Shakers back in the black, but Fenton urges caution

10:30am Thursday 9th October 2008

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BURY director Brian Fenton has sounded a note of caution after the club made a profit of £865,000 during the last financial year.

The figures are a massive improvement on the £43,000 loss the Shakers suffered last year, but Fenton says the figures are distorted by the £1.2million the club banked as part of a sell-on clause when David Nugent moved from Preston to Portsmouth.

That money has wiped out the club’s debts and enabled Bury to buy back their ground, and Fenton said: “The profit is purely because of the Dave Nugent deal, nothing more.

“All the money we got from the Nugent deal had already been spoken for. We had to pay (former director) Iain Mills back for the loan he gave us on the ground and there was another director that was owed money. It basically paid the debts of the club off.

“Now we will own our own ground and that is fantastic. I don’t think there are too many clubs in the Football League that own everything and are debt free.

“We have still got to watch the pennies, but if we can keep on getting the gates like we got against Wycombe, when an extra 900 Bury fans turned up, and Alan keeps on producing the good results on the field then, with that extra thousand, it makes the club financially stronger.”

Bury are having a fantastic season on the field, with manager Alan Knill, who was named manager of the month for September, leading the team to second place in League Two.

And Fenton has said money can possibly be made available for loan signings in January if the team are still flying high.

“I think money would be made available for Alan,” said Fenton. “I won’t say there will be any transfer money being made available, but I’m sure he can bring some loan players in. If we are still there or thereabouts in the January transfer window, I would think we can do that.

“After the last two years everybody has got to be pleased with the job Alan is doing. We have had it grim so we are over the moon with the job Alan has done, and hopefully that continues.

“From what I have seen so far I do think it can continue.

“Alan has only got a small squad, so we do have to hope we stay injury free.”

The latest financial figures do not include the money that Bury will receive from the sales of young stars Nicky Adams and Dale Stephens, but Fenton says that those transfer fees are needed just to keep the club afloat.

“On the gates we are getting, averaging about 2,500 early season, money has to come from somewhere else to keep the club going,” said Fenton. “Gate money doesn’t keep the football club going.

“The way the economy is at the minute means the commercial department is suffering, so anything we get in has to go towards keeping the football club going.

Fenton added that nobody has come forward to invest in the club following fellow director Ian Harrop’s invitation for people to join the board in August.