Bury FC’s hopes of making a swift return to league football have been quashed after EFL clubs voted not to reintroduce the expelled club next summer.

The Shakers were forced out of League One last month after a financial collapse, only for a group calling itself the Bury Rescue Board to ask for the club to be reinstated in League Two next season on “compassionate” grounds. That proposal was rejected by the remaining 71 EFL clubs at a meeting in Milton Keynes on Thursday.

A solution agreed on instead will mean one fewer club is relegated from League One next summer and one fewer from League Two, with the same amount of teams promoted into each division. It is understood this proposal met with support from clubs across all three divisions, rejecting the precedent that might have been set by Bury’s reintroduction.

In a statement the EFL said: “The EFL and its member clubs considered and debated a number of options, with all clubs given the opportunity to air their views. The debate included consideration of the proposal submitted by the Bury FC Rescue Board for the club to be admitted to League Two under new ownership in season 2020-21.

“Following in-depth discussions, it became clear the proposal did not have the necessary support and that EFL clubs favoured extending the existing principle of a reduction in relegation across all divisions as a means of returning to 72 clubs. The clubs felt that, in a difficult situation, this approach maintains fairness for all members and upholds the principle of the football pyramid.”

Bury’s financial distress was years in the making and encompassed the ownership of two different men, Stewart Day and Steve Dale. Day had financed a substantial investment in players that helped Bury to promotion only last May but whose wages were beyond the means of the club. Dale, it was later confirmed, had been able to complete his takeover without complying with the EFL’s rules requiring proof of funding. Both players and staff at the club are still owed several months’ worth of wages.

The MP for Bury North, James Frith, who endorsed the Rescue Board’s request, said on Twitter: “Devastating to hear self-interest was served cold by many EFL clubs today & their decision to relegate one less from League Two than admit Bury to League. Thank you to all those who spoke in support of it”