THE Shakers were just days away from going to the wall, according to the new owners who have taken over at Gigg Lane after injecting up to £1.5million to keep the club going.

Incoming chief executive officer Glenn Thomas has revealed a winding-up order had been launched against the 129-year-old club, as debts mounted throughout May, and there was a strong possibility the ground would have been locked down at the end of the month.

“I am sure the previous board would have tried to fight it,” he said. “But a substantial amount of money was needed in May, otherwise there was the possibility that locks would have been put on the doors.

“The previous owners did announce that they needed money, and, to be fair, that’s one of the reasons we got in touch to find out how bad it was.”

Yorkshire-born Thomas, aged 48, who is from a financial background in the Preston area is one of five new directors of the Gigg Lane board.

Also included is 31-year-old chairman Stewart Day, chief operations officer Ian Kendall, corporate lawyer Gisella Alberici from Ratio Law in Manchester and and a yet-to-be-appointed representative of the Forever Bury Supporters’ Trust.

“The most importatnt thing for us to get across to the fans, is that Bury FC was in a dire position when we came here,” said Thomas. “There were vultures circuling – developers who wanted to put a supermarket where Gigg Lane is. I’m not saying that would ever have happened, but it was a distinct possibility. We don’t ever want to get back into that position again.”

The new regime has wasted no time in making changes at Gigg, slashing season ticket prices, but at the same time pledging full support for manager Kevin Blackwell who must now rebuild a squad decimated by departures before the start of the League Two campaign in August.

“We strongly believe that Kevin is probably one of the best managers in British football,” said Thomas. But he’s not really had a chance here.

“We didn’t know him before we took over – it’s totally coincidental – but we could not have chosen a better manager.

“When we met him we were highly impressed with his professionalism and his passion.”