IT seems Ryan Lowe could be on his way out of the club at the end of the season and I think that would be a shame.

Ryan has an affinity with Bury that extends past his performances on the pitch.

The Shakers would not just be losing a proven goalscorer, they would be losing an important link between the squad and the fans.

His is a hero on the terraces and seems to embody everything that is good about Bury, which is a family club.

Ryan is part of the family, so if he does move to Crewe, as now seems highly likely, Bury will be losing an important part of that family.

We don't know the reasons. They may be financial, Ryan may be able to get a better package at Gresty Road. It may just be that he wants to extend his playing days as long as he can, and has the promise of regular football in League Two.

I can understand that, as an ex-player, I just hope Bury are not scoring a bit of an own goal here.

A similar thing happened with Brian Jensen. He left after being voted the fans' player of the season and, arguably, the goalkeeping position has not been filled since his departure.

It is true that clubs move on, but while Bury may be able to find a striker to replace Ryan's goals, they may struggle to find someone with his level of influence in the dressing room.

Talking about Bury as a family club, I was sad to see the violent scenes that marred Saturday's game at home with Millwall.

The Lions have a reputation for hooliganism, but I never experienced the kind of crowd violence we saw last weekend during my time at Gigg Lane.

The club was right to come out to condemn it, and I understand they are talking about going out into local schools to help educate the future generation of supporters about this issue.

Falling attendances has been a hot topic of late, and that was clear on Saturday, with not much more than 2,000 home fans in the ground for the Millwall game.

That is a big worry for a club the size of Bury. Gigg Lane has always enjoyed a unique family atmosphere, providing a safe environment to take your kids along to enjoy a game.

If they lose that, then attendances could fall further, so the hierarchy need to act quickly and decisively to nip this problem in the bud.