
@buryfan20: Purp for me, beautiful
@cathkenyon14: 🤢 collars not for me on a football shirt
@tomadams___: Away kit needs the perfect sponsor
@TJPgrey: Greatness ⚪️🔵🟣🟢
@Macca12John: Please try and keep the kids sizes reasonable in price as this is one of the best ways to get them invested for life
@OnionPete59: Proper badge, that.
@Wilson78Dale: Nice to see a collar and not a v neck 👍👍
@buryfan20: Always 110% commitment and never say die attitude from @andy_welsh11 teams. A good man who’ll always make time for everyone too
@BradleyS__: For many of us, it’s the third full season under a top manager and top guy. But for others, it really is an introduction. What you can rely on is, you’ll never be disappointed in him, even on the inevitable low days. You should all get behind our manager.
@shakerdaz: Top man @andy_welsh11 one thing you’ll get from his teams, they never give up and will fight to the final whistle, let’s get gigg rocking next season!
@KucakTom: Andy came across very well and level headed knows what he wants from his players great season to come I’m sure best wishes Tom
@Brad_Smith73: Good luck for the 23/24 season @andy_welsh11 ⚽️💪🏻
@SamHeath2019: If nobody can get behind this man you can absolutely do one. #buryfc
@ulstershaker: Our Boss! Top man on and off the field…
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