Ex-Bury boss Paul Wilkinson opens up on the chaotic time when the club collapsed and went through the much publicised turmoil.
The 57 year old former Everton, Watford and Middlesbrough striker will technically go down in the history books as the only league manager to remain unbeaten.
Many will recall when he he left Truro City to succeed Ryan Lowe at promoted Bury in League One, only to never get the chance to lead the Shakers in a competitive game.
They were £8 million in debt, and had only five registered players, when he arrived at Gigg Lane, with the EFL cranking up pressure before expelling them.

Ex-Bury boss opens up on chaotic time when club collapsed and went through turmoil
Bury were also handed a 12-point deduction and transfer embargo when former owner Steve Dale entered a company voluntary agreement to settle the bills.
After their first four games were postponed, and the EFL bosses waited for Steve Dale to prove that Bury had enough money to fulfil their fixtures, the club were kicked out of the league.
Paul Wilkinson reflects during the third anniversary of Bury’s disappearance from the football league system next week clinging to an unblemished record.
“I have been lucky enough to spend a lifetime in football, going straight into coaching after my playing career wound down, and I have always believed in looking forward in hope and not back in anger,” he said. “You can’t change what has happened. Yes, I felt a bit let down, and I can’t pretend it wasn’t tough at the time because it was such a bizarre situation.
“But football doesn’t stand still while you feel sorry for yourself. I’ve always loved the game, and if something knocks you over, you have to pick yourself up and get on with your life. And if I never get another job in charge, at least I might be the answer to a quiz question – as the only League manager who ever existed never to lose a game! At the moment my record reads Jobs 1, Played 0, Won 0, Drawn 0, Lost 0 – unbeaten.”
Wilkinson found the net 196 times in 650 games across three divisions, and was also a reserve team coach at Cardiff for around 20 years ago.
Life at the Bluebirds was just as tough, heading to away games with team coach stopping on route to find out whether financially-stricken club had gone under and their scheduled matches were still on.
As reported by the Mirror, he now runs his successful Wilko One2One elite coaching and mentoring programme, and will be starting a girls’ academy in partnership with a private school next month.
Wilkinson said: “I like to think I’m quite a level-headed person and I don’t torture myself thinking about it, but Bury was my first proper managerial role in charge and it was an exciting time. We were building a squad of players, we had looked all right in a couple of pre-season friendlies and I was looking forward to seeing how we would cope in League One – but the chance never came. We had a powerful lobby of MPs and Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester, fighting our corner to keep the club going, and it was disappointing when the EFL pulled the plug on one of its founder members. To be let go so easily was hard to take at the time, but when you have seen what Derby have been through recently, it shows there is a way to keep clubs alive.
“It was a different scenario three years ago, but I’m pretty sure if Bury’s predicament had come to light at the same time as Derby’s crisis, they would have been saved. As it was, Bury fans basically woke up one morning to find 134 years of history had been wiped off the football map and they didn’t have a club to support any more.
“It’s fantastic that the supporters stuck together, bought the club and the ground out of administration, and now there is real hope of Bury returning to Gigg Lane. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing that club, and that community, back in the Football League – the sooner it happens, the better it will be and the quicker any wounds will be healed. It’s something I would have loved to be part of in 2019, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”


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