Football Season Review

Bury couldn't have started the season in a worse way, as they lost manager Richie Barker to Crawley only ten days before their campaign started. The Shakers' board opted to gamble and give assistant manager Peter Shirtliff a chance, but the decision proved to had been a disastrous one, as Shirtliff recorded three draws and five defeats in the opening eight games of the season. The Shakers then replaced Shirtliff with Kevin Blackwell, who brought instant improvement to the side's performance levels, but needed six games in charge to claim his first win at the helm. Blackwell was capable of utilising the loan market well and gradually strengthened the squad, with the Shakers steadily improving their results under him. They were on the brink of leaving the relegation zone on November 24, when they were denied a win over Bournemouth by a last gasp equaliser. Young midfielder Zac Thompson, who is one of Blackwell's loan signings, stated after the game that Bury are playing so well that the question is not if, but when they would leave the relegation zone. Ironically, it all went downhill after that game, with the Shakers never leaving the bottom four. The game against Bournemouth was a start of a run of fourteen games during which Bury managed to claim only one win, and Blackwell's job was made very difficult by a transfer embargo that the club was put under, as some of his loan signings, with Dominic Poleon being the most prominent one, left the club, and he was unable to replace him. As the season approached its end, stories started to surface about the club's financial state, and things culminated in early April, when it was revealed that the Shakers need a one million pound cash injection in order not to get liquidated. Blackwell, who was seldom able to name a full squad in the final 15 games of the season, actually did well to keep his side's survival hopes theoretically alive until the 44th round, as the financial state of the club and the injury situation were such that he was attempting to achieve a nearly impossible feat when trying to keep the club in League One. The Shakers are set for a summer of uncertainty, and the fans are well aware that the club is set to lose it's best players. The Shakers need to consolidate their finances and shouldn't be expected to push for a quick return to the third tier unless something drastic happens over the summer.

Player of the Season: Steven Schumacher