Perennial strugglers Bury could find their star is shining brighter after a £1.2m windfall following the sale of David Nugent from Preston to Portsmouth. For a club that was in administration in 2002 and is recovering slowly despite brushes with relegation to the Conference, this news is a godsend.
Times have been bleak at Gigg Lane since the turn of the Century but support from all quarters has kept them on an even keel. Thousands of people contributed to the 'Save our Shakers' campaign by paying to have their names on the seats and local greetings-card magnate Ron Wood paid nearly £500,000 to the administrators for Gigg Lane.
They also help others, providing a home for FC United, the breakaway club from Manchester United. "Some of the crowds in their league are in the twenties, which people find hard to believe, but they've had up to 6,000," said Peter Young, commercial manager of Bury. "They come to their games and enjoy them. Very noisy. They come in singing, sing for 90 minutes, go home singing. The bars are very busy. Their lads and the opposition will stay on afterwards and have a drink and it makes us lots of money."
However, the jewel in the crown is Nugent's departure from Deepdale for £6m as a shrewd member of Bury's board put a sell-on clause in his contract after departing Gigg Lane. "I'll be honest," Young says, "we've been waiting for this Nugent thing for a while. We know what a good player he is and what a lovely, lovely lad. Harry Redknapp has got himself a fantastic player.
"We'll get 20 per cent after the initial fee is taken off," Young says, referring to the £110,000 Preston paid Bury for Nugent in 2005. "And we won't get it all in one lump sum."
Spread over three years will help Bury's cashflow and is proof that nurturing your own talent does harvest rich dividends eventually. Mind you, there was plenty of concern before the deal was done as their experience with Chris Porter proved. "We also had a sell-on clause on Chris Porter at Oldham," Young says. "We hoped he would go to a Championship club for £600,000, but he moved to Motherwell last week and, if you move to another country, we don't get a penny."
Another couple of deals for current or former Bury players could finally put the club back in the black and the next step is to start operating at the business end of League Two. However, Young is keen to accentuate the positives of a day at Gigg Lane rather than concentrate on financial hardship. He added: "People think things are going to be a bit grim, but we make sure they have a great day."
To aid them with their long-term plan, manager Chris Casper will be helped by new director of football Keith Alexander. The former Lincoln boss made his name working on the original shoestring budget at Sincil Bank and was responsible for guiding them to the play-offs in four consecutive campaigns.
Such lofty heights would please Casper and the Shakers band of supporters and Alexander is already impressed with what he has seen. "They're a good, honest bunch and that's all you can ask for at this level," he said. "There's a very good youth set-up and we're always looking to put them in the first team."
Could Bury be this year's surprise package in League Two? If so, then David Nugent's decision to leave Deepdale will be hugely appreciated by a small part of Lancashire.
