I woke up today to the sad news of Bury FC being expelled from the Football League. It’s a sad state of affairs that many people have gone into in much more detail than I am able to, but the failings of the EFL and successive owners of Bury have led to this eventuality.

It’s not long ago that Sheffield United were potentially on the same road as Bury and especially Bolton Wanderers. Relegated from the Premiership to League One, by 2013 we were on the brink of financial difficulties, saved by odd background dealings by the owners. All this has come out in the courts recently, and despite it being 6 years later, seems much more transparent than the vast majority of football clubs with regards to their finances.

Bury and Bolton aren’t the only clubs in this situation. Macclesfield Town, Morecambe Town, Southend United, Coventry City are high profile clubs with significant ongoing financial difficulties, and I would be surprised if they were the only clubs. I have seen a few comments from the wider footballing world indicating that this is a symptom of football now. That there aren’t enough millionaires out there to bankroll football clubs further down the English league pyramid. That attitude is awful, ignorant and dangerous for football.

This is something clubs should fight. It should not be down to a benevolent millionaire to bankroll a 150 year old football club, a club that has meant and still means so much to so many fans. A club that people have paid to have their name as part of the stadium. A club that they go to weekly, meet the friends that have been going with them for their whole life. A club which makes a difference in the local community, and one which gives fans and members a sense of pride for being associated with. A club with passion, and roots in the community and a fucking good selection of pies.

Bury, and potentially Bolton, will either be a wake up call for English football or the start of the collapse of so many proud, old clubs. I don’t have the answers, but it is clear that the EFL don’t either. Look to Germany, with the 50+1 fan ownership model. Look to the Premier League, with an almost Scrooge McDuck attitude to it’s wealth. Look to the fans of the clubs like Bury and Bolton and see that this cannot happen again.

Football is about so much more than what happens on the pitch. It’s the reason that I am writing a blog about a club that I barely get to see any more I live so far away. It’s the reason the red and white half of Sheffield can stand a little taller and can sing a lot louder at the moment. It’s the reason so many thousands of people gather every week, across the country. I personally can’t imagine walking past an empty Bramall Lane on one of the rare occasions I can get there, on what is supposed to be a home match day, and not seeing the burger vans, the fans, not hearing the songs.

I feel for Bury and their fans, and I hope I don’t see it happen again.

David Squires put an excellent piece up in the Guardian that echoes my feelings on this.