During The Imps first season back in the Football League, tomorrow’s opponents Bury were playing in Sky Bet League One. They finished bottom with a record of W8, D12 and L26.
So, the first meeting between the two sides since The Imps return to the Football League was earlier on this season at Sincil Bank in front of a crowd of 8,016. Eoghan O’Connell put Bury ahead that day and they went into half time with a 1-0 lead. With just 15 minutes to go, Shakers defender Aimson was deemed to have stopped Bruno Andrade’s fierce effort with his hand and was shown a second yellow card. John Akinde calmly slotted home the penalty to make it 1-1. City grabbed a winner in the 82nd minute, as Lee Frecklington fired into an empty net to make it 2-1 to The Imps.
Anyway, time for the Q&As.
Thank you to Bury supporters Adam, David, Rob and Michael for answering our questions! The answers have been published on four pages. To get to the next set of answers, simply click “Click here for the next set of answers!” on the bottom right of the article. Alternatively, you can click the names above!
First up, the answers provided by Adam:
How long have you supported Bury?
Dec 1992 was my first game, home FA Cup replay v Wigan which we won to set up a game v Manchester United at Old Trafford. But I became a season ticket holder for the first time in 1996 – 23 years now!
Where did you finish last season?
Rock bottom of League One, by a mile. We’ve been in administration twice in the 2000s and last season was still the worst season that I have known.
What do you think of your Manager?
He’s a club legend. Promoted with us twice out of League Two in his time as a player and despite my own reservations last summer when he got the job, he looks like he could add another promotion to his CV as a manager. He is proving to be a great motivator of players and is letting his quality technicians do the damage up front. Especially in the last month, we are playing some fantastic football when notoriously we have been terrible for the majority of the winter period.
What are your hopes and expectations for this season?
If you’d asked me in August, I would’ve taken a nondescript 10th-12th finish in the league and maybe a bit of a go in one of the cups. I feared we could have done a ‘Chesterfield’ and following an unceremonious drop into League Two, we then tumble blindly into relegation trouble at the wrong end and lose our league status. But now, running in 2nd in the league prior to this game and in the Checkatrade semi-final, we are dreaming of promotion and a date at Wembley! We keep dreaming, which is miles away from where I thought we could have been so I am delighted with anything now.
One(s) to watch?
Two words, Danny. Mayor. During our last promotion out of League Two (2014/15), he was instrumental in that team, terrorising right backs and scrambling recovering wingers week in, week out. Through changes of managers and a spell on the sidelines with unspecified injuries and constant setbacks, he never established himself at League One level – a level all Bury fans believe he is capable of, if not higher. He seemed to enter this season rejuvenated and with a manager who believed in him, has been almost ever-present in the league. He is a player full of twists, turns and has a turn of pace which frightens most defences in the league. But keep it quiet, he’s ours and we want him to stay past the summer!
Who do you think will finish in the top 7?
I’m assuming that you will have the staying power to be in the top 3 come May, so hopefully alongside us as well, I would say that MK Dons will come back strong after a blip in the last couple of weeks. Mansfield will have something to say about that but we’d all like to see Flickers & Futch (ex-players and managers) just drop into the play-off shake-up. Carlisle are the only team to leave Gigg with all 3 points so far this season so would make a good case for them to remain in the play-off shake-up, alongside Forest Green & reckon Tranmere will be in the top 7 also. As long as Oldham remain in League Two for another season, that’ll do me!
Who do you think will finish in the bottom 2?
Notts County look a lost cause, we battered them out of sight at Gigg. I fear for Morecambe, love a trip up there. I think Macclesfield will get out of it which is crazy considering their start. Plus they have ex-Shaker Nathan Cameron (one of my favourite players of recent seasons) at the back for them and I would like to see them pull it off.
What are your thoughts on Lincoln City?
My view from outside and not following avidly, I only hear good things. That is what happens when you support the right manager over a period of time. I watched on with envy at your FA Cup run a few seasons back, in my 23 years of regular watching we’ve reached the 4th round once and not had a ‘big day out’ for some time. I also hear good things about the environment around Sincil Bank on a match day, drinking/food areas, music, community spirit etc. Modern day football reflecting what the fans want, something I hope we catch up on.
What do you think the score will be?
We score goals. 77 so far, only Manchester City have scored more in all competitions this season. And we’ve hit four or more in nine games too. So I don’t anticipate a 0-0, especially considering we do concede too. I would say 3-1 with my bias, but wouldn’t rule out a 2-2 or 3-3 either. I can’t wait, should be a cracker.
