THE leader of Shakers supporters' trust Forever Bury has backed chairman Stewart Day's plan to build a new stadium.

It was revealed in the Bury Times last week that Day had held talks with Bury Council to find a new site in the borough and leave Gigg Lane, the club's home side since 1885.

The reaction from supporters has been hugely supportive, according to Forever Bury chairman Dave Gifford, who admitted that the club's directors had discussed the plans with the trust a number of months ago.

“It was nothing new to us,” said Gifford. “We have regular meetings with (Bury's chief executive) Glenn Thomas. We meet once a month to talk through everything and we discussed all this months and months ago.

 “It's an absolute necessity, there's no third party income generated at Gigg. With it being a one-sided ground and little facilities it is difficult to raise funds.

“The club is not well supported by the town, they don't get enough people in and it's a bit of a difficult job.

“They need to create a lot of third party income and the ground move is probably the right thing – as long as it is all funded."

There has been some discontent shared by fans on social media since the news broke, but Gifford says he has no concerns as long as the business plan is watertight and does not leave the club struggling financially.

Another key point highlighted in last week's report was the location, as Day revealed the new ground would be within “close proximity” to Gigg Lane.

“They were talking about a 10-year pay-back on the plan but it's all about putting the business plan together on what the revenue can be created on the site,” Gifford explained.

“It's a long-term plan. Yes, Gigg has been the home of the club, but if people want to move the club forward then I think a move is an absolute dead cert.

“The sites that we have talked about earlier are a bit further away. That was the interesting thing that came out of the story last week is that the club said they were looking at a site that's close to Gigg Lane.

“They were talking about three sites but they have only gone into two sites with us, but they might have come up with a new site.”

Forever Bury registered Gigg Lane as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) in 2014, which gives them the opportunity to purchase the ground if the owners decide to sell the club.

But Gifford insists the trust will step aside for another potential suitor if it meant raising additional funds for the new stadium.

He added: “If the club was up for sale we would have the right to buy.

"We would have a six-month period to get the funding together, but it would be very difficult for us to be in a position to buy it.

“We would probably step aside if it was part of the funding for the new development.”

Meanwhile, Bury announced a new kit manufacturer this week after signing a three-year deal with Italian firm Kappa. It is the second switch in as many seasons after Bury moved from Surridge to New Balance last year.