Bury FC manager Kevin Blackwell fears the town could lose its identify without the football club, after the Shakers revealed they need £1million of investment to survive.
The club have been under a transfer embargo since December – the second of the season – but are now seeking people to join a consortium paying £100,000 each.
Bury’s statement described the situation as ‘critical’ and Blackwell insists the club still has an important role to play in the community.
“It’s quite a shock, but clearly I’ve known for a little while that the finances of the football club were not in the strongest position,” he told BBC Radio Manchester.
“I spoke to someone at Scarborough yesterday and he said a lot of people there feel the town has lost its identity with the loss of its football club.
“I hope that’s not going to be the case at Bury because football has a big role to play in the local community.
“Not just the games and the fact your name’s up on television each week, but all the things that football puts back into the community – it’ll be a sad loss.
“The club’s been going for 115 years so clearly football has a long-standing in Bury and for it to remain everybody has to dig deep.”
The Shakers sit bottom of League One, knowing defeat to Oldham Athletic on Saturday would see them relegated.
Blackwell has been unable to fill a substitute’s bench for a while, due to financial trouble, and he insisted neither the supporters nor players are to blame.
“The fans that we have are absolutely first class,” he added.
“We need more fans at home clearly but I wouldn’t say Bury fans are any less passionate than at United or City.
“The players have been absolutely incredible as well – they’re all working hard to try and keep the club up.
“What we’ve got to do is try running the club in a professional manner off the pitch and make sure that we don’t run up debts or write cheques with ambition that the banks can’t cash.”
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