Random fact about your Club?
Assuming you all know that we hold the record for largest winning margin in a FA Cup Final (6-0 in 1903 v Derby County), oh you don’t….? Well, I will leave that one there!
If you could steal one Lincoln City player for your own team, who would it be and why?
Scott Wharton, because we just have! We did need defensive cover so that sorts that and we hear good things from Blackburn and Lincoln fans alike.
What are your proudest and most embarrassing moments as a Bury Supporter?
Proudest – winning the league (League One as it is now) in 1997. We’d only be promoted the season before and romped to win the league with a squad that still gets talked about today.
Embarrassing – last season takes it. Over-hyped, prima donna squad being paid a king’s ransom to get us performing at the top end of the League One table. Won only eight games in the league, losing 26. Scoring less than a goal a game and being dumped out in the first round of the FA Cup in a replay at home to non-league Woking, 0-3. The fans turned on the players for the first time I can remember and the atmosphere was toxic for each home game of the season after that.
Who would you say is your most underrated player?
Jay O’Shea & Nicky Adams go under the radar most of the time outside of Gigg Lane when most see the performance of Danny Mayor this season so far. But they are both highly rated by supporters. I would say that our left-wing back, Callum McFadzean is having an excellent season having been plucked from non-league (after a career starting at Sheffield United). He gets up and down the wing and for a small player, he is our outlet from long goal-kicks with his headers.
Do you have a Supporters Trust and what role do they play at the Club?
‘Forever Bury’ was set up as the supporters trust when we first hit administration trouble in the early 2000s. However, as the years have passed there does seem a disconnect between those who are ‘in’ and those ‘out’ of this club. They did have a member on the full club board as a director but after Stewart Day was chairman (2013-2018), the powers they had to influence seemed to reduce further. Our new chairman, Steve Dale, has recently taken over (following a period of overspending by the previous regime) and promises to bring more of a community feel to the club as he looks to build. What this does to ‘Forever Bury’ is anyone’s guess.
Which was your favourite match involving Bury?
Winning the league at Gigg in 1997 was special but it wasn’t my ultimate favourite match. Chesterfield away in 2011 was the one, it had everything, sun shining on a Bank Holiday Monday in April playing a top of the table clash at the business end of the season. We’d gone on a run of 5 wins which put us second and a win at Chesterfield would secure our promotion and give us a sniff of the league itself. A topsy-turvy game, taking the lead twice, being pegged back both times and almost losing it, plus home fan pitch invasions when in the 87th minute – current manager Ryan Lowe, chested down the ball from a corner at the back post and with what seemed like the whole Chesterfield team on the line, he calmly found the opposite corner of the goal from the tightest of angles to send the fans behind the goal delirious. Magic day.
Which was your least favourite match involving Bury?
We got tonked 4-0 at Bolton in 1998 when we both were in the same league (Championship, as it is now) together for the first time for 6-7 seasons. Thoroughly outplayed from the first minute and typical goading from the home fans made for a terrible day out and we left early as it seemed to get ugly on the lower tier.
Do you have a Former Players Association at Bury?
Not that I know of, but I have seen more of the former players down at Gigg in the past 2 seasons than I remember ever. Keith Kennedy, a player who played over 400 games across the 1970-80s is a regular down at Gigg in the hospitality suites before and after home fixtures.
What’s the best thing about Bury?
The weather. Joking. It has to be the World Famous Bury Black Pudding. I wasn’t always a fan (not really allowed to say that!) but as I mature in age I have acquired a taste for it. We also have our ‘World Famous’ market which has visitors from all around the north and afar. It is a good shopping town on the outskirts of Manchester (and despite my bias) does seem a more attractive day out than other towns local to us – Bolton, Rochdale & Oldham for example.
Do you see Saturday’s match as a possible title decider?
It may be. If we don’t win, you will be at least 5-6 points ahead plus a game in hand on most. If we win, we will have played both of our games against you, MK Dons, Forest Green & Mansfield. It could be argued that we have a good run in. It’s yours to lose though at this moment.
Will Wharton play more for you than he did for us this season?
I would’ve thought so. I hear he is a left-sided centre back. We play three centre-halves and of the three, I don’t always fancy our current left-sided player, Chris Stokes. He has found a position in the team and kept it but Wharton will no doubt push him out if he comes in and performs.
"He looks like he could add another promotion to his CV.":https://t.co/wMJzC7Rhjo#BuryFC #Bury #ImpsAsOne
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) January 25, 2019
https://www.facebook.com/VitalLincolnCity/posts/2031429166893318
