Following receipt of notice that the proposal for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) had been approved in respect of Bury FC, the EFL Board has continued to work closely with the Club as it has done over the previous months in order to try to resolve a number of ongoing matters.
As a result of the approval of the CVA, the Club, as a consequence of the insolvency event, has, as per the EFL Regulations, been deducted 12 points, which (absent of a successful appeal from the Club) will be applied and take effect at the beginning of Season 2019/20.
The League’s Articles of Association provide for the Club, following an insolvency event, to be served with a notice of withdrawal of membership which, once issued, will give the Club 14 days to meet all outstanding requirements of the League’s insolvency policy or its membership in the EFL may be terminated.
The EFL Board is working diligently to avoid this situation but ultimately can only act upon information received or not received from the Club. The Board has suspended the activation of this notice initially until close of business today (25 July) in order to give the Club additional time to provide the outstanding information it has requested on a number of occasions, which includes the means of payment of outstanding football creditor debts and source and sufficiency of funding.
If in receipt of the missing information by the deadline, the EFL will commence negotiations with the Club to enter into a Membership Agreement, which will incorporate the ongoing conditions for continued membership in the League and ensure the terms of the CVA are met. If this information is not provided the Board will then determine whether to implement the notice to transfer its share or further extend the deadline.
In addition, and separate to matters connected to the CVA approval, the local Safety Advisory Group (SAG) is meeting today to consider whether the Club meets all the requirements necessary to safely stage fixtures in EFL competitions at the Club’s Stadium in season 2019/20.
Should the SAG confirm that the Club does not have sufficient resources and facilities for its opening fixtures and/or the Club fails to provide all the outstanding information and documentation, the Board has the ability to exercise its rights under Regulation 28.2 to suspend the Club’s fixtures.
Debbie Jevans, Executive Chair, said: “This is an incredibly difficult and complex situation for all those involved, in particular the staff, players and supporters of the Club. We fully recognise the value and importance of the Club to the local community and its fans, and will continue to work proactively and diligently with the ownership, as we have done over an extended period of time to try and ensure Bury FC has a long term future as a member of the EFL.